Urine

Description

A clear amber liquid (mammals, aquatic species) or grayish semisolid (birds, reptiles) excretion of metabolic waste from vertebrates. In mammals, urine is formed in the kidneys. It is a collection of water-soluble by-products of protein metabolism (urea, creatinine, uric acid, ammonia, etc.) mixed with salts and pigments. Urine, or sig water, has been used in dyeing and tanning.

Synonyms and Related Terms

sig water; moè (Ces.); urin (Dan., Sven.); Urin (Deut.); orina (Esp.); urine (Fr., Ned.); urina (It., Port.); mocz (Pol.);

Additional Information

Lotta Rahme, Leather: Preparation and Tanning by Traditional Methods, The Caber Press, Portland, OR 2001.

Authority

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• External source or communication Comment: Lotta Rahme, Leather: Preparation and Tanning by Traditional Methods, The Caber Press, Portland, OR, 2001, p.92

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "urine" Encyclopædia Britannica [Accessed April 12, 2002].

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine (Accessed Mar. 1, 2006)