The introduction of urine microscopy into clinical practice

'...tant que les modifications de la secretion urinaire sont ignorees, les maladies des reins sont obscures....' (...so long as the changes in urinary secretion are ignored, so will diseases of the kidney remain obscure...) Pierre Rayer. Traite des maladies des reins. Preface, page v. Today, microscopic examination of the urine is a routine part of the assessment of renal patients. However, the realization that the examination of urine by microscopy could provide vital information during life as to what pathological processes might be operat-ing in the kidneys occurred surprisingly late in the history of the study of renal diseases. Thus when it was first pointed out just how powerful a tool this examination could be, the adoption of the 'new ' tech