348 The Philippine Journal of Science 1918 



The average quantity found for the whole series of 236 daily 

 specimens is 935 cubic centimeters. This figure is lower than 

 the averages found for Americans or Europeans, and very much 

 lower than the finding of McCay(i) on the Bengalis, as shown 

 in Table II. This is probably explained by the high humidity 

 and temperature of the Philippine atmospheric air, which cause 

 excessive perspiration. These investigations were carried on 

 during the months of April, May, and June. This deficiency 

 of excretion is corroborated by the findings of Young, (2) on 

 Europeans of long residence in the tropics, that during the hot 

 humid weather the urines are comparatively small in volume and 

 of high specific gravity. 



Specific gravity. — The specific gravity was determined in all 

 cases by means of an ordinary urinometer and the reading was 

 corrected for the temperature by adding one unit of the last 

 order to the observed specific gravity for every 3° above 15° 

 C, the temperature at which the urinometer was calibrated. 



In Europeans and Americans the average specific gravity of 

 normal urine is 1.020 and varies with the health of the individual 

 from 1.015 to 1.025. A very free use of beverages may often 

 cause it to fall below 1.010. Under ordinary conditions, with- 

 out regard to the amount of fluid ingested, so low a specific 

 gravity might point to diabetes insipidus or to Bright's disease 

 with deficiency of urea. A density above 1.030 frequently de- 

 notes sugar in the urine. (3) 



A comparison of these standards with the figures given in 

 Table I shows that the limits of variation in urine are very much 

 wider for Filipinos than for Europeans. The average specific 

 gravity of the Filipino cases varies between 1.003 and 1.031. 

 The average specific gravity over the whole series of 208 daily 

 specimens from laboratory helpers, hospital servants, and Bilibid 

 prisoners is 1.017, and from the students, 1.021; the average 

 for the whole series is 1.019. These results compare favorably 

 with European .'standards and are slightly higher than those 

 found by McCay on the Bengalis. This is to be expected on 

 account of the small volume of urine passed in twenty-four 

 hours. 



Total nitrogen. — Total nitrogen was determined in duplicate 

 by the original Kjeldahl method of estimation. (4) The total 

 nitrogen excreted in twenty-four hours affords a measure of 

 the total nitrogenous catabolism without regard to the specific 

 forms in which the nitrogenous waste products are eliminated. 

 In an individual of average size (70 kilograms) the total daily 

 excretion of nitrogen, according to the results found for Euro- 



