848 THE CHEMISTRY OF THE SECRETIONS. 
are compared with those given by Yerdeil. There is a 
general agreement in many points, but Jarisch finds no 
carbonic acid, and his percentages of soda and potash differ 
considerably from those given by Verdeil. The following is 
the mean percentage of the various constituents calculated 
from four analyses: 
Phosphoric anhydride 
. 0T103 
Sulphuric anhydride 
. 0*0358 
Chlorine .... 
. 0-2805 
Potash. 
. 0-0342 
Soda. 
. 0-3748 
Lime. 
. 0-0112 
Magnesia .... 
. 0-0058 
Iron oxide .... 
. 0-0948 
Calculated total, 0-8640; 
found, 0*8922. 
•Ann. C/iem. Rharm. 
THE CHEMISTRY OE THE SECRETIONS. 
Under the title of “The Chemical Modifications which 
the Secretions undergo under the Influence of some Agents 
which modify the Blood-Globule,” M. Ritter has written a 
thesis for the Doctorate of Sciences of Paris, which is 
abstracted in the Revue des Cours Scientifiques, and which 
furnishes an important contribution to the history of the 
secretions. He has sought to determine the influence exer¬ 
cised on the composition of the secretions, and especially 
of the urine, by various agents—oxygen, protoxide of 
nitrogen, oxide of carbon, antimonials, arsenical salts, phos¬ 
phorus, and the sodic salts of the acids of the bile. Omitting 
the details of his experiments, the following are his principal 
results. 
Inhalations of oxygen ought evidently to accelerate organic 
combustion, and consequently to augment the quantity of 
the products of advanced combustion contained in the urine. 
The experiments of M. Ritter accordingly demonstrate that 
in these cases the urine is more acid; it contains more ammo- 
niacal salts; the proportion of urea to uric acid augments; 
but, on the other hand, the quantity of urea, as well as the 
total quantity of nitrogen, eliminated by the urine, diminishes. 
There is here a contradiction—apparent, at least—between 
facts and theory. But may not the urea itself be burnt also? 
May it not be transformed into water, carbonic acid, and 
nitrogen, which are eliminated by the respiratory organs? 
And, in fact, Allen and Pepys, Regnault and Reiset, have 
