Scientific achievements of John P. Peters

After the First World War in the United States, studies of water and electrolyte metabolism that were based in clinical departments were usually centered on patients with diseases which disrupted normal homeostatic functions. Renal abnormalities figured prominently, but liver disease, diabetes mellitus, various pituitary disorders, the edematous states and similar disorders - to the extent that they disturbed the volume or composition of the extracellular fluid - were also a fertile field of investigation. In general, the studies were confined to long-term observation of patients: there were few experimental manipulations and almost no animal work. The focus was a detailed analysis of the chemical composition of the blood and urine, and a relentless attempt to identify how these were disturbed under the impact of disease. The laboratory of Dr. John P. Peters at Yale typified this approach.