Total Body Water in Rats and in Mice

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Abstract
This study constitutes a test of the generalization that the fat free animal body contains a constant fraction of water. Total body water by desiccation, total body fat by ether extraction, and fat free dry body weight were measured in 14 normal mice and 26 normal rats, and in 34 starved and dehydrated rats. In normal animals total body water was nearly a direct proportion of fat free dry weight and body fat had no independent effect on total body water. On the other hand, severe dehydration, in grown female rats reduced total body water, expressed as a per cent of fat free weight, from 72.2% to 67.5%. Mice and weanling rats had 74.0% and 74.7%, respectively, water in the fat free body, significantly more than did normal adult rats.