The striking retention of chloride in pneumonia, which I discussed in the preceding paper,1 long ago stimulated investigation concerning the metabolism of other inorganic constituents. Salkowski2 found that the excretion of sodium was greatly diminished while that of potassium was increased. Von Moraczewski3 analyzed the urine and feces of one of his patients for potassium and sodium, and found that the retention of chlorine was accompanied by the retention of a somewhat smaller amount of sodium. There was a continued loss of potassium, which was to have been expected in view of the great loss of nitrogen, which varied from 10 to 22 Gm. per day.
In the same patient and in others, von Moraczewski4 observed a retention of calcium. This observation was confirmed by Peabody,5 who considered it of considerable significance. He made no control experiment and overlooked the fact that his patient received