PERCENTAGE OF CHLORIDE OF SODIUM IN VARIOUS ANIMAL FLUIDS, THEIR SOLID RESIDUE AND THEIR ASH. Liquid. Solid Residue. Ash. Human Blood 0·421 1·931 57·641 Blood of Horse 0·510 2·750 67·105 Chyle 0·531 8·313 67·884 Lymph (Nasse) 0·412 8·246 72·902 Serum of Blood (Nasse) 0·405 5·200 59·090 Blood of the Cat (Nasse) 0·537 2·826 67·128 Chyle (Nasse) 0·710 7·529 62·286 Human Milk 0·087 0·726 33·089 Saliva 0·153 12·988 62·195 Gastric Juice of Dog 0·126 12·753 42·089 Human Bile 0·364 3·353 30·464 Mucus (Nasse) 0·583 13·100 70·000 Serum of Pus (Nasse) 1·260 11·454 72·330 We have thus proved physiologically that the chloride of sodium holds a most prominent position among the other constituents of the body; that it is present in considerable quantities in muscle as well as in the blood; and that it furnishes the acid, which is necessary for the stomach to perform its functions of digestion. It holds the albumen partly in solution, and its coagulation is dependent more or less on the amount of salt which is present in the blood, and it also possesses the power of preventing the coagulation of the fibrine. In fevers the blood is generally thicker, and has a tendency to coagulate by reason of the partial absence of salt, because a good deal passes off with the perspiration; and fever patients always prefer salt to sugar, for while one refreshes them and helps to restore the usual healthy tone of the palate, by constringing the papillæ of the tongue, the other raises feelings of disgust. It is also present in cartilage, though in a lesser degree than in blood or muscle, because in cartilage there is no disintegration or waste of tissue, and therefore it does not require such a perpetual supply; there is, on the contrary, a continual loss going on in muscle, especially during exertion. Perspiration is to a certain extent the principal medium which carries off the chloride of sodium, owing to its being held in solution by the liquor-sanguinis; during fatigue, particularly if prolonged, a greater quantity passes off, producing various degrees of thirst. That the normal proportion of the chloride of sodium should be regularly maintained must be obvious.