The need for common salt in the diet is an ancient, inveterate cognition, deeply rooted in human mores, to such an extent that little thought has been given to the chronic toxicity of sodium chloride. A search of the literature reveals a number of papers which describe toxic effects of sodium chloride in fowl (1), but a paucity of information relative to mammals. Campbell (2) reported the possibility of kidney damage in the rat fed a diet containing more than 5 per cent of sodium chloride. Mosier (3) studied the adrenal glands in rats on diets very high in sodium chloride. Sapirstein, Brandt, and Drury (4) and Gross (5) produced hypertension in rats fed diets high in sodium chloride and restricted in the amount of fluid. This was accomplished by substituting saline solution for drinking water. Binet, Dejours, and Lacaisse (6) raised rats on a high sodium chloride regimen and described a resulting renal hypertrophy and functional adaptation. A few experiments of a chronic nature have been made using the mouse (7), the albino and the kangaroo rat (8), the dog (9), and the cow (10).Recently Meneely, Tucker, and Darby (11) reported on the growth of rats fed for 20 weeks on purified diets containing seven different levels of sodium chloride. The present paper describes certain pathologic manifestations of chronic sodium chloride toxicity which were observed in these animals. Abstracts of these findings have appeared (12). Materials and MethodsThe experimental regimen has been described (11). Male, albino, Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing an average of 119 gm., were placed on purified rations and demineralized water ad libitum. The purified rations contained seven different levds of sodium chloride as follow: ration I (low Na diet), about 0.01 per cent Nat1; ration II (control diet), 0.15 per cent NaCI; ration III, 2.8 per cent NaCI; ration IV, 5.6 per cent NaC1; ration V, 7.0 per cent NaCI; ra-71

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