The Storage of Water by Various Tissues of the Body

While it is well known that water plays an extremely important rôle in the economy of the body, and that it is the most abundant constituent, making up 90 pounds (40.8 Kg.) of a man weighing 143 pounds (64.9 Kg.), there have been few investigations concerning the exact distribution of this water in the animal as a whole, although the water content of many individual organs has been determined. The purpose of my work is to show the distribution of the water in mammals and to determine whether there are water depots in the body similar to the glycogen and fat depots, and, if such exist, to study a few of the factors influencing the storage or discharge of fluids from them. My purpose is also to determine the relative importance of the different tissues of the body as water depots. DISTRIBUTION OF WATER IN MAMMALS All tissues contain water,