Am  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
February,  1896.  J 
Character  of  the  Urine. 
87 
This  may  be  due  to  a  temporary  albuminuria  produced  by  the 
drug,  the  latter  possessing  the  property  of  causing  strangury  and 
occasionally  bloody  urine. 
In  such  cases  the  presence  of  albumin  is  transient,  disappearing 
with  the  suspension  of  the  drug. 
Again,  so-called  resin  acids  make  their  appearance  in  the  urine 
after  the  ingestion  of  turpentine,  also  manifesting  themselves  upon 
the  application  of  certain  tests  for  albumin. 
The  amount  of  albumin  found  in  such  urine  varies  apparently 
with  the  amount  of  the  medicine  administered ;  but  it  is  in  some 
instances  surprising  what  little  turpentine  will  produce  a  temporary 
albuminuria.  Other  factors,  which  are  liable  to  cause  nephritic 
disturbances,  independent  of  the  action  of  the  oil,  must,  however, 
also  be  considered,  such  as  febrile  albuminuria  or  incipient  Bright's 
disease. 
A  special  examination  was  made  in  a  case  where  opportunity  was 
offered  to  study  the  effect  of  the  drug  upon  the  urinary  secretion. 
.  The  urine  of  the  patient,  before  the  administration  of  turpentine 
oil,  had  a  normal  specific  gravity,  and  bore  no  evidence  of  either 
albumin  or  sugar. 
Six  drams  of  the  oil  were  administered  in  forty-eight  hours,  at  the 
end  of  which  a  specimen  of  the  urine  was  examined.  The  same  had 
an  acid  reaction,  the  characteristic  odor,  a  brown-red  color,  and  a 
specific  gravity  of  1-032. 
The  examination  for  albumin  gave  the  following  result:  Albumin 
was  found  by  the  heat  test,  nitric  acid  and  picric  acid  contact 
methods,  acetic  acid  and  potassium  ferrocyanide  reaction,  Tanret's 
test,  and  with  concentrated  magnesium  sulphate  in  the  presence  of 
acids  (Roberts'  test). 
Three  days  after  stopping  the  medicine,  the  urine  was  again  ex- 
amined, the  physical  properties  being  nearly  the  same,  the  specific 
gravity,  however,  only  1  025.  Traces  of  albumin  were  still  found, 
but  the  reactions  were  more  feeble. 
Similar  results  were  also  obtained  in  the  examination  of  other 
specimens  of  turpentine  urine. 
The  resin  acids  mentioned  may  coexist  with  the  albuminuria,  and, 
upon  the  application  of  reagents,  may  also  be  precipitated. 
Their  difference  from  albumin  is  shown  by  their  solubility  in 
alcohol. 
