The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-06-23
THIRST IN HOT CLIMATES.
Alcohol and Tobacco Promote IT,
Some Hints to Soldiers.
From the Hospital.

From the Hospital.
Preach as we will on sanitary questions,
teach our soldiers as carefully as we like
that muddy water or water that has been
exposed TO risk Of pollution. must at every
sacrifice be rigidly avoided, in practice all
these maxims are thrown to the winds. In
the presence of thirst all men are equal,
and we see the educated, and the unedu-
Gated alike. obeyIng one common and
irresistible impulse, which drives them to
drink the poison which q little later LAYS
them low with typhoid and dysentery. or
all measures for the prevention OF dis
eases among troops, by far the most e.
fectual would be the prevention OF thirst,
if that were possible and We need not
be surprised that both for this reason
and because thirst is one of The most mis-
able of tortures, inquiries are contin-
ually made as to how It can be best pre-
vented and how best 1t can be relieved.
In seeking a solution Of this important
problem the frs thing TO remember is
chat thirst is not mere desire OF the
lips or a mere craving of the stomach.
Thirst is a want arising in every corner
% the organism from every tissue being
deprived of some of the water which is an
essential element in its normal constitu-
lion. Putting on one side, then such
trivial methods as pebble sucking. spice
eating and so on, which act merely by
preventing dryness of mouth, real thirst
can only be relieved by water and in
whatever form the drink Is taken by
which it is alIevlated it is the water which
it contains. and the water alone that IS
effectual. Again, the only way 90 pre-
vent thirst is to avoid undue loss OF the
watery constituent of the blood. Prac-
tically then. the problem is reduced to
his: How best to prevent undue loss of
water from the system?
over the loss Of water by the lungs we
have no control. over that by the skin
we can exert some influence by care as to
| clothing and as to drink. The more men
| drink the more they perspire; and If they
obey their natural impulses in this re-
| gard they are sure to lose fer more water
| through the skin than is az oil necessary.
II is the loss of water by the kidneys,
| however that is the most under a man.:
| control. and what we wish especially to
| insist upon, is that alcoholic drinks. in
| consequence of their diuretic action, are
very effectual thirst quenchers. They re-
ieve for a time, but by their action on
| he kidneys they remove almost as much
huid they add, so that the condition
)f the blood is very rapidly brought back
o what it was before. or even made worse
| han ever. Universal experience enforces
! he lesson that however, comforting at
! the time, alcohol produces thirst espe-
| oially when much physical exertion is
being made. 1t takes out as much as il
| puts in. and certainly should not be drunk
| when economy in fluid is essential.
Another and most important cause OF
| wasteful excretion of fluids from the body
| is Impotence of the earlier and bearabe
| degrees Of thirst. The human body must
! part with a certain quantity of water
| - form the necessary excretions. Nature,
| however. with her usual liberality. has ar
| ranged for the watery fluids required for
| this pupose to be secreted in far greater
! quantity than is absolutely necessary,
| and much of this excess of secretion ceases
| when less fluid Is taken into the system
! Unfortunately. the same water starvation
| which dimin'shes excretion also produces
| a sense # thirst and many a man who Is
| inpatient of this discomfort and tries to
| check 1t by constant slipping might IS
| veil empty his water bottle onto the road
| No n an can exert himself in a hot coun-
| nv without becoming parched, and this
early thirst must be put up with when
the water supply is limited. Any attempt
really Stake il merely leads to a wasteful
| passage of fluid through the system.
| Then about tobacco. Smoking Is proba-
| HE not in essence such a thirsty proceed
| ing as some people imagine Habit has
much to do with the drinking with which
| II il often accompanied. Still, tobacco
! should not be INDUCED in during the
| early hours of the march. There can be
/ no Doubt that 1t enables men to bear IA
| tigues and discomforts which without il.
| would be found almost unendura BILE and
| among other things to put up with the
miseries of thirst. But the very efficacy
| OF tobacco for this purpose makes It all
The more desirable to keep 1t back until
| & is really wanted