(2) Fehling's Method.—Take 10 c.c. Fehling's solution (made by mixing 5 c.c. each of the copper and alkaline solutions described on [page 78]) in a flask or beaker, add three or four volumes of water, boil, and add the urine very slowly from a buret until the solution is completely decolorized, heating but not boiling after each addition.
Fehling's solution is of such strength that the copper in 10 c.c. will be reduced by exactly 0.05 gm. of glucose. Therefore, the amount of urine required to decolorize the test solution contains just 0.05 gm. glucose, and the percentage is easily calculated.
| FIG. 25.—Einhorn's saccharimeter. |
(3) Fermentation Method.—This is convenient and satisfactory, its chief disadvantage being the time required. It depends upon the fact that glucose is fermented by yeast with evolution of CO2. The amount of gas evolved is an index of the amount of glucose. Einhorn's saccharimeter (Fig. 25) is the simplest apparatus.
The urine must be so diluted as to contain not more than 1 per cent. of glucose. A fragment of fresh yeast cake about the size of a split pea is mixed with a definite quantity of the urine measured in the tube which accompanies the apparatus. It should form an emulsion free from lumps or air-bubbles. The long arm of the apparatus is then filled with the mixture. At the end of fifteen to twenty-four hours fermentation will be complete, and the percentage of glucose can be read off upon the side of the tube. The result must then be multiplied by the degree of dilution. Since yeast itself sometimes gives off gas, a control test must be carried out with normal urine and the amount of gas evolved must be subtracted from that of the test.
(2) Levulose, or fruit-sugar, is very rarely present in the urine except in association with glucose, and has about the same significance. Its name is derived from the fact that it rotates polarized light to the left. It behaves the same as glucose with all the ordinary tests, and can be distinguished only by polarization.
(3) Lactose, or milk-sugar, is sometimes present in the urine of nursing women and in that of women who have recently miscarried. It is of interest chiefly because it may be mistaken for glucose. It reduces copper, but does not ferment with yeast. In strong solution it can form crystals with phenylhydrazin, but is extremely unlikely to do so when the test is applied directly to the urine.
3. Acetone Bodies.—This is a group of closely related substances—acetone, diacetic acid, and beta-oxybutyric acid. Acetone is derived from decomposition of diacetic acid, and this in turn from beta-oxybutyric acid by oxidation. The origin of beta-oxybutyric acid is not definitely known, but it is probable that its chief, if not its only, source is in some obscure metabolic disturbance with abnormal destruction of fats. The three substances generally appear in the urine in the order mentioned. When the disturbance is mild, acetone only appears; as it becomes more marked, diacetic acid is added, and finally beta-oxybutyric acid appears. The presence of beta-oxybutyric acid in the blood is probably the chief cause of the form of auto-intoxication known as "acid intoxication."
(1) Acetone.—Minute traces, too small for the ordinary tests, may be present in the urine under normal conditions. Larger amounts are not uncommon in fevers, gastrointestinal disturbances, and certain nervous disorders. Occurrence of acetonuria in pregnancy suggests death of the fetus.
Acetonuria is practically always observed in acid intoxication, and, together with diaceturia, constitutes its most significant diagnostic sign. A similar or identical toxic condition, always accompanied by acetonuria and often fatal, is now being recognized as a not infrequent late effect of anesthesia, particularly of chloroform anesthesia. This postanesthetic toxemia is more likely to appear, and is more severe when the urine contains any notable amount of acetone before operation, which suggests the importance of routine examination for acetone in surgical cases.