HEMATOLOGICAL, PLASMATIC AND URINARY VALUES OF PLATANISTIDAE 249 



The présence of proteins and blood was due to the method employed for the 

 collection of the urine (incision of the bladder). 



The urea value is approximately the same as that found for Stenella (De 

 Monte and Pilleri, 1970). The urinary urea (U)/blood urea (B) ratio in Platauista 

 bas a mean value of 13.93 vvhereas in Inia and Stenella it is about 20. 



Traces of glucose were présent in the urine of one spécimen of P. indi 

 (Ç, No' 456). This is the first time that we bave found glucose in the urine of a 

 cetacean. The animal in question was killed, hke spécimen No. 455, by ether 

 anaesthesia. Since the glycemia level of this spécimen is not known, we cannot 

 offer an explanation for our fînding. The spécifie enzyme, glucosidase, was used 

 for the détermination. 



In the literature published to date, Ridgway et al. (1968) are the only authors 

 who report on finding a glycemia level of more than 200 mg % in a Tursiops in 

 captivity. This was not accompanied by glycosuria or clinical symptoms of 

 diabètes. The same authors report a case of diabètes in another Tursiops in 

 captivity (personal communication of Kenney). 



The urinary levels of the electrolytes are similar to those measured in other 

 cetaceans (H. T. Andersen, S. Andersen, Bentley; Boice and Roberts; De 

 Monte and Pilleri, 1970; Eichelberger et al.; E. S. Fetcher, E. S. Fetcher and 

 G. W. Fetcher, Malvin and Rayner; Ridgway, 1965). 



When we investigated the urinary sédiment of Inia we found, for the first 

 time, calcium oxalate crystals, hexagonal crystals resembling xanthine and 

 dibasic calcium phosphate crystals (De Monte and Pilleri, 1970). Calcium 

 oxalate crystals are also présent in Platanista (Fig. 3c, d), together with dibasic 

 calcium phosphate crystals (Fig. 3c, d) and crystals resembling xanthine, some of 

 which are distinctly rhomboid in shape (Fig. Aa, b) and others hexagonal (Fig. Ad). 

 Their colour is yellowish. The composition of thèse crystals (uric acid com- 

 pound ?) that have so far only been found in the family Platanistidae is not yet 

 known. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We wish to thank Mrs. Diane von Nordheim, Geneva, for the translation of 

 the Italian text. 



Summary 



The présent paper contains a report on the results of investigations carried 

 out on some species of the family Platanistidae {Inia geoffrensis, Platanista indi and 

 P. gangetica). Thèse results concern the nucleated cells of the peripheral blood. 



