30 
JOHN R. HART. 
The quantity of toxic matter eliminated by the kidney in. 
twenty-four hours is, without doubt, sufficient to kill the whole 
body. Now, if the kidney is unable to do its work properly 
from some previous ill condition, or has been doing some extra 
work for the liver, the blood will quickly become contaminated^ 
and the result will be azoturia, as if all the bile secreted in 
eight hours was introduced suddenly into the blood, we should 
see fatal nervous effects produced immediately; but, as elimina¬ 
tion is incessantly being effected through the kidneys, and as 
the fibres of connective tissues are being incessantly colored,, 
whilst the blood reabsorbs only gradually, nervous accidents are 
thus averted. The tissues serve to protect the organism against 
these poisons. Experiments have shown that this coloring mat¬ 
ter is ten times more poisonous than biliary matter, salts be¬ 
coming fixed. 
When we consider the functions of the kidney we are more 
able to understand the important work the kidney is called 
upon to perform in this disease of azoturia. It eliminates all 
superfluous matter that may arise ; blood filled with effete mate¬ 
rial will stop the secretion. It requires the kidney to be con¬ 
siderably diseased, for owing to its permeability it is sufficient 
alone to eliminate the poison formed by the organism in propor¬ 
tion to its production. Below this rate commences intoxication. 
But before this arises we see abnormal phenomena appear. 
Bhrst, albuminuria (albuminuria is the accident of bad repute in 
diseases of the kidney). The extreme cases belong chiefly to- 
amyloid nephritis, because in such the liver, spleen, stomach, 
and intestines are diseased, all the organs whose function it is to- 
transform the peptones of digestion into serum-albumen have 
undergone deterioration at the same time as the kidneys. When 
such a large number of organs are diseased we can scarcely re¬ 
gard all the accidents which happen as due to renal imperme¬ 
ability. We cannot say that there is uraemia, nor even kidney 
disease. There is a general disease of organs concerned in as¬ 
similation. 
The inability of the kidney to do this extra amount of work 
