Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
February,  1896.  J 
Character  of  the  Urine. 
35 
To  understand  the  reason  for  this  action,  so  closely  allied  to  glu- 
cose, it  is  necessary  to  briefly  dwell  upon  the  metamorphosis  of  such 
compounds  in  the  human  organism  as  far  as  known. 
If  we  examine  many  of  the  remedies,  after  the  administration  of 
which  the  mentioned  properties  of  the  urine  are  found,  it  is  found, 
in  most  instances,  that  their  action  upon  glucose  reagents  is  entirely 
negative. 
Careful  research  has  revealed  the  fact  that  compounds  are  formed 
with  glycuronic  acid,  a  substance  which  has  many  properties  in 
common  with  dextrose  or  ordinary  grape  sugar.  These  compounds 
possess  a  number  of  peculiar  properties,  both  in  chemical  behavior 
and  their  action  upon  polarized  light. 
In  our  subject,  their  action  upon  glucose  reagents  is  of  primary 
importance. 
In  normal  urine,  a  glycuronic  compound  is  stated  to  exist,  the 
indoxyl  glycuronic  acid,  to  which  some  of  the  reducing  action  of 
the  secretion  is  due. 
Again,  in  the  examination  of  glycuronic  urine  in  general,  it  must 
be  remembered,  that  other  urine  constituents  also  possess  a  similar 
action. 
Such  are  uric  acid,  creatinin  and  probably  other  compounds,,  of 
which  we  possess  a  limited  knowledge. 
The  reduction  of  these  compounds  takes  place  at  a  higher  tem- 
perature, in  some  only  after  prolonged  boiling,  which  property  may 
form  a  point  of  distinction  from  diabetic  urine. 
In  the  following  statement  the  writer  will  chiefly  dwell  upon  such 
urine,  which  came  under  personal  observation,  adding  a  few  data 
collected  from  different  works  on  urine  analysis. 
Chloral  Urine.— 'The  peculiar  action  of  this  secretion  upon  glucose 
reagents  has  already  been  mentioned. 
Chloral  hydrate  is  rarely  found  as  such  in  urine,  at  best  only  in 
traces,  and  is  eliminated  as  urochloralicacid. 
This  compound  turns  polarized  light  to  the  left,  a  common  prop- 
erty of  glycuroine  compounds,  reduces  Fehling's  solution,  has  the 
same  action  upon  indigo-sulphuric  acid  as  glucose,  but  does  not 
respond  to  Boettger's  bismuth  test.  In  the  writer's  experience  the 
amount  of  chloral  ingested  influences  the  reducing  power  of  the 
urine  upon  Fehling's  solution. 
Material  increase  of  the  specific  gravity  of  the  secretion  does  not 
