signifies a metabolic disorder wherein an intermediate product of the catabolism of tyrosine and Phenylalanine (Phe), namely, homogentisic acid, is excreted in the urine. All of this was not known in 1861 when Karl Bodecker, a German chemist, coined the term alkaton. What he did know was that urine of patients with this condition turned dark brown when allowed to stand or when an alkaline solution was added. In fact, he had difficulty analyzing the substance in urine because of its avidity for oxidation in an alkaline medium. So, to name the substance, he linked alk-, referring to alkali, to the Greek word kaptein, meaning "to gulp down or to avidly consume." In bygone days it was not unusual for a chemist to know Greek,