URINE 427 



dermatitis, osteomalacia, atrophy of the kidneys, and in sarcomata 

 of the bones of the trunk. The presence of proteose in the urine may 

 frequently be demonstrated in any pathological condition in which there 

 is absorption of partially digested pus. "Bence-Jones' protein," a 

 proteose-like substance, is of interest in this connection and its appear- 

 ance in the urine is believed to be of great diagnostic importance in 

 cases of multiple myeloma or myelogenic osteosarcoma. By some in- 

 vestigators this protein is held to be a variety of he tero-proteose, whereas 

 others claim that it possesses albumin characteristics. The origin of 

 " Bence-Jones' protein" is unknown. Its origin has at various times 

 been ascribed to the blood proteins, the bones or to abnormal metabo- 

 lism of protein material in the body. It occurs in the urine in about 

 80 per cent of the cases of multiple myeloma. If its presence is unac- 

 companied by multiple myeloma it is nearly always associated with 

 some disease of the blood-forming organs or of the bones. When 

 " Bence-Jones' protein" is hydrolyzed it is found to contain all the amino- 

 acids which are characteristic of typical proteins. 



Peptone certainly occurs much less frequently as a constituent of 

 the urine than does proteose, in fact most investigators seriously ques- 

 tion its presence under any conditions. There are many instances 

 of peptonuria cited in the early literature, but because of the uncertainty 

 in the conception of what really constituted a peptone it is probable that 

 in many cases of so-called peptonuria the protein present was really 

 proteose. 



EXPERIMENTS 



1. Phosphotungstic Precipitation Test (v. Aldor). Acidify 10 c.c. of urine 

 with hydrochloric acid, add phosphotungstic acid until no more precipitate forms 

 and centrifugate 1 the solution. Decant the supernatant fluid, add some abso- 

 lute alcohol to the precipitate, and centrifugate again. This washing with alcohol 

 is intended to remove the urobilin and hence should be continued so long as the 

 alcohol exhibits any coloration whatever. Now suspend the precipitate hi water 

 and add potassium hydroxide to bring it into solution. At this point the solution 

 may be blue in color, in which case decolorization may be secured by gently 

 heating. Apply the biuret test to the cool solution. A positive biuret test indi- 

 cates the presence of proteoses. 



2. Boiling Test. Make the ordinary coagulation test according to the di- 

 rection given under Albumin, page 424. If no coagulable protein is found allow 

 the boiled urine to stand and note the gradual appearance, in the cooled fluid, of 

 a flaky precipitate of proteose. Spiegler's reaction may also be applied at this 

 point. A precipitate indicates proteose. 



3. Schulte's Method. Acidify 50 c.c. of urine with dilute acetic acid and filter 

 off any precipitate of nucleoprotein which may form. Now test a few cubic centi- 



1 If not convenient to use a centrifuge the precipitate may be filtered off and washed on 

 the filter paper with alcohol. 



