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Matthew Dobson

Liverpool physician; showed sugar in diabetic urine and serum (published 1776)

Dates: 1732 or 1735 to 1784 (sources differ) (source: Hektoen International: The pissing evil before insulin )
Chapters: V. What the Water Knew

What the film says

Evaporated diabetic urine to a white cake that smelled like brown sugar, tasted the serum, and placed the sugar in the blood before the kidney.

Watch 19:45 in the film V. What the Water Knew

On the timeline

1772: A diabetic patient, aged 33 and passing 28 pints of urine a day, is admitted to Liverpool Infirmary, where Matthew Dobson studies him. probable timeline
1776: Dobson publishes his experiments: evaporated diabetic urine leaves a sugary cake, and the serum is sweetish. timeline

Sources

Sources

Dobson 1776, experiments on diabetic urine, Medical Observations and Inquiries (reprint, University of Pittsburgh) Primary
Science History Institute: Sickening sweet Museum or society
Hektoen International: The pissing evil before insulin Secondary