﻿U r e i u c ’).
By W. Ovid Moo r,
of New-York City, U. S. A.
Communication to the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St.-Petersburg, Russia. CIX.1900.
About one year ago I began studies regarding substances, which could be easily oxydized and which gave as a proof of their easy oxydability the characteristic blue reaction which we observe, when we bring in contact morphine with a solution of Ferrid-Kalium-Cyanat and Ferrum-Sesquichloratum. To my great astonishment I found that the human urine contained a large quantity of some organic substance, which gave this blue reaction in a very intense manner. Numerous and exact investigations forced me to the conclusion, that none of the known organic or inorganic substances of the urine could account for this blue reaction, and that therefore some until the present unknown chemical body must be the cause of this strange phenomenon. For the last three months I labored in vain to isolate this mysterious body, until at last, on July 5 th, 1900, 1 discovered, that the human urine contained a liquid organic body, in a quantity superior to urea (Harnstoff). It is not surprising that the existence of a metabolism-product of such paramount importance should have escaped the observation of all investigators, for every urinary analyses until the present moment has been made with the firmly rooted idea, that urine is a liquid composed of water and inorganic and organic solid ingredients.
For obvious reasons it must be evident, that the principal scope of this communication will be a description of the method to be employed for the isolation of this new constituent of urine; an accurate knowledge of its physical and chemical characteristics and of its clinical importance in relation to the pathological conditions of the body can be only the result of careful and assiduous investigations by serious workers all over the world.
In isolating this organic liquid, two principal rules should be followed:
1)	Avoidance of high temperatures.
2)	Avoidance, as far as posible, of chemicals.
The urine to be examined for its organic liquid should be put in a large, shallow, flat recipient and should be evaporated at a temperature of not over 50" Celsius. If the quantity of the urine should be considerable, it would be advisable to evaporate simultaneously in several recipients. As soon as we observe that there is no more vapor ascending from the recipient for about ten
‘) Nous faisons paraître ce travail uniquement parce que notre jeune savant Kouljaliko a jugé nécessaire de contrôler les déductions plus qu'étonnantes de Mr. Moor. Le travail de Mr. Ivou-Ijabko suivra immédiatement celui de Mr. Moor.	Note de la Rédaction.