Twenty-four-hour urine specimens were collected from Jamaican infants immediately after admission to the hospital, and at various stages of recovery. Measurements were made of urea, ammonia, creatinine and "residual nitrogen," which includes creatine, uric acid, amino acids and undetermined nitrogen. The partition of urinary nitrogen agreed with Folin's concept of 1905; the proportion of ureanitrogen depended only on the amount of total nitrogen present. The absolute amounts of ammonianitrogen and residual nitrogen were relatively constant and no higher during malnutrition than after recovery. The ureanitrogen expressed as a percentage of the total nitrogen (i.e., the "urea index") may be useful for the assessment of protein intake.(AU)