Xciii. the Biuret Method of Estimating Albumin and Globulin in Serum

QUANTITATIVE determinations of serum and urinary proteins are of considerable clinical importance; that such estimations are made relatively infrequently is probably due to the lack of a simple yet trustworthy technique. The methods of Esbach and Aufrecht are notoriously crude, while the gravimetric and the Kjeldahl methods are too laborious for ordinary clinical purposes. Of the colorimetric procedures the biuret method and that of Wu [1922] are both reliable, the error usually not exceeding 5 % in experienced hands. The latter however has the disadvantage that the calculations are somewhat involved, and it is moreover more lengthy than the biuret method modified as described below.