358 



Mr. J. B. Power. 



[Feb. 16, 



others were conducted in a similar manner. But in some instances I 

 also filtered the aliquot part of the bath-water in order to get rid of 

 epithelium, and then estimated the nitrogen in 100 cub. centims. of 

 the filtrate; the result gave me the soluble nitrogen, i.e., nitrogen 

 present in some soluble compound, and the difference between this 

 value and that afforded by the fluid containing suspended epithelium 

 gave me the weight of the nitrogen present in the insoluble condition 

 in the same portion of the bath-water. In the tabular statement I 

 have noted the instances in which this additional estimation was 

 made. I may here note that I examined the deposit from the water 

 of the bath under the microscope, and found it to contain scarcely a 

 trace of anything but epithelial scales. 



Funke, by the only two completed analyses which he made, found 

 in one case 0*198 grm. and in another 0*2935 grm. of soluble nitrogen 

 excreted by the entire skin in one hour. But it must be remembered, 

 as I have already pointed out, that his numbers are calculated values 

 from imperfect data, and are not the results of direct determinations 

 of the quantities excreted by the entire body in a given time. 



In the accompanying table I give the results of twenty-five experi- 

 ments upon six different individuals, viz., two healthy subjects and 

 four hospital patients : cases which I considered suitable for treatment 

 by the hot air bath. It will be seen that the greatest quantity of 

 soluble nitrogen which I find to be excreted by the entire skin, in a 

 case of B right's disease (B) is 0*2392 grm. per hour. In experi- 

 ment 1, case A (a healthy subject) we find that the quantity of 

 soluble nitrogen excreted per hour is as low as 0*038 grm. And I find 

 that the mean result of all my direct experiments, upon healthy and 

 unhealthy subjects, gives 0*0824 grm. of soluble nitrogen collected 

 from the entire skin in one hour. The difference between Funke's 

 and my results may be in part due to the circumstance that my 

 experiments were made upon the body in a state of rest, while 

 Funke's were made nnder conditions of violent exercise, which I, 

 accepting the views of Liebig, so strongly supported by the more recent 

 experiments of Professor Flint,* believe to be always accompanied by 

 waste of animal tissue and consequent increased excretion of nitrogen. 

 With regard to Funke's estimation of the possible excretion of 

 nitrogen per diem, amounting to as much as from 4*76 to 7*045 grms., 

 I believe it to be excessive. He arrives at these results by multiply- 

 ing the quantity obtained in an hour by twenty-four, necessarily 

 assuming the constancy of the sweat secretion, which assumption is 

 contradictory to the statement made in another part of his paper, to 

 the effect that " in one or two hours the quantity of the supply begins 

 to diminish, even though the temperature and movement remain un- 



* " American Journ. Med. Science," vol. lsiii, n. s., p. 163. 



