Selected monographs.

Date:: 1888

Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Selected monographs. Source: Wellcome Collection.

96/440 (page 80)

state of complete decay, albumen will escape from the blood and lympli and show itself in the urine hitherto apparently non-albuminouSj that is, that albuminuria will become deve- loped. Observations which are alleged to prove the contrary must be based upon error or defective investigation, for if not, all our doctrines with regard to specific glandular secre- tion must be thrown to the winds. Fortunately, there is no such discord between observation and theory in the case before us. It is well known that fatty degeneration of the epithelium, of the most intense character, is induced in acute poisoning by phosphorus and with arsenic acid, and a few other toxic agents, and phos- phorus-poisoning, the type of this class, is adduced as evidence against the theory of the participation of the epithelium in albuminuria, because little or no albumen appeared in the urine in cases of this kind. So far as I see, this entirely erroneous view owes its existence to the statements of Stokvis and Kohts (70), who, as a result of their experiments with this poison, felt bound to adopt the conclusion that no connection existed between albuminuria and fatty degeneration, whereas up to that time the observa- tions of Ph. Munk and Leyden (71) had been taken as evidence that albuminuria is an almost constant symptom of poisoning by phosphorus. But in reality the experiments of Stokvis and Kohts do not contradict the hypothesis of a connection between albuminuria and phosphorus-poisoning. As far as Stokvis's experiments are concerned, in the first place he employed as tests nitric acid or acetic acid and boiling, all of which were at that time considered to be sufficient for demonstrating the presence of albumen, though now we know that such is by no means the case (see p. 13 and 14). In the second place, even with these not very delicate tests, he discovered the presence of albuminous substances, viz. serum-albumen and hemi-albumose (propep- tone), in three out of his four experiments, and in the fourth experiment the attempt at poisoning appears to have been altogether unsuccessful.-^ With regard to the hemi-albumose, ' In the notes of his experiments, published by Stokvis, we find as follows: —Exp. I. A rabbit poisoned by phosphorus. Death on the second day. The urine during this time without any trace of albumen. The bladder