IN RECENT years interest has been displayed in the problem of hepatic function in schizophrenia. In a study concerned with the detoxication of benzoic acid in schizophrenia, Quastel and Wales1 first reported decreased synthesis and excretion of hippuric acid by catatonic patients. The observation that all of a group of 18 catatonic patients excreted subnormal quantities of hippuric acid led these authors to the conclusion that a metabolic disturbance of the liver affecting detoxication of benzoic acid may be a characteristic feature of catatonia. Ström-Olsen and associates2 were unable to confirm this observation, as only 5 of their 28 patients exhibited decreased synthesis and output of hippuric acid. The results of Finkelman and associates3 were somewhat equivocal. These investigators indicated that the average excretion of hippuric acid in 17 catatonic subjects was below normal. However, it is pertinent to note that 9 of their patients had values