Contributions to the chemistry of the urine : on the variations in the alkaline and earthy phosphates in the healthy state, and on the alkalescence of the urine from fixed alkalies / by Henry Bence Jones ; communicated by S. Hunter Christie.

  • Jones, Bence, 1814-1873.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contributions to the chemistry of the urine : on the variations in the alkaline and earthy phosphates in the healthy state, and on the alkalescence of the urine from fixed alkalies / by Henry Bence Jones ; communicated by S. Hunter Christie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    XV. Contributions to the Chemistry of the Urine. On the Variations in the Alkaline and Earthy Phosphates in the Healthy State, and on the Alkalescence of the Urine from Fixed Alkalies. By Henry Bence Jones, 31.A., Cantab., Fellow of the College of Physicians. Cotnmunicated by S. Hunter Christie, Esq., Sec. R.S. Received January 23,—Read June 19, 1845. On the Phiriations of the Earthy and Alkaline Phosphates in a healthy state of Urine. Having observed the occurrence of a great excess of earthy phosphates in the urine in some cases of disease, and having made frequent examinations as to the quantity present on successive days, I found so great a discrepancy, that it became necessary before any further progress could be made to ascertain the variations in the amount of earthy phosphates in the urine of a healthy man, and, if possible, to trace the causes which determined the presence of an excess or deficiency of these salts in the urine. At the same time it was thought desirable to note the variations which the alkaline phosphates presented in the same water, and to see if they were influ- enced by the same, or by different causes. A healthy man taking food twice daily, with moderate exercise for three hours, was the subject of the following experiments. The method followed was to take the specific gravity of the urine, if ever it was not strongly acid adding a drop or two of hydrochloric acid. Then from a weighed quantity, usually about 1000 grains, to precipitate the earthy phosphates by means of pure ammonia, to filter, wash with ammoniacal water, and lieat them to redness, adding at last a drop or two of nitric acid. Thus the earthy phosphates were determined. The alkaline phosphates were estimated by taking usually about 500 grains of urine, adding an excess of chloride of calcium and then pure ammonia; by this means all phosphoric acid was precipitated as phosphate of lime ; this was filtered, well-washed, and heated to redness with nitric acid ; by deducting the previously determined earthy phosphates, the difference was considered as alkaline phosphate*. Though neither the calculation nor the method were perfectly accurate, yet they answered well for the purposes of comparison ; and in disease the short delay before a result was arrived at which might determine the diagnosis, and sometimes the treat- * The formation of a small quantity of carbonate of ammonia and the precipitation of some sulphate of lime, which even long washing cannot entirely remove, make the result too high. The equivalent of lime being less than that of soda tends to reduce the error. It must be remembered that the phosphoric acid is pre- cipitated in combination with three equivalents of lime. IMDCCCXLV, 2 Y