Selected monographs.

Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Selected monographs. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    not always, at least in a greater or loss number of cases, both substances escape, though, possibly not in equal propor- tions. And the fact accords with our expectation, for in most cases in which coagulable albumen is found on heating the urine, we are able to demonstrate the presence of both serum-albumin and globulin. It therefore certainly appears not impossible that, under certain circumstances only one of these substances should pass into the urine, at least in an appreciable amount, for different as may be the views with regard to the process of excretion of albumen in the kidneys (and these views are by no means clear, as we shall presently see), they all agree in allowing that the capacity for diffusion and filtration possessed by the various albuminous substances plays a considerable part in their excretion. In this respect, however, there is an important difference between the two albuminous substances which normally occur in the blood, for globulin is much more diffusible (possibly also more capable of passing through a filter) than serum-albumin, and therefore much more likely to be found in the urine, supposing that fluid to contain only one albuminous substance in appreciable quantity. If the recent statement of Estelle (12) be verified, which is to the effect that sometimes only the albuminous substance which is preci- pitated by magnesium sulphate (viz. globulin) is to be found in the urine, this theoretical assumption would be thereby remarkably confirmed, and it would be necessary to make use of the term globulinuria.'' At present, however, sufiacient attention has not been paid to this subject, and the methods in use for demonstrating the presence of globulin are, as Hammarsten (13) has shown, unsuitable for the purpose, inasmuch as they are inexact, and altogether fail for the detection of small quantities. It is therefore to be anticipated that the new method described by Hammarsten, and used also by Estelle, will enable us to detect globulin in the urine, in larger quantities, and more often than at present. That serum-albumin alone should pass into the urine, that is, that a pure serinuria,'' as it might be called, should occur, is less probable from the reasons given above. It is true that up to the present time the fact that globuHn has not, in all cases, been found associated with the serum- «