Ever since the days of the celebrated Physician of Cos, fat in the urine was recognized and its significance discussed.1 In his writings, Hippocrates speaks of several cases of fat in the urine, and mentions the case of a woman who several days after childbirth voided oily urine. It is curious to note that while many have written on parasitic chyluria, and some on nonparasitic chyluria, the chemical pathology of the latter variety is shrouded in as much mystery as it was centuries ago.
We have attempted briefly to review the literature on this subject, and those interested in the progress of medicine will find, we hope, the following summary of some value.2
After Hippocrates, who wrote of fatty urine and oily urine, Galen described three varieties of oleaginous urines, and gave unreasonable methods for their differentiation. The physicians that followed the Pergamite for many centuries