On intermittent hæmaturia : with remarks upon its pathology and treatment / by George Harley, M.D.

  • Harley, George, 1829-1896.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On intermittent hæmaturia : with remarks upon its pathology and treatment / by George Harley, M.D. 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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    blood-serum in its ready solubility iu an excess of acid. In making tlic analysis it was found necessary to be exceedingly careful with regard to the amount of nitric or acetic acid em- ployed, for after the coagulable point was arrived at the addi- tion of a single drop more of either of these acids instantly redissolved the coagulum, and set the colouring matter free, a circumstance which, taken in conjuncti-on with the uniform diffusion of the pigment and the coagulable matter in the liquid, leads to the conclusion that it was not simply the albumen of the blood-serum, but the hsemato-globulin itself, which was excreted by the kidneys. 4. The case was not one of urobsematuria, such as I have elsewhere described,^ for two reasons—first, on account of the urine being coagulable by heat and nitric acid ; and, secondly, from the fact of the addition of acids diminishing instead of increasing the dark tint of the urine. 5. The bilious appearance of the patients in both cases would lead to the belief that the attacks were in some way or another connected with the disturbance of the hepatic function, which, at least in one case, was distinctly trace- able to malarial poisoning. 6. The copious deposition of urates, as well as the excessive elimination of urea, which takes place during the attack, points to considerable general constitutional dis- turbance. Lastly, the transitory condition of the urinary symptoms show that, whatever might be the nature of the disease, the exciting cause could not be in constant operation, unless we admit that it required distinct periods of incubation, as in ague, which we know is liable to assume an almost endless variety of forms. In conclusion, I have only to re- mark that it is of great clinical, importance to be able to make a correct differential diagnosis between cases like the present and those of ordinary hsematuria, for without it it will be utterly impossible to treat them with much chance of success. > Course of Lectures on the Urine, and Diseases of tlie Urinary Organs; 'Med. Times and Gaz.,* September, 1864.