CHLORIDE OF SODIUM. ol) 



duced in the interior of the body. In the issue of water by 

 the kidneys and skin, it has long been observed that, in point 

 of activity, these two eimmctories bear a certain relation to 

 each other. When the skin is inactive, as in cold weather, 

 the kidneys discharge a large quantity of water ; when the 

 skin is active, the quantity of water discharged by the kid- 

 neys is diminished. Certain therapeutical agents, also, can 

 be made to act as diaphoretics by combining other measures 

 which favor cutaneous action ; or as diuretics, by employing 

 measures to diminish the action of the skin. 



Chloride of Sodium (Common Salt), NaCl. 



Chloride of sodium is next in importance, as an inorganic 

 proximate principle, to water. It is found in the body at all 

 periods of life, existing, like water, in the ovum. It exists in all 

 the fluids and solids of the body, with the single exception of 

 the enamel of the teeth. In the fluids, it seems to be simply 

 in a state of solution, and can be recognized by the ordinary 

 tests ; in this respect we may class together the chlorides of 

 sodium and potassium. 



The quantity of chloride of sodium in the entire body 

 has never been estimated; nor, indeed, has any accurate esti- 

 mate been made of the quantity contained in the various tis- 

 sues ; for all the. chlorides are generally estimated together. 

 It exists in greatest proportion in the fluids, giving to some 

 of them, as the tears and perspiration, a distinctly saline 

 taste. The following table gives an idea of the quantity 

 which has been found in some of the most important of the 

 fluids and solids : 



Table of Quantity of Chloride of Sodium. 



Parts per 1,000. 



In Blood, Human (Lehmann) 4-210 



" Chyle (Lehmann) 5-310 



" Lymph (Nasse) 4-120 



" Milk, Human (Lehmann) 0-870 



