Some Observations on the Nature of the ;Bence-Jones' Protein.

The peculiar protein found in the urine in cases of multiple myeloma has, since the time when Bence-Jones first described it,' been found on but few occasions, owing to the rarity of the disease with which it is associated. Notwithstanding this, a great deal of work has been done towards elucidating its characters. The result has been that the various workers have placed it in different classes, and little harmony can be found in the results obtained. This contribution, based upon the study of the protein obtained from an undoubted case, tends to show that the protein bodies found in the urine differ from time to time even in the same case, and probably the true explanation of the varying results found by different observers lies in the fact that, in the disintegration of the bones and tendons, chondro-mucins are liberated which are more or less broken up, and thus excreted differently according to the stage of the disease. The case from which the protein was obtained was that of a miner, aged 30 years, who was first seen on January 11th of this year, when a small protrusion on the right fifth rib was found. He then complained of great weakness and a very poor appetite. His doctor, who had known the man for some time, found that he had wasted very considerably. He gradually became weaker, and on February 8th there was some rigidity in the upper dorsal spinal region. An examination of the nervous system pointed to some involvement of the spinal cord in this region, and on pressing between the spinous processes of the last cervical and first