105 



from the bladder became an object of investiga- 

 tion to our never-to-be forgotten SCHEELE. 

 lie soon discovered the uric acid, described its 

 properties, and as he found it in all healthy urine, 

 he concluded, that this acid was always the prin- 

 ripal constituent of these calculi. HENRY after- 

 wards extended our knowledge of this acid still 

 further, and SCHEELE has been followed in his 

 investigation by several others, such as AUSTIN, 

 WALKER, BRTJGNATEIXI, and PEARSON.-T- 

 At last, Dr, WOL.L.ASTON published, in the Phi- 

 losophical Transactions for 1797, his analysis of 

 gouty and urinary concretions, which he proved 

 to be of four principal kinds, viz. such as con- 

 sist of uric acid, of double phosphate of mag- 

 nesia and ammonia, of oxalate of lime, and of 

 phosphate of lime ; and he gave at the same time 

 a short description of their external form, and 

 characters. In the year 1800, or three years 

 after WOLLASTON, FOURCROY and VAuatiE- 

 LIN published a more comprehensive work on 

 these concretions, in which WOIXASTON'S dis- 

 coveries were confirmed, but without his being 

 mentioned either in that work, or inFouRCROY's 

 Syst. des Connoissances Chymiques, among those 

 who had laboured in that field. But, notwith- 

 standing this omission, to WOLLASTON the ho- 



