Previous studies1 on the chemistry of palmar sweat were carried out on substances (chloride, urea, glucose and uric acid) which were also present in measurable concentration in the blood. In some instances (urea, glucose and uric acid)2 the studies included observations on the concentration in palmar sweat of a chemical constituent at a time when its level in the blood had been raised artificially above normal.
The normal concentration of ammonia in the blood is low (0.1 mg. per hundred cubic centimeters). Studies on renal physiology have shown that the urinary ammonia, known to be normally as high as 40 mg. of ammonia nitrogen per hundred cubic centimeters of urine, is formed by the kidneys. It is thought that by manufacturing ammonia the kidneys act to help conserve the stores of fixed base for the body.3
Barney4 showed that the average total nitrogen concentration per hundred