From the Cradle to the Grave we need DRINK, and we have not far to look
for the reason, when we consider that at least seventy per cent. of
the human body is composed of water, to compensate the perpetual waste
of which, a fresh supply is, of course, absolutely necessary. This is
taken with our food (all solid nutriment containing some water), and by
the drink we consume. But, as the largest constituent part of the body
is fluid, so, naturally, its waste is larger than that of the solid;
this fluid waste being enormous. Besides the natural losses, every
breath we exhale is heavily laden with moisture, as breathing on a cold
polished surface, or a cold day by condensing the breath, will show;
whilst the twenty-eight miles of tubing disposed over the surface of the
human body will evaporate, _invisibly_, two or three pounds of water
daily. Of course, in very hot weather, or after extreme exertion, this
perspiration is much more, and is visible.
To remedy this loss we must DRINK, as a stoppage of the supply would
kill sooner than if solid food were withheld, for then the body would,
for a time, live upon its own substance, as in the cases of the fasting
men of the last two years; but few people can live longer than three
days without drinking, and death by thirst is looked upon as one of the
most cruel forms of dissolution. To palliate thirst, however, it is not
absolutely necessary to drink, as a moist atmosphere or copious bathing
will do much towards allaying it,—the one by introducing moisture into
the system by means of the lungs, the other through the medium of the
skin.
Thirst is the notice given by Nature that liquid aliment is required
to repair the waste of the body; and, as in the case of Hunger, she
has kindly provided that supplying the deficiency shall be a pleasant
sensation, and one calculated to call up a feeling of gratitude for the
means of allaying the want. Indeed, no man knows the real pleasures of
eating and drinking, until he has suffered both hunger and thirst.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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