Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.\ 
August,  1897.  J 
The  Normal  Urine. 
411 
arts  and  trades,  or  those  who  regard  the  aid  of  this  special  science, 
should  ally  themselves  in  some  movement  or  purpose  having  the 
education  of  the  American  youth  in  view.  Beyond  the  pale  of  com- 
merce there  is  indeed  very  little  conception  of  the  vast  inroad  which 
German  manufacturing  chemists  have  made  upon  our  industries. 
We  are  paying  a  very  expensive  tribute  to  their  foresight  in  foster- 
ing a  talent  among  their  own  people,  which  we  neglect  or  overlook 
in  ours.  We  are  paying  large  annual  sums  to  foreign  firms  and 
corporations  for  products  which  we  can,  and  should  make.  In  no 
region  are  crude  materials  so  abundant  as  in  our  own  country.  A 
utility  of  these  would  add  to  our  national  wealth — give  employment 
to  our  educated  labor — instead  of  contributing  to  foreign  capital. 
We  need,  now,  urgently,  every  possible  advance  of  occupation 
availed  of  in  this  country;  our  hands  stand  ready  reaching  for 
employment.  In  this  also,  we  have  involved  a  most  serious  social 
problem,  a  growing  condition  which  will  require  adjustment  in  the 
not  distant  future,  when  it  may  require  more  wisdom  to  adjust 
than  the  present  need  demands. 
-   ■   o 
THE  NORMAL  URINE.1 
By  Charles  Pi,att. 
The  various  compilations  current  as  "  Text-books  of  Urine  Analy- 
sis "  differ  materially  in  their  statements  as  to  the  average  compo- 
sition of  a  normal  urine.  In  many  cases,  indeed,  the  authors  have 
not  even  attempted  to  reconcile  their  "totals"  with  the  figures  given 
for  individual  constituents;  but  aside  from  this,  which  is,  of  course, 
the  result  of  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  compiler,  we  find  great 
variations  in  the  original  figures,  due  not  so  much  to  errors  of  deter- 
mination as  to  failure  to  secure  representative  samples  for  analysis. 
Normals  determined  for  one  nationality,  or  for  one  class  of  one 
nationality,  are  commonly  applied  indiscriminately  to  all  without 
regard  to  fundamental  differences  in  conditions.  For  instance,  the 
average  American's  habit  of  life  is  not  that  of  the  German  student, 
and  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  the  majority  of  figures  given  in  our  text- 
books have  originated  with  the  observations  of  German  professors, 
working  in  conjunction  with  their  student  assistants. 
In  view  of  this  laxity  in  text-book  statement,  the  writer  has  for 
lJour.  Amer.  Chem.  Soc,  19,  383. 
