GENERAL STATEMENT.
The idea that the body may become poisoned by acid humors dates from the legendary days of medicine, but the conception of an intoxication referable to acid products of metabolism is a result of the rigid application of chemical laws to physiologic processes.The theory of acid intoxication in its current form attributes to the acid action of principles arising from processes of metabolism a definite symptom-complex, occurring chiefly in diabetes, but seen in less striking form in many other diseases. For carnivorous animals it is easy to name the sources of such acid products of metabolism. They are found in the high phosphorus and sulphur content of the protein molecule, which, on oxidation, yields phosphoric and sulphuric acids. They appear in the long series of fatty acids which form the combustion-products of the fats. They arise also in the series of changes in carbohydrates from glycogen through