General Discussion 101 



Davson: Was there also a control on whether salts were being 

 absorbed, Avhen they say that five time isotonicity would have stopped 

 it? Just the fact that the skin absorbs water does not mean that 

 salts are not absorbed as well. 



Scrihner: The concentration of salts goes up in the outside fluid. 

 Also water is absorbed from capsules containing crystallized salts 

 such as sodium and calcium chloride which are separated from the 

 skin by a layer of air. The type of salt used determines the amount 

 of water vapour in the air. The results by this technique agree with 

 the hypertonic solution studies. 



Hingerty: What salts have been investigated? 



Scrihner: Sucrose, potassium chloride, sodium chloride. The 

 phenomenon is believed to be purely an osmotic effect. 



Borst: Before the war Viennese clinicians reported on considerable 

 absorption of water by the skin in heart failure. The prognosis could 

 even be determined by studying the rate of absorption. Dutch 

 workers repeated the experiments but could not demonstrate any 

 absorption at all. However an absorption of 20 ml./m.^/hr. is less 

 than was expected according to the Viennese papers and it is possible 

 that a more exact technique would have given positive results. 



