In spite of their long history, theories of thirst rich in introspective analysis continue to multiply. The "dry mouth" theory, for example, has been attributed in one form or another to Cannon, Hippocrates, and Pithecanthropus erectus, and has present day adherents. And yet the actual investigation of thirst has been a relatively neglected province, especially among physiologists. Publication of the 30 papers in this volume appears to signal a new climate of scientific interest. No small credit for the successful conference whose proceedings are recorded here belongs to Dr. Wayner, who gathered its distinguished participants.
Nominally concerned with thirst, this book necessarily deals also with drinking and satiety, the other two elements of the triad which endlessly repeats its cycle in water metabolism. The work of the neurophysiologist (thirst spots in the hypothalamus), the psychologist (behavior), and the applied scientist (problems of the castaway at sea) are all represented in