The detection of a condition of acidosis is usually a simple matter. The quantitative determination of the degree of acidosis, while most important from the clinical standpoint, is often neglected on account of the difficult and time-consuming procedures necessary to obtain accurate information.
METHODS OF ESTIMATING THE DEGREE OF ACIDOSIS
The degree of acidosis may be determined in several ways. For the purpose of the present discussion, only those methods are considered which have for their object the determination of those forms of acidosis due to the presence of the acetone bodies, seen in their most severe types in diabetes mellitus.1. The method of Stadelmann,1 a classical chapter in the history of the discovery of the abnormal production of organic acids in diabetes, depends on the quantitative estimation of the bases (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and ammonium) and of the inorganic acids of the urine. When organic acids