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The work presented here was undertaken primarily for the purpose of ascertaining the effect of alcohol in moderate quantities on the water and salt balance in man. It is a commonly observed fact that alcohol in man produces a diuresis and MacNider and Donnelly (1) have shown this to be the case in dogs. It is likewise well known that thirst is a prominent symptom during the recovery phase of acute alcoholism. No balance studies have been made of this condition, and it was thought that data could be collected which would explain some of the features observed.Alterations in the acid-base balance after the ingestion of alcohol was first shown by Thomas (2) in 1898, who reported that the carbon dioxide content and carbon dioxide capacity of the blood was diminished. Himwich and coworkers (3) in 1933, made observations on the acid-base balance in dogs and in man after feeding alcohol. Their studies were made over short periods of time, and no attempt was made to study the electrolyte balance; however, they observed no change in the total base or chlorides of the serum. They found that there was a reduction in the carbon dioxide content and carbon dioxide capacity of the blood which was accompanied by a fall in the blood pH. There was also an increase in the blood lactic acid and sugar. It was their belief that the increase in lactic acid was brought about by the conversion of muscle glycogen to lactic acid by the action of alcohol. Futer and coworkers (4) in short experiments on dogs noted a fall in the carbon dioxide capacity, an increase in the blood sugar, and an increase in the blood potassium content. Gojcher and coworkers (5) reported the same findings in chronic alcoholism in man, but made no attempt to study the excretion of the electrolytes.Wakai (6) using rabbits, was able to show that the serum protein concentration was decreased and was accompanied by a decrease in the serum and blood viscosity after the feeding of alcohol. Levin (7) has shown that in man the ingestion of alcohol caused an increase in blood volume in certain instances. EXPERIMENTAL Healthy, young, adult male volunteers were used in the experiments. They were allowed to carry on their usual routine as students. A constant diet, which was prepared by the same individual throughout each experiment, was given. Two duplicate samples of the diet were analyzed for the potassium, sodium, chloride, water, and nitrogen content. The time at which fluid was taken and the amount were constant for each day throughout the experiment. A weighed amount of sodium chloride was supplied to the subject for use on his food for the day, and all food was consumed.In order to determine the changes that might occur in periods shorter than 24 hours, the day was divided into three 8-hour periods. The urine was collected for each of the 8-hour periods, toluene added as a preservative, and the specimens were kept in the ice box until used. The stools were collected for 24-hour periods. The blood samples were collected anaerobically, heparin being used as the anticoagu...

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