Hippuric acid, as is well known, is generated from benzoic acid and glycocol by a synthetic process in the kidneys themselves. In nephritis, particularly in the more acute forms this synthesis is rendered more difficult, so that a proportionately large part of the benzoic acid that is ingested, or that is formed within the body and enters the blood, leaves the kidneys unchanged, or in the form of a salt. The other component, glycocol, under these circumstances is also in small part excreted unchanged. The greater proportion that under normal circumstances would have been converted into hippuric acid, is converted into urea, and is excreted as such. While it is not known that the excretion of benzoic acid is a particularly difficult task when the kidneys are diseased, or that benzoic acid can directly damage the kidneys, we should nevertheless (from the standpoint of protective therapy, prevent the entrance of benzoic acid into the blood stream circulating through the diseased kidneys, for when we over-load the blood with benzoic acid we impose a task on the sick kidneys that they are not capable of performing. We can easily avoid this irritation and this stimulation of the organ if we regulate the diet in such a manner that as little benzoic acid as possible circu lates in the blood. From this point of view green vegetables, fruit containing kernels, and cranberries that contain large quantities of benzoic esters, should not be permitted in acute inflammation of the kidneys. In such fruit as pears and apples, and in many berries (particularly raspberries and grapes), on the other hand, we find traces only of benzoic acid; these fruits therefore, and syrups made from them, constitute an excellent addition to the diet of nephritic cases, for they are borne very well, they stimulate digestive processes, and offer some variety. I called particular attention to unfermented beverages that are sold under the name of Frada, and can be procured anywhere; they are made from fresh fruit and are particularly suitable. A preparation of sterilized grape juice that is sold under the name of Nectar, and is made by the Actiengesellschaft fur Obstverwertung (Company for the Manufacture of Fruit Products), in Wurms, is particularly good, chiefly because it tastes better than all the other preparations of this kind. These fruit syrups all contain considerable quantities of nutritive sugars, and this is an additional advantage that must not be underrated (Nectar, for instance, contains 18 g. of invert sugar in each 100 c.cm. of fluid). It is impossible to exclude all benzoic acid, even if all vegetable diet is forbidden, for in the first place milk seems to contain small quantities of benzoic acid, and in the second place certain putrefactive processes that go on in the intestine generate benzoic acid, or precursors of benzoic acid, from protein.