382 THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY HERB DOCTOR. 
any acid will cause them to disappear. Clinical significance 
—Amorphous lime phosphate cccurs when the urine becomes 
alkaline under vegetabic diet, and after nervous exhaustion; 
the crystalline lime phosphate usually :ndicates grave disease, 
as consumption, cancer, diabetes ; the ammonia sme] almost 
always comes from the decomposition of urea. Lime 
oxalate: This deposit is crystailine in form, and is best 
recognised by the microscope: in excess 3t 18 the oxalic acid 
diathesis. Mucus: it occurs in smali quantities in healthy 
urine. It appears as a lignt cloud, which slewly sinks to the 
bottom of the glass. It has the colour of the urine, when 
filtered it is transparent and glairy, it entangles the other 
deposits, and they conceal its presence. It is more ropy than 
pus, but frequently the microscope is required to distinguish 
between them. When pathological. 11 comes from a chronic 
inflammation, or an ammoniacal decompos:tion of the urine 
in the bladder. 
2. In the second class of deposits (those foreign to healthy 
urine) the chief forms are, pus, biood, oii, and chyle. Pus: 
It is found in turbid urine, naving a whitish deposit of ropy 
consistency A few drops of liquor potash, turn it into a 
‘semi-solid, ropy. gelatinous mass, well shown when dropped 
from a test-tube. Pus, in small quantities, especially in 
females, may have no clinical significance ; but when it forms 
a visible deposit it becomes important. It may come from 
any part of the genito-urinary tract, or from any abscess. 
opening into it. Blood: When it appears as a sediment, it is 
usually of a blood red colour, (uric acid is more of a dark 
brown colour.) It is best detected by finding the blood 
corpuscles under the microscope. It indicates a hemorrhage in 
the urinary tract, which may come from a variety of causes. 
Oil: It is recognised under the microscope, and ay 
indicates fatty degeneration of the kidneys. 
8. The third class of substances in the urine which dias 
‘disease give no deposits. They are, albumen, sugar, and bile. 
Albumen: Albuminous urine has a low specific gravity—1005 
to 1015. In acid urine the albumen is coagulated and thereby 
