I9I4] P- B. Hawk 427 



day, must have been due to the Stimulation of the catabolism of cel- 

 lular material, since it is apparent that the tissues of the animal must 

 have been thoroughly "flushed" during the previous ingestion of 

 700 cc. of water daily for an interval of 59 days. 



Certain others of our experiments also favor the view that water 

 stimulates tissue changes. Muscular tissue contains creatin. Nor- 

 mal urine does not contain creatin. If a normal person drinks a 

 large volume of water the urine of that person contains creatin. 

 This Observation has been made repeatedly in our studies and has 

 been interpreted as indicating the disintegration of muscular tissue 

 and the excretion of its contained creatin in the urine. 



The medical men of to-day appreciate fully the immense impor- 

 tance of water to the human body. The great development along 

 hydrotherapeutic lines attests this fact. However, pursuant to a 

 tradition of long standing the great majority of physicians advise 

 against the drinking of water at meal-time. In fact the diet lists of 

 stomach specialists f requently bear a printed admonition to " take no 

 more than one and one-half glasses of fluid at any meal." The fol- 

 lowing quotation indicates in a general way the attitude of the 

 average physician toward the drinking of water with meals : " We 

 can lay down the definite and certain rule that water should never 

 be drunk at meals, and preferably not for at least one hour after 

 the meal is eaten. The effect of drinking water while eating is, first, 

 to artificially moisten the f ood, thus hindering the normal and health- 

 ful flow of saliva and the other digestive Juices ; secondly, to dilute 

 the various Juices to an abnormal extent ; and, thirdly, to wash the 

 food Clements through the stomach and into the intestine before they 

 have had time to become thoroughly liquified and digested. The 

 effects of this upon the welfare of the whole organism can only be 

 described as direful." 



As a matter of fact not one of the Statements in the foregoing 

 quotation has any experimental basis. We ourselves have demon- 

 strated that saliva acts more efficiently when diluted with seven 

 volumes of water, Experiments have also demonstrated that the 

 entrance of water into the stomach stimulates the flow of gastric 

 Juice. Not only this but the juice as secreted has a higher acid con- 

 centration than that secreted previous to the entrance of the water. 



