SOME curious remarks were made about cow urine (gaumutra) in Parliament last week. The context was the appointment of Veezhinathan Kamakoti, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, as a member of the task force on entrance test reforms. During the debate on the subject, an indirect reference was made to Kamakoti’s support for the use of cow urine. In defence, some ruling party members cited patents granted for certain properties of cow urine to prove that the claims were indeed scientific.