358 EXCRETION. 



sugar used makes a difference in this respect. For while 15 grains 

 of glucose may be injected without passing out by the kidneys, 

 7 J grains of cane sugar, introduced in the same way, fail to be com- 

 pletely destroyed in the circulation, and may be detected in the 

 urine. In certain forms of disease (diabetes), where sugar accu- 

 mulates in the blood, it is eliminated by the same channel ; and a 

 saccharine condition of the urine, accompanied by an increase in 

 its quantity and specific gravity, constitutes the most characteristic 

 feature of the disease. 



Finally, albumen sometimes shows itself in the urine in conse- 

 quence of various morbid conditions. Most acute inflammations 

 of the internal organs, as pneumonia, pleurisy, &c., are liable to be 

 accompanied, at their outset, by a congestion of the kidneys, which 

 produces a temporary exudation of the albuminous elements of the 

 blood. Albumen has been found in the urine, according to Simon, 

 Becquerel, and others, in pericarditis, pneumonia, pleurisy, bron- 

 chitis, hepatitis, inflammation of the brain, peritonitis, metritis, &c. 

 We have observed it, as a temporary condition, in pneumonia and 

 after amputation of the thigh. Albuminous urine also occurs fre- 

 quently in pregnant women, and in those affected with abdominal 

 tumors, where the pressure upon the renal veins is sufficient to 

 produce passive congestion of the kidneys. "When the renal con- 

 gestion is spontaneous in its origin, and goes on to produce actual 

 degeneration of the tissue of the kidneys, as in Bright's disease, the 

 same symptom occurs, and remains as a permanent condition. In 

 all such instances, however, as the above, where foreign ingredients 

 exist in the urine, these substances do not originate in the kidneys 

 themselves, but are derived from the blood, in the same manner as 

 the natural ingredients of the excretion. 



CHANGES IN THE URINE DURING DECOMPOSITION. When the 

 urine is allowed to remain exposed, after its discharge, at ordinary 

 temperatures, it becomes decomposed, after a time, like any other 

 animal fluid; and this decomposition is characterized by certain 

 changes which take place in a regular order of succession, as fol- 

 lows : 



After a few hours of repose, the mucus of the urine, as we have 

 mentioned above, collects near the bottom of the vessel as a light, 

 nearly transparent, cloudy layer. This mucus, being an organic 

 substance, is liable to putrefaction; and if the temperature to which 

 it is exposed be between 60 and 100 F., it soon becomes altered, 



