. 



BOEIC ACID AND BORAX. , "\ 159 



UNiVcRibi I T 



NITROGEN. J* 



The mean percentage of nitrogen eliminated in all series (except 

 Series II) for all cases where complete observations are made, is, 

 during the fore periods, 86; during the preservative periods, 85.5, 

 and during the after periods, 81.4. Guided by the preponderance of 

 the testimony, and in spite of the fact that in individual cases the data 

 are contradictory, it is seen that the general tendency of the preserva- 

 tive is to diminish the percentage of nitrogen eliminated in the urine 

 and that this tendency is continued through the after period. This 

 continuance of the effect of the preservative is only an additional evi- 

 dence of the conclusion above stated. In point of fact, during at least 

 half of the after period the preservative remains in considerable, but 

 diminishing, quantities in the system, and the habits of excretion 

 which are set up during the administration of the preservative con- 

 tinue for some time, even after notable quantities of the preservative 

 are no longer present. 



PHOSPHORIC ACID. 



In the case of the phosphoric acid we have the following data: 

 The percentage of the phosphoric acid eliminated in the urine of all 

 the series (except Series II) is 62 in the fore period, 64.1 in the pre- 

 servative period, and 59.6 in the after period. Here the tendency 

 seems to be opposite to that exhibited in the case of nitrogen. There 

 is an increase in the excretion of phosphoric acid during the preserva- 

 tive period; unlike the nitrogen, however, this increase does not persist 

 during the after period. 



REACTION. 



In Tables XXIII-XXVII (p. 163) is given the reaction of the urine 

 as determined upon the whole of the daily sample. Attention should 

 be called to the fact that some time elapsed in each case between the 

 collection of the first part of the daily sample and the end of the day, 

 when all the samples were combined and the reaction taken. The 

 samples were kept always in a cool place, except in cases where they 

 were secured at the rooms of the members of the table. We can not 

 be certain that instructions to keep the sample bottle in a cool place 

 were always followed in these cases. "In any case, the tendency' of 

 the urine to change its reaction on standing must be taken into 

 account, as in some instances parts of the sample may probably have 

 stood for twenty hours, or even longer, before the final test for the 

 reaction was applied. The reactions given are qualitative only and 

 are entered as strongly acid, acid, amphoteric, and alkaline. 



SERIES II. 



Discussing the data as a whole, we find in the cases of Nos. 7 and 

 10, who are compared for the fore and preservative periods, that dur- 



