An introduction to the diseases of infancy / by J.W. Ballantyne.

  • John William Ballantyne
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to the diseases of infancy / by J.W. Ballantyne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    228/292 (page 182)
    DISEASES OF INFANCY. faults in assimilation from the discovery of a markedly abnormal percentage of urea in the urine of an infant, especially if this be accompanied by a morbid variation in the amount of uric acid present. Schabanowa* has carefully investigated the amount of urea present in the urine in later infancy and in childhood, and has found that the absolute quantity increases steadily with the increase in age until the fourth year, after which time it decreases. She has also been able to demonstrate that the amount of albuminoids in the food has a great influence upon the quantity of urea excreted, although the amount of water produces but a trifling effect upon this constituent of the urine. d. Chlorides, Phosphates, and Sulphates.—With regard to the chlorides of the urine of infancy different statements have been made ; but Parrot and Robin are probably right in asserting that chlorides are always present in the urine of the infant, although sometimes they exi.st only as a mere trace. It has been found that age produces an effect upon the quantity of chlorides present, althougli body-weight and temperature do not seem to have any influence upon the amount of these salts per litre of urine. Unlike the urea, the chlorides increase progressively per litre of urine from the time of birth up to the thirtieth day of life. Parrot gives the average quantity of chlorides excreted per litre of urine, and between the ages of three and thirty days, as 0-79 gr., or as 0'22 gr. per kilogr. of body-weight. Most authors are agreed that phosphates are present, although in small quantities, in the urine at the time of birth. Parrot and Robin have found that the quantity of phosphates varies to a great degree in different infants, and they believe the age of the infant is the chief cause of such variations. Their analyses would seem to show that the infant excretes more phosphoric acid per litre of urine from the sixteenth to the thirtieth day than from the first to the fifteenth day, and that the largest quantity pi’esent in healthy urine is 1*95 gr. per litre, or 0'47 gr. per kilogr. of body-weight. The quantity of both the chlorides and phosphates of the urine is markedly affected by the diet of the infant. Sulphates are present in the urine at birth and during infancy, but in such small quantities as to prevent any accurate analyses being made.