WATER ECONOMY IN FEVER 623 



Water Economy in Fever. Since the investigations of 

 Leyden the assumption of a water retention in fever has 

 played an important part in the pathology of the latter con- 

 dition. However, there is certainly nothing in such water 

 retention that is really characteristic of fever. Schwenken- 

 becher and Inagaki 36 showed in Krehl's clinic that in 

 typhoid patients the loss of water may exceed the average 

 intake. However, in many of the infectious diseases a cer- 

 tain tendency to water retention seems to prevail. Studies 

 conducted in Eudolf Gottlieb 's laboratory in reference to 

 the importance of the tissues as water depots, have indicated 

 that when physiological salt solution is introduced intraven- 

 ously in dogs all the soft parts take up water, even to a 

 higher degree than does the blood. The highest impor- 

 tance as a place for storage of water must be attributed 

 to the muscles ; they take up about two-thirds of the water 

 deposited in the tissues, that is, more than would corre- 

 spond to their percentage proportion in the body. About 

 one-sixth of the water taken in is in the skin, and but very 

 little in the intestines. 37 The water retained in fever is thus 

 to be sought, not in the blood, but in the tissues. Schwenken- 

 becher and Inagaki 38 found in their studies upon the amount 

 of water in the tissues of individuals who died from febrile 

 affections that it was relatively increased in proportion to 

 their dry substance. Krehl 39 says: "It is not easy to say 

 at once why this relative excess of water in the body is not 

 adjusted, although at other times even a large intake of 

 fluid (three or four liters, or more) is at once eliminated. 

 This much only is to be suspected, namely, that the increase 

 in humidity for the most part involves particularly the tis- 

 sue elements and the excess of water does not enter the 



a * Schwenkenbecher and Inagaki (KrehPs Med. Clinic, Strassburg), Arch, 

 f. exper. Pathol., 54, 168, 1906. 



37 W. Engels (Lab. of R. Gottlieb, Heidelberg), Arch. f. exper. Pathol., 51, 

 346, 1904. 



38 Schwenkenbecher and Inagaki (Krehl's Med. Clinic, Strassburg), Arch, 

 f. exper. Pathol., 55, 203, 1906. 



38 L. Krehl, Pathol. Physiologic, 5th Ed., p. 509, 1907. 



