Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... Chapter iii the tests for sugar, acetone, acetoacetic acid, and oxybutyric acid On the question of the occurrence of sugar in the urine a vast amount has been written. At one time, indeed until within quite recent years, it was generally assumed that normal urine contains no sugar or carbohydrate of any kind. But present methods of research seem to throw doubt on the truth of this view. It is not possible to separate small traces of sugar from a complex liquid like the urine so that the body separated may be recognized by its sensible properties. On the contrary we must depend on the results of certain reactions given by sugar solutions and in many instances by other organic bodies, and it is on the proper interpretation of these reactions that the authorities differ. Some of these reactions for traces will be explained below. In this place it suffices to say that the leading physiological chemists of the present time are nearly unanimous in holding that traces of the sugar known as dextrose exist normally in urine, in other words, that there may be such a condition as physiological glycosuria as distinguished from the well-known pathological condition characterized by the presence of relatively large amounts of sugar in the urine and named diabetes mellitus. The amount of sugar believed to be normally present is very small and cannot be recognized by the first three or four tests given below. An amount of sugar in the urine sufficient to have clinical importance is readily recognized by many tests. The characteristics of urine in true diabetes are these: It has a specific gravity higher than normal, usually between 1.030 and 1.040, and this with a greatly increased quantity. A high s
