In the literature of recent years many articles are to be found relating to acidosis, acetonuria, and acetonemia in children. These terms frequently are used synonymously, and many widely different conditions are described under these headings. In all reports of acetonemia that I have found various conditions are described in which the urine is characterized by the presence of acetone and diacetic acid. With the exception of Marriott's1 papers I have found no records of the determination of acetone bodies (beta-oxybutyric acid, aceto-acetic acid, and acetone) in the blood of living children. This work was undertaken to determine the amount of acetone bodies in the blood of normal children and of children in various pathologic conditions, especially those with evidence of acidosis, such as, increased pulmonary ventilation, decreased carbon dioxid tension of the alveolar air, diminished alkali reserve of the blood serum and abnormal acidity of the urine.The analyses of the blood were made according to Marriott's1 modification of Shaffer's oxidation method for determining acetone bodies in the urine. One cubic centimeter of blood is sufficient for accurate estimation. The results are expressed in milligrams of acetone per 100 gm. of blood. In some cases the acetone bodies in the urine were also determined and the results are expressed in grams of acetone. When sufficient quantities of urine were available, the ace¬ tone was estimated as in Shaffer's method.2 When only small quan¬ tities were available, the urine was oxidized in the usual way and the reading made in the nephelometer, as in the blood analyses.In Table 1 are the findings in sixteen normal children, arranged according to their ages. These were dispensary patients suffering from a variety of minor troubles and were essentially normal as far as their nutrition was concerned. All were afebrile when the blood was taken. The ages varied from 5 weeks to 5 years. The average total acetone content of the blood was 6.3 mg. per 100 gm. The minimum quantity

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