Wheel of Urine

This Wheel of Urine is from Ullrich Pinder's Epiphanie Medicorum (1506). It was used to diagnose disease based on characteristics of the patient's piss, including its taste. Urinalysis is common today, of course. Well, not the tasting part. "The Urine Wheel" (SciAm)

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

MORE: chemistry • medicine • urine

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fuzzyfuzzyfungus

Back in the day, the guy diagnosing Diabetes Mellitus used to mean that description quite literally…
- http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com robcat2075
  
  I’ve always wondered who the first doctor was that said, “Let’s try tasting it!”
  - fuzzyfuzzyfungus
    
    For all its nontrivial downsides(in medicine, as well as in chemistry, and any other disciplines where it crops up), “let’s try tasting it” is probably the single biggest advance in analytical chemistry in human history….
    - http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com robcat2075
      
      ”Test it? D’oh! I thought you said TASTE IT!”
http://www.batshite.com/royalflush Scott Bartlett

Man, they were super pragmatic in the 16th century!
GregS

Back in the 1970s NBC wanted to turn the Wheel of Urine into a daytime game show, but focus group tests showed that potential contestants objected to the urine tasting part. So they retooled the idea as the Wheel of Fortune and television history was made.
- Guido Núñez-Mujica
  
  Well, it certainly was too daring for mass audiences, but I bet it can find a niche on some adult websites.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Pat, I’d like to buy a bowel.
Magnus Redin

We had a realy good vetrenary who did not send milk from mastitis cows to lab analysis, he tasted the warm rancid milk and could immediately prescribe the right antibiotic. Quicker and a lot cheaper!