44 PHYSIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



The various constituents of the body may be divided 

 into two great classes, organic and inorganic, and the 

 first into those which contain nitrogen and those which 

 do not. 



The Inorganic constituents are water and the various 

 salts, that is minerals like iron, potash, soda, etc., in com- 

 bination with some acid. 



Water is the most widely distributed inorganic mate- 

 rial, constituting more than half the body weight. It is 

 the solvent for all materials which are carried from one 

 part of the body to another for its nourishment or to re- 

 move the worn-out, useless or injurious substances which 

 result from our life processes. We get water by drink- 

 ing it in the form of water, milk, tea or coffee, soups, 

 etc. ; but a small portion is made in the body by burning 

 up hydrogen. 



Salts are combinations of soda and lime with hydro- 

 chloric or some other acid and of soda, potash, lime and 

 magnesium with phosphoric acid. In the first case we 

 have chlorates or chlorides of soda, lime, etc. ; and in the 

 latter, phosphates of potash, magnesium, etc. 



The most important and widely distributed of the salts 

 is the one with which we are most familiar, chloride of 

 soda, or common table salt. Phosphate of lime is a nec- 

 essary element of bone and iron is an indispensable ele- 

 ment of hemoglobin. 



Organic Compounds consist of nitrogenous com- 

 pounds which are subdivided into proteins, like the red 

 flesh of animals, white of eggs, etc.; albuminoids like 

 gelatin and some bodies of simpler composition, like 

 urea, which are largely for excretion; and nonnitrog- 

 < nous compounds which are fats (butter, fat meat 

 etc.), carbohydrates (starch, sugar) and certain other 

 organic bodies like alcohol not so widely used as the 



