818 URINE. 



cool and shake with ether. In the presence of glucuronic acid the ether 

 becomes violet or blue, and shows the absorption bands given on page 

 223. According to NEUBERG this test, which is not specific for glucuronic 

 acid, is best performed with the naphthoresorcin in substance. This 

 test is more conclusive, if, as suggested by NEUBERG and ScHEWKET, 1 

 the residue from an ethereal extract of the acidified urine is used. 



The surest method is that suggested by MAYER and NEUBERG, which 

 consists in precipitating the urine with basic lead acetate, decomposing 

 the precipitate with H^S, boiling with dilute sulphuric acid in order to 

 split the conjugated acid, and then after neutralizing with soda, prepar- 

 ing the characteristic bromphenylhydrazine compound of glucuronic 

 acid (see page 223) with ^-bromphenylhydrazine hydrochloride and 

 sodium acetate. HERVIEUX 2 has slightly modified this method. In 

 regard to the quantitative estimation of glucuronic acid we must refer 

 to the work of C. ToLLENS. 3 



Inosite seems to be a normal urinary constituent, although it occurs 

 only in very small quantities (HOPPE-SEYLER, STARKENSTEiN 4 ). In 

 diabetes insipidus, as well as after excessive drinking of water, it occurs 

 in large quantities in the urine because of a more abundant washing- 

 out of the tissues. 



For the detection of inosite we make use of the method given on page 581, 

 with the modifications suggested by MEILLERE and STARKENSTEIN. 



Acetone Bodies (acetone, acetoacetic acid, /3-oxybutyric acid). These 

 bodies, whose occurrence in the urine and formation in the organism have 

 been the subject of numerous investigations, occur in the urine espe- 

 cially in diabetes mellitus, but also in many other diseases. 5 According 

 to v. JAKSCH and others, acetone is a normal urinary constituent, though 

 it may occur only in very small amounts (0.01 gram in twenty-four hours). 



In regard to the origin of these bodies it was formerly considered that 

 they were produced by an increased destruction of protein. One of the 

 various reasons for this was the increase in the elimination of acetone 



1 B. Tollens, Ber. d. d. chem. Gesellsch., 41, 1788, and C. Tollens, Zeitschr. f. physiol. 

 Chem., 56; Neuberg, Bioch. Zeitschr., 24; Neuberg and Schewket, ibid., 44; see also 

 Mandel and Neuberg, ibid., 13. 



2 Mayer and Neuberg, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 29; Hervieux, Compt. rend, 

 eoc. biol., 63. 



3 Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 61. 



4 Starkenstein, Zeitschr. f. exp. Path. u. Therap., 5, which contains the literature. 



6 In regard to the extensive literature on acetone bodies the reader is referred to 

 Huppert-Neubauer, Harn-Analyse, 10. Aufl., and v. Noorden's Lehrb. d. Pathol. des 

 Stoffwechsels. Berlin, 1906, and for recent work, Magnus-Levy, Die Azetonkorper, 

 Ergbn. d. inn. Med. u. Kinderheilk., I. 



