STUDIES IN WATER DRINKING 



20, The relationship of water to certain life processes and more 



especially to nutrition^ 



P. B. HAWK 



Many things which are simple and by themselves relatively unim- 

 portant, and perhaps of everyday occurrence, are nevertheless of vast 

 importance when considered in connection with related things, events 

 or activities. Although seemingly unessential they are, in fact, vital 

 to securing the desired result. Only by the actual elimination of 

 these things from the course of events does their real value become 

 apparent. The tiny screw is as essential to the efficiency of the 

 mighty mechanism as is the majestic flywheel; the few drops of acid 

 are indispensable for the proper carrying out of the chemical process 

 even though the few drops emerge unchanged from the procedure. 



The phrases " free as water," " cheap as water " and " nothing 

 but water to drink " are household phrases and serve to indicate the 

 unappreciative mental attitude of the populär mind toward the vast 

 commercial, agricultural, scientific, medical, and ethical associations 

 which water possesses. The mere enumeration, without discussion, 

 of the important relationships of water would constitute a treatise in 

 itself. In my discussion of the relationships of water I shall limit 

 myself to the consideration of such as are closely associated with 

 certain of the life processes in the animal body and more especially 

 in the human body. 



There is generally a good logical basis for any act of nature. 

 Therefore, when we learn by chemical analysis that the human 

 body contains water we at once conclude that water is essential to 

 proper function. However, when we know that water is not only 

 present but that it actually constitutes about two-thirds of the 

 weight of the body, and that a 300-pound man contains only 100 

 pounds of solid substance, we begin to realize that water must pos- 



^ Read before the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Feb. 6, 1914. 



420 



