A number of studies in the dog and in man (1-6) have demonstrated a maximal renal tubular reabsorptive capacity for phosphate (TmP 8). However, some investigators have denied that the reabsorption of phosphate conforms to Tm characteristics (7-9). These workers have suggested that phosphate reabsorption is conditioned by the rate of phosphate filtration such that a fairly constant proportion of the filtered phosphate is reabsorbed. In view of the conflicting evidence and the relative paucity of phosphate titration studies on man, experiments were performed in order to obtain information on the mechanism of phosphate reabsorption, the constancy of reabsorption in any one individual, and its variability in a group of subjects. The data were required for subsequent investigations designed to evaluate the influence of several factors on renal phosphate transport. The studies were performed on normal individuals and in patients with parathyroid disease.It was found that in any given experiment a TmP was demonstrable. However, the variability in TmP seen in most of our normal subjects between consecutive periods of a single experiment and between experiments generally exceeded the variability reported for glucose Tm and for PAH Tm. Furthermore, the range of values for TmP within a group of normal individuals is so large that an average value has little meaning. Fluctuations in TmP in our subjects could not be con- All subjects were hospitalized on a metabolism ward, and during many of the studies they received constant diets of calculated calcium and phosphate content There were no restrictions on the patients' activities.Design of experiments. Studies were begun about 9 a.m. with the patient fasted for 12 to 16 hours. Onehalf hour prior to the start of each study the subject ingested a liter of water and thereafter drank 200 ml. of wa-