A contribution to urology, embracing observations on the diurnal variations in the acidity of the urine, chiefly in relation to food / by William Roberts, B.A.

  • William Roberts
Date:
[1859]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A contribution to urology, embracing observations on the diurnal variations in the acidity of the urine, chiefly in relation to food / by William Roberts, B.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    The results obtained on these seven days correspond closely with the foregoing, but they are exhibited in a less exaggerated degree. On the fii-st and sixth days the urine after breakfast maintained its acidity, though on the first it was greatly reduced. On the sixth day the eflPect of both breakfast and dinner was comparatively small. On all the other days the urine became alkaline after both meals. The succession of events after each meal was quite uniform throughout. In an hour or two the acidity of the urine began to decline, and it sank to a minimum or changed to alkalinity at the second, third, or fourth hours; then, beginning to recover, the acidity gradually increased in degree until it attained its ordinary level. No depar- ture from this sequence of events occurred, even as an exception. What may be the circumstances which cause the very considerable inequalities between the several days, and between this set of observations and the preceding, — why a meal one day should only produce a slight depres- sion of the acidity, another day render the urine neutral or faintly alkaline, and a third day change it for several hours to a strongly alkaline reaction, — is not capable of complete answer. But several of the disturbing causes have revealed themselves in the course of these observa- tions, and will be discussed later on. The effect of mixed food was further ascertained on four additional days, on which the times of emission of the urine were so irregular that the day tables could not be collected into one table of averages. On three of these, instead of being confined'to two meals a day, the subject of experiment partook of four meals, which was according to his customary habit of life; and at dinner and supper he was allowed a pint of ale.
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