STUDIES IN THE CHEMISTRY OF THE SPINAL FLUID OF CHILDREN

Abstract

Due in part to the fact that a new method for the treatment of chorea, necessitating the frequent withdrawal of spinal fluid, has been used at the hospital¹we were fortunate enough, during the past year, to obtain for examination the spinal fluids from a rather large number of children. It appeared of interest to examine these fluids for their nonprotein nitrogenous constituents and their reducing substances, by means of the newer methods of Folin and Denis and their co-workers. NONPROTEIN NITROGENOUS CONSTITUENTS Up to the present, no examinations appear to have been made of the spinal fluid for its nonprotein nitrogenous constituents (total nonprotein nitrogen, urea, uric acid, and creatinin) by means of the accurate and relatively simple methods of Folin and Denis and others.²Woods³examined the spinal fluid in chronic nephritis for total nonprotein nitrogen and urea. He found that the total nonprotein nitrogen was,