PHYSIOLOGY OF THIRST.

Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 89, 23 October 1878, Page 3

PHYSIOLOGY OF THIRST.

An assistant- surgeon of the American army has just made a very interesting report on the physiological effects >of thirst as observed in the experience of a troop ofcavalry who ventured to pursue a band of Indians over the sand hills of Texas and lost their way. Under a burning sun, and marching over hot sand, they wore four days without water. Even at the end of the first clay many of the men were so exhausted that they fell from their horses, which were suffering apparently litt’e less than their riders. During the three following days the mucous membrane of the mouih became so impaired that they could neither swallow nor perceive when anything was within the lips. Sugar when placed in the mouth remained like so much dry sand. Their voices became feeble and strange-, and all became more or less Questions had to be repeated several times before they could be understood, the intellect of most of the men appearing to suffer, according to the report, though a difficulty of comprehension would ho doubt arise from the imperfect utteranne of tongues so terribly parched. On one meraarable occasion Mr Stevenson, the engineer, records a moment of 'terrible excitement when he found himself absolutely unable to utter a sound. He found, he says, that saliva was as necessary for speech as a tongue. Yertigo and dimness of vision were experienced by all the company, and many became quite delirious. The lungs became so excessively dry that the oxygenation of the blood was interrupted, and the whole party seemed to be in peril of suffocation. The fingers and palms were shrivelled, and in many cases the men’s legs and feet were swollen. The details of the extremities to which they were driven are of a very revolting character, and ultimately their suffering were enhanced by mental tortures, by suspicion of each other, and by persistent wakefulness. At the end of four days they obtained water, and, of course, found the temptation to drink irresistible. Water, however, quite failed ta assuage their sufferings, and this medical reporter considers that their experience showed the sense of thirst to exist not in the stomach but in the system generally. It could not be relieved until the remote tissues of the body hac been reached. Copious draughts of water were at once ejected from the stomach, and warm coffee was the source of the greatest relief to them. It is a curious fact that whereas all the horses suffered terribly, and many of them died under the ordeal, some mules they had with them were very little affected, and grazed at every halt with apparent unconcern.— The ‘Globe.’