28 Prager Vierteljahrschrift, xiv. 3, 1857, S. 88.
29 Ibid., xvii. 3, 1860, S. 59.
30 Wiener Med. Presse, No. 28, 1865.
31 Centralbl. für d. med. Wiss., No. 55, 1874.
32 Liebig's Annalen, Bd. 182, S. 362.
33 Ibid., Bd. 209, S. 25.
34 Zeitschrift für physiol. Chemie, vi. 6.
35 "Beiträge zur Lehre von der Acetonurie und von verwandten Erscheinungen," Deutsch. Archiv für klin. Med., xxxiv., 2 Oct., 1883, S. 127.
Gerhardt early discovered a substance in the urine of diabetics and habitual drinkers which struck a deep-red reaction with chloride of iron. This he considered was the source of acetone, and was probably ethyl diacetate or diacetic ether, which by decomposition yields equal molecules of acetone and alcohol; thus:
C4H5O3C2H5 + H2O = C3H6O + CO2 + C2H6O.
Ethyl diacetate. Water. Acetone. Alcohol.