PHENOL- AND P-CRESOL SULPHURIC ACID. 689 



sulphuric acid is considerably greater than of phenol-sulphuric acid. 

 In the quantitative estimation the phenols are set free from the two 

 ethereal acids and determined together as tribromphenol. The quan- 

 tity of phenols which are separated from the ethereal -sulphuric ac'ds 

 of the urine amounts to 17-51 milligrams in the twenty-four hours 

 (MUNK). The methods for the quantitative estimation used heretofore 

 give, according to RUMPF, as well as KOSSLER and PENNY/ such inac- 

 curate results that new determinations are very desirable. After a 

 vegetable diet the quantity of these ethereal -sulphuric acids is greater 

 than after a mixed diet. After the ingestion of carbolic acid, which is 

 in great part converted by synthesis within the organism into phenol- 

 sulphuric acid, also into pyrocatechin- and hydroquinon-sulphuric acid, 2 

 or when the amount of sulphuric acid is not sufficient to combine with 

 the pheno], it forms phenyl-glucuronic acid, 3 the quantity of phenols 

 and ethereal -sulphuric acids in the urine is considerably increased at the 

 expense of the sulphate-sulphuric acid. The same is also true of other 

 phenols. 



An increased elimination of phenol-sulphuric acids occurs in active 

 putrefaction in the intestine with stoppage of the contents of the intes- 

 tine, as in ileus, diffused peritonitis with atony of the intestine, or tuber- 

 culous enteritis, but not in simple obstruction. The elimination is also 

 increased by the absorption of the products of putrefaction from 

 purulent wounds or abscesses. An increased elimination of phenol has 

 been observed in a few other cases of diseased conditions of the body. 4 



The alkali salts of phenol- and cresol-sulphuric acids crystallize in 

 white plates, similar to mother-of-pearl, which are rather freely soluble 

 in water. They are soluble in boiling alcohol, but only slightly soluble 

 in cold alcohol. On boiling with dilute mineral acids they are decom- 

 posed into sulphuric acid and the corresponding phenol. 



Phenol-sulphuric acids have been synthetically prepared by BAUMANN 

 from potassium pyrosulphate and potassium phenolate or p-cresolate. 

 For the method of their preparation from urine, which is rather compli- 

 cated, and also for the known phenol reactions, the reader is referred 

 to other text-books. The quantitative estimation of these ethereal- 

 sulphuric acids was usually made by weighing the phenol which was 

 separated from the urine as tribromphenol. At the present time the 

 following method is employed: 



1 Munk, Pfliiger's Arch., 12; Rumpf, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 16; Kossler and 

 Penny, ibid., 17. 



2 See Baumann, Pfluger's Arch., 12 and 13, and Baumann and Preusse, Zeitschr. 

 f. physiol. Chem., 3, 156. 



3 Schmiedeberg, Arch. f. exp. Path. u. Pharm., 14. 



4 See G. Hoppe-Seyler, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 12 (this contains also all refer- 

 ences to the literature on this subject) ; Fedeli, Moleschott's Untersuch., 15. 



