According to Bunge, we take decidedly too much salt every day, and in this way we injure our kidneys considerably. Achard,[227] Strauss,[228] Vidal and Javal,[229] and simultaneously H. Strauss, have found that diseased kidneys (especially in acute or chronic parenchymatous inflammations) are unable to eliminate sodium chloride properly, and its retention leads to œdema. According to these authorities, œdema is caused by a retention of water and sodium chloride, the retention of the latter playing the primary rôle, whereas according to Alexander Koranyi, Richter, Kovesi, and Roth-Schulz, the retention of the water is the primary factor. Footnote 227: Achard: Presse méd., 1901. Footnote 228: Strauss: “Die chronischen nierenentzundungen,” Berlin, 1902. Footnote 229: Vidal et Javal: Soc. Méd. des Hôpitaux, Juil. 31, 1903. For these reasons salt should only be taken in very small quantities. Alcohol should also be avoided, except in small quantities, as being very injurious to the kidneys; and considering that chronic nephritis may be caused by the immoderate use of alcohol, Bunge thinks that the chronic nephritis following large quantities of alcohol may be attributed to the fact that, according to the researches of Keller,[230] made in Bunge’s laboratory, the alcohol habit leads to an immoderate use of salt with its deleterious effects upon the kidneys. Footnote 230: Keller: Zeitschrift für Physiol. Chemie, vol. xiii, p. 130 and 134, 1889. According to Bunge, rice gives very little work to the kidneys, as in twenty-four hours only 2 grammes of alkaline salts are eliminated. On the other hand, potatoes cause a very great elimination of salt by the kidneys. Bunge thinks that rice would be a good food for patients with renal disease. Not only alcohol, but other stimulants, like tea, can be of harm to the kidneys if taken in large quantities, as we have mentioned in the preceding chapter when speaking of black tea. We do not think, however, that the daily use of black tea, in moderate quantities, would have unfavorable effects on the kidneys. Its relation to the production of uric acid should, however, be remembered (see chapter on other stimulants: coffee, tea, tobacco, etc.). For reasons already mentioned, irritating spices and adulterated sauces should be very carefully avoided; also all kinds of food which contain pungent ingredients. We have no doubt that by their use life is often shortened. The passage of such poisonous substances for years through our kidneys must injure their delicate structure and hasten the development of the senile kidneys, with interstitial nephritis.