AND OTHER URINARY DEPOSITS 91 



new and, theoretically, more reliable method, but 

 it is not claimed that the results are more than 

 approximate. There is still, therefore, some differ- 

 ence of opinion as to the metabolism of the oxalates, 

 but the following conclusions are becoming generally 

 accepted. 



In ordinary circumstances, the whole of the oxalate 

 in the urine is derived from articles of food. Milk, 

 meat, and bread contain scarcely any oxalate ; most 

 vegetables contain it, and rhubarb, strawberries, 

 and sorrel contain a relatively large quantity. I 

 have by taking much rhubarb induced an attack 

 of oxaluria sufficiently marked to cause a good deal 

 of smarting pain in the urethra from the sharpness 

 of the oxalate crystals. On a milk diet, oxalates 

 disappear from the urine. This may be demonstrated 

 by adding methylated spirit and allowing to stand, 

 when any oxalate present in solution is precipitated 

 in characteristic octahedra. On a milk diet, no such 

 crystals will be obtained. 



None of the ordinary derangements of metabolism 

 cause the appearance of oxalates in the urine if 

 they are withheld from the food. Thus there is no 

 oxaluria in fever, in leukaemia (illustrating the 

 katabolism of nucleoproteins) , or in diabetes. In a 

 case of oxalic acid poisoning under my care, the 

 excretion was enormous, and there was a heavy 

 deposit of calcium oxalate crystals. 



It is not, however, correct to say that oxaluria 

 never occurs on an oxalate-free diet, though such a 

 condition is rare. As is well known, the usual 

 products of bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates 



