Urine has medical and practical applications though history. Renaissance alchemist Hennig Brand discovers phosphorus by boiling his pee. Aged urine is used in tanning hides. Urine of people and animals compliments alchemy experiments, industrial mixtures and healing elixirs.
In Hamburg, Hennig Brand keeps a laboratory for research and experiments into the quest for the legendary Philosopher's Stone. The lapis philosophorum is a substance believed to have the power to transform base into precious metals, heal all disease and grant eternal life.
In 1669 Brand is working in his laboratory with the favorite and most readily available body fluid of alchemists, urine. Its golden color suggests it holds the secret to gold creation.
Heating residues from boiled-down urine on his furnace around 1669, Brand sees the retort has turned red hot. Suddenly, glowing fumes fill the vessel and liquid drips out and bursts into flames.
As he catches the liquid in a jar and covers it, Brand finds it solidifies and glows pale-green. The name he gives this substance, phosphorus, derives from the Greek term meaning light-bearing or light-bearer. Phosphorus is a chemical element of the nitrogen family.
Urine contains certain water-soluble waste products of cellular metabolism. These are:
urea - colorless crystalline compound, the primary nitrogen byproduct of protein metabolism in mammals, eliminated through urine.
uric acid - a chemical created when the body breaks down purines. Purines are colorless crystalline compounds forming uric acid on oxidation. A buildup of uric acid crystals in the joints can lead to kidney stones and gout.
creatinine - from breakdown of creatine, a compound created through protein metabolism and present in living tissue. It helps supply of energy for muscular contraction.
Urine has the widest pH range (acidity to alkalinity) of the bodily fluids. According to the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the normal urine pH range is between 4.5 and 8. Any pH higher than 8 is basic or alkaline, and any under 6 is acidic.
P is the chemical symbol for phosphorus, which alchemist Hennig Brand discovers in his pee. His recipe calls for extreme fermentation of urine, which later is discovered unnecessary. Due to the chemistry and qualities of urine it's often found in alchemical creations.
Urine is important to the earth's nitrogen cycle. In balanced ecosystems, urine fertilizes soil, helping plant growth with the elements it contains. In the past, aged or fermented urine (lant) is used in gunpowder, verdigris, household cleaning, tanning leather and dyeing textiles.
Infant's urine or "urine of an uncorrupted youth" appears in ancient alchemy recipes as a source of phosphates and ammonia. For example:
Sulfur Water
A handful of lime and another of sulfur in fine powder; place them in a vessel containing strong vinegar or the urine of an infant. Heat it from below, until the supernatant liquid appears like blood. Decant this properly in order to separate it from the deposit, and use.
Preparation of Emerald
Mix and put together in a small jar 1/2 a drachma of copper green, 1/2 a drachma of Armenian blue, 1/2 a cup of the urine of an uncorrupted youth, and two-thirds of the fluid of a steer’s gall.
In medical history pee has been used to treat:
wounds & abrasions
allergies
infection & inflammation
heart problems
nasal congestion
acne
rash and other skin ailments.
To treat medical conditions urine is consumed, applied directly or in a poultice or ointment with wood ash (skin afflictions, wounds) or other components depending on the desired effects. The term "urine" is among many names allocated to the prima materia of alchemists.
During recent excavations in Rome, archaeologists discover a valuable collection of medical tools at the Forum of Caesar, dating to the Renaissance. Finds include ancient medicine bottles and glass urine flasks. The flasks are used to collect urine samples for diagnostic purposes.
In medieval Latin texts the glass urine flasks are listed as matulae (sing. matula), specialized for the practice of urine analysis. Uroscopy is the medical examination of urine to help diagnose a disease or disorder.
A uroscopy flask must be transparent glass, as colorations or deformations in the glass can lead to misdiagnosis. The flask is often circular at bottom, and has an opening into which the patient urinates. Examining urine is one of the oldest forms of diagnostic testing.
The temperature of the urine during uroscopy is crucial. After a patient urinates, the pee is naturally warm. It's crucial to maintain the warmth for accurate assessment. The external temperature must match the internal temperature.
As urine cools, bubbles therein exhibit changes. Some dissipate while others persist. With decreasing temperature, evaluation of particles and impurities is more difficult. They gather in the center of the container to mix before settling down.
Prolonged cooling increases likelihood of crystal bonding, leading to thickening of the urine. Again, this thickening can result in misdiagnosis. Timely urine inspection by doctors is essential.
Earliest documented use of uroscopy as a way to identify symptoms of an illness date to the 4th millennium BCE. It becomes common practice in Classical Greece, going back to Hippocrates (c. 460 - 375 BCE).
Once outside the body, urine can develop a potent reek due to contamination by bacteria decomposing urea to ammonia. This smell also indicates urinary tract infection. Ancient and medieval physicians use the smell or taste of the patient's urine to help diagnose disease.
For instance, a person with diabetes mellitus might have sweet-smelling urine. Diabetic urine has a sweet taste due to excess glucose. Renaissance physician Thomas Willis describes it as "wonderfully sweet as if imbued with honey or sugar."
Sweet urine can also be linked to kidney issues like kidney stones. Amino acids in urine (a red flag for maple syrup urine disease) can give it a maple syrup-like aroma.
Eating asparagus can cause strong odor similar to the smell of the vegetable. It's caused by the body's breakdown of asparagusic acid. Likewise consumption of saffron, alcohol, coffee, tuna fish, and onion can result in telltale scents.
Spicy foods can have a similar effect. Their compounds pass through the kidneys without being fully broken down before leaving the body. Alcohol can leach phosphorus from the bones.
Antacids containing aluminum, calcium, or magnesium can react with the phosphorus in the body and prevent its absorption. Phosphorus maintains a delicate balance with calcium in the bones. If this is affected bones can be brittle or weak.
Alchemy: Hennig Brand's Phosphorus Recipe
Let urine stand for days until it gives off a pungent smell. (This step is later found unnecessary. Fresh urine has the same effect).
Boil urine to reduce it to a thick syrup.
Heat until a red oil distills up from it, and draw that off.
Allow the remainder to cool, where it consists of a black spongy upper part and a salty lower part.
Discard the salt, mix the red oil back into the black material.
Heat that mixture strongly for 16 hours.
First white fumes come off, then an oil, then phosphorus.
The phosphorus may be passed into cold water to solidify.
Uroscopy and diagnosis with the urine wheel continue to permeate medicine until the 19th century, when new exciting knowledge comes to light. The Four Humors theory also prevails until c. 1850 when germs are discovered.
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