SALT AND WATER IN LIFE AND GROWTH 109 



3. WATER RETENTION AND WATER EXCHANGE IN THE TISSUES 



OF OUR BODY 



The salt solution of oceanic inheritance permeates all 

 cells and tissues of man and the higher animals. A part 

 of it is contained inside the diminutive cells, of which all 

 tissues are built; another portion is held between the cells; 

 and still another portion circulates in large channels which 

 extend like pipes through the body. The outstanding 

 system of this type is that in which the blood circulates. 

 Blood is a special type of oceanic salt solution; along with 

 the various salts it also contains a large amount of dissolved 

 nutrient matter (protein, fat and sugar) and the well-known 

 red blood cells which contain the red dye, hemoglobin. 

 While the blood is passing through the lungs the hemo- 

 globin forms a loose combination with the oxygen of the air ; 

 this oxygen is then given off to all the internal organs of the 

 body. In this manner vital processes of combustion (see 

 page 66) are kept going all over the body. The blood 

 is propelled in the arteries and veins by the pumping action 

 of the heart which alternately contracts and expands. 

 Another system of circulation exists in the brain and spinal 

 cord and is filled with the cerebrospinal fluid, a clear color- 

 less salt solution of strictly oceanic type. A liquid system 

 serving for drainage is the urinary system which consists 

 of the kidney, the ureter, the bladder, and urethra. 



Three fourths of the human body thus consists of oceanic 

 salt solution. Closely examining living organisms, we find 

 that there are definite partitions in the form of thin skins 

 or membranes which separate the various channels through 

 which the body fluids pass, or the cells and organs which 

 contain fluids. And yet these fluids with their salt content 

 have some communication with each other, so that water 

 can readily pass, usually in either direction. 



Nowhere in the body do we find stagnation of the body 

 fluid; water is constantly taken as food or drink and then 



