Renal Dialysis

Ed J D Briggs, B J R Junor, R S C Rodger, J F Winchester Chapman and Hall, (pounds sterling) 75, pp 468 ISBN 0-41231-3103

The physical process of transfer of solutes through a semipermeable membrane was first described and called dialysis by Thomas Graham in 1861. He showed that urea would transfer across a parchment membrane and speculated that the technique might have a medical application. Although attempts were made to apply this principle to patient care in the early part of this century, …