A Letter from Mr. T. Knight to Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. Pr. R. S. &c. concerning Hair Voided by Urine

lient Method, take off that Disposition in the Kidneys, which produces this uncommon Distemper. The Pains in her Feet, and about her, seem not to have any relation to this Distemper; and I am of Opinion, that violent Diuretics or Exercise will rather hurt than help her. Thus you have my Thoughts on this very extraordinary Case; and I shall be very glad to hear of the Issue of it, and rejoice if I can be useful to you in this or any thing else, leaving to you the Determination of what you think reasonable. I beg Pardon for this hasty casting together some things, which, if I had more Time, should be put into better Order by Your most obedient, and most humble Servant, Hans Sloane. IX. A Letter from Mr. T. Knight to Sir Hans Sloane, Bar't. Pr. R. S. &c. concerning Hair voided by Urine. Honble SIR, Carnarvon, Feb. 20. 1737. Having met with an uncommon Case, I thought it proper to communicate the same to you, in order to be informed whether the like ever occurred in your long and successful Practice, and also to beg your Sentiments upon the Matter. The hairy Substance, or fine Capillamenta, inclosed in the Pill-box, were discharged along with the Urine of a Gentleman during a severe Fit of Ardor Urinae; the Gravel that came away was inconsiderable, so that the Cause of the Dysury was chiefly owing to the hairy Substance with the gritty Matter that adheres to it, inflaming, by their Irritations, the Ureters and Sphincter Vesicae, and Parts adjacent. For, notwithstanding Phlebotomy, lenient Clysters, Emulsions, Opiates, and such-like Remedies, were strictly used, all proved ineffectual, till all this extraneous Substance was come away. These fine Capillamenta seem to be the Tegument of an Animal which had got into the Prime Vie, and passed the Vena Lactea, and, by Circulation, passed also the Glandula Renales. For it is more probable, (with Submission) that they were extraneous, than that they were generated in the Urinary Passages, in an equivocal Manner. The greatest Objection, that offers to me, is, that it is judged absolutely necessary, that the Vena Lactea should be smaller than the finest Artery in the Body, that nothing might enter, which might stop Circulation of the Blood. Also, That the Mouths of the Lacteals, which are open into the Cavity of the Intestines, (from whence they receive their Chyle) are so small as not to be seen by the best Microscope in dead Bodies. To obviate these Objections, may not the Mouths of the Lacteals be perceptible in living Bodies, when dilated, distended, and turgid with Chyle? And may not these Capillamenta, when relaxed with any Humidity, become very flexible, pliable, and susceptible of being contorted, and of assuming any Figure *; and, when thoroughly relaxed, disseminated and floating in a Fluid, enter the Laeteals; and consequently may pass through the Convolution of small Arteries, whereof the Glands and secretory Vessels are formed; for a Gland is said to be nothing else but a Convolution of small Arteries. N.B. This Gentleman has kept a strict Regimen of Diet for many Years, as being subject to frequent Fits of the Gout, an Incontinency of Urine, &c. In the Morning early, a Draught of Cows Milk, statim ab Ubere; which oft doth not pass a Colatorium, whereby some of the downy Hair about the Udder might get along with the Milk into the Prime Viae, &c. I am, with great Respect, Your most obliged, and most obedient, humble Servant, T. Knight. * The Capillamenta, whilst in the Urinal, and till the Urine was decanted, appeared only like a gross turbid Liquor, the Filaments being so diffused. Remark. I doubt of these Substances being real Hairs; I imagine they are rather slender grumous Concretions, formed only in the Kidneys by being squeezed out of the excretory Ducts into the Pelvis.