A sensitive test of liver function is of prime importance to the syphilologist because of the well-known effects on the liver of the more commonly used antisyphilitic remedies. However, the varied functions of the liver preclude the possibility of a single test being generally applicable,1 and a large number of tests have been devised2 with different alleged functions of the liver as their basis. Two of the more promising of these tests, the phenoltetrachlorphthalein retention determination as proposed by Rosenthal3 and the van den Bergh4 blood bilirubin determination, have already been studied5 in order to evaluate their importance to the physician employing antisyphilitic therapy, and more particularly the arsenobenzenes.
The latest investigations of Elman and McMaster6 indicate that whenever bile pigment reaches the intestine, urobilin is formed, is absorbed into the portal circulation and, normally, is readily removed by the liver. The inability of