nking of a copious quantity of water daily. There need
be no fear that this practice will thin the blood too much, as the
ready elimination of the water will not permit such a result to ensue.
I would further advise the generous use of water (temperature 60 deg.)
at meal-times. I pray you do not drink to wash down food: a bad habit of
most of us. Drink all you desire; and if you are like many who have no
desire for water, cultivate it, even if it takes years. The imbibed
water will be in the tissues in about an hour; and the entire quantity
will escape in about three and one-half hours. The demand on the part
of the system for water is subject to great variation and is somewhat
regulated by the quantity discharged from the organism. Physiologists
declare that water is formed in the body by a direct union of oxygen
and hydrogen, but those who have cultivated the drink-little habit need
not hope to find an excuse for themselves in this fact: chronic
ill-health betrays them. Water in organic relations with the body never
exists uncombined with inorganic salts (especially sodium chloride) in
any of the fluids, semi-solids, or solids of the body. It enters into
the constitution of the tissues, not as pure water, but always in
connection with inorganic salts. In case of great loss of blood by
hemorrhage, a saline solution of six parts of sodium chloride with one
thousand parts of sterilized water injected into the system will wash
free the stranded corpuscles and give the heart something to contract
upon.

When water is taken into the stomach, its temperature, its bulk, and
its slight absorption react upon the system; but the major part of it
is thrown into the intestinal canal. When it is of the temperature of
about 60 deg. it gives no very decided sensation either of heat or cold;
between 60 deg. and 45 deg. it creates a cool sensation, and below 45
deg. a decidedly cold one. Water at a temperature of about 50 deg. is a
generator of appetite. A sufficient quantity should be taken for that
end; say, one or two tumblers an hour or so before each meal, followed
by some exercise. Those who have acquired the waterless habit, and the
many ills resulting from it, will hardly relish cool water as an
appetizer; but if they would become robust they must adopt the water
habit--a habit that will refresh and rejuvenate nature.

Water of a temperature between 60 deg. and 100 deg. relaxes the muscles
of the stomach and is apt to produce