ANALYSIS OF DIABETIC URINE» ^33 



posed of a multitude of small grains void of consistency. 

 These soft granulous crystals being scarcely sweet, it was 

 patural to suppose, that the substance which formed them 

 ivas not homogenealj and included but a very small quan- 

 tity of the saccharine principle. To ascertain this the fol- 

 Ipwing experiments were made. 



A hundred parts of this substance were distilled in a re- Saccharine 

 tort, the neck of which entered into a receiver kept con- lyiatter di:i- 

 stantly cool. The products were a great deal of water, but 

 little oil, no ammonia, a larger quantity of gasses that were 

 but slightly fetid, and a tolerably bvilky coal, easy to in- 

 cinerate, and when completely incinerated yielding two 

 parts and half pf common salt, and half a part of phosphate 

 of lime. 



From this result we may deduce the following consequen- General con- 

 ,ces: 1. that this substance contained no animal matter, since elusions. 

 it yielded no volatile alkali on calcination: 2. that it con- 

 tained very little saline matter, since when reduced to ashes 

 it afforded only a residuum equal to a few hundredths of 

 jts weight : 3. that it was formed of vegetable principles, 

 since it afforded all their products on distillation. 



Presuming sugar to be one of these principles, and not permRnted 

 being able to form any conjecture respecting the nature of with water aad 

 those with which we considered it to be mixed, we deter- ^^"^ ' 

 mined to have recourse to fermentation, to destroy the first 

 without altering the others, so that by filtration and evapo- 

 ration we might obtain them very pure. We put into a 

 large jar 100 gram. [1544*5 grs.] of the substance to be 

 analysed, 25 gr. [386*125 grs.] of yeast, and 500 gr. [7722*5 

 grs.] of water: to the tubulure of this jar we fitted a tube 

 terminating under a jar filled with water: and the tem- 

 perature being raised to 18° [64*4" F.], the whole was left 

 to itself. Some hours after these matters had been thus left 

 together, a movement was apparent in some parts of the 

 fluid, which soon became general. A great deal of floccu- 

 lent matter, from which a considerable number of bubbles 

 issued, was raised up, and carried to some height in the 

 fluid. These bubbles passed rapidly into the jars fdled 

 with water, but the flocks fell to the bottom of the vessel, 

 ^nd, giving birth to tijew bubbles, roae again, to be precipi- 

 tated 



