Necessity for Water in Body
Water composes about 70% of the entire weight of the body (about 58.5% per volume). A very great amount of water is required by the tissue for the performance of the bodily functions. As the gears of machinery must be bathed in oil to prevent undue wear, so must the tissue cells be bathed in water (secretions) that there be no undue wear. The tissue cells are spoken of as being aquatic in their habits.
Rosenau in summarizing the use of water in the body says: “It enters into the chemical composition of the tissues; it forms the chief ingredient of all the fluids of the body and maintains their proper degree of dilution, and thus favors metabolism; by moistening various surfaces of the body, such as mucous and serous membranes, it prevents friction; it furnishes in the blood and lymph a fluid medium by which food may be taken to remote parts of the body and the waste material removed, thus promoting rapid tissue changes; it serves as a distributor of bodily heat; it regulates the body temperature by the physical process of absorption and evaporation.”