DISEASES OF THE UEINAEY ORGANS. 



115 



The following table after Tereg^ gives the different conditions of 

 the urine, and especially the amount of urea and hippuric acid under 

 diiferent rations. The subjects were two oxen, weighing, respectively, 

 1,260 pounds and 1.060 pounds : 



The varying amount of urea (from 1.6 to 15.4 ounces) is most sug- 

 gestive as to the action of the more or less nitrogenous food and the 

 resulting concentration of the urine and blood. Hippuric acid, on 

 the other hand^ is most abundant when the animal is fed on hay and 

 straw. 



The specific gravity of the urine of cattle varies from 1,030 to 1,060 

 in health, water being 1,000. It is transparent, with a yellowish tinge, 

 and has a characteristic musky smell. The chemical reaction is alka- 

 line, turning red litmus paper blue. The quantity passed in twenty- 

 four hours varies greatly, increasing not only with the amount of 

 water drunk, but with the amount of albuminoids taken in with the 

 food and the amount of urea produced. If a solution of urea is 

 injected into the veins the secretion of urine is greatly augmented. 

 Similarly the excess of salts like carbonate of potash in the food, or 

 of sugar, increases the action of the kidneys. Only about 20 per cent 

 of the water swallowed escapes in the urine, the remaining 80 per cent 



1 Encyklop. der Thlerheilk., Vol. IV. p. 208. 



