A STUDY is being carried out of the surface phenomena of the complex colloidal systems occurring in the body. Among these urine has been investigated and found of such interest and importance that a thorough investigation was made. In the following paper the results of the work on surface tension are recorded.Little work has hitherto been attempted in this field, and the literature is both scanty and often contradictory. Several reasons may be adduced to explain these discrepancies. The variation of the methods employed and the frequent use of artificial standards have entailed confusion, and further, most of the work has been done with the object of finding diagnostic applications before the normal physiological variations and physical aspects of the problem had been studied [Bechold and Reiner, 1920;Schemensky, 1920].For this reason we have, here, mainly recorded the result of the work done in investigating the surface tension of normal urine under varying conditions both physiological and physical. The results show that the colloidal system of this excretion is a complex and interesting one and that further work on its physical properties, conditions, and equilibrium may well throw light on such controversial problems as the formation of calculi, hormonic secretion and possibly liver function. METHODS.For determining surface tension (S.T.) several methods are available, but when due regard is paid to limitations, accuracy, speed, reliability and applicability to this field, it is found that many are unsuited to the routine examination of biological liquids.

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