On the Quantitative Determination of Acetone in the Urine.’

Although a number of methods have been devised for the quantitative estimation of acetone in the urine, at the present time the method of Messinger,2 as modified by Huppert,s is the one most frequently employed, and is usually regarded as the most accurate one at our command.4 A recent paper by Folin5 offers the first satisfactory method for separately determining the acetone and diacetic acid of the urine. By this method, acetone and diacetic acid are estimated by the Messinger-Huppert method; acetone is separately estimated by drawing it into a suitable absorbing solution by means of a current of air. From these data the diacetic acid may be calculated by subtracting the amount of acetone obtained by means of the air current, from the acetone determined by the Messinger-Huppert method. Folin has shown that under the conditions of his method practically all of the acetone in 20 cc. of the urine is by a continuous current of air, in twenty-five minutes, transferred to the absorbing cylinder, and may there be rapidly estimated by titration. In a preceding paper, I have shown that my experiments following those of Folin corroborate the correctness of his statements. While working with Folin’s method, the thought occurred to me that if we could convert diacetic acid into acetone, both could be transferred by a current of air to the absorbing bottle,