Well put, however, everyone here seems to have misunderstood my expression
"BETTER OFF". What part of that is not clear??? You can analyse my post
using one petty minutiae after another, or you can address the reply in the
context in which it was given.

I simply made the comparison between sitting in the water, and taking it
internally.

From "Survival at sea"
Drinking sea water

Everybody who has accidentally swallowed a bit of sea water knows that
drinking a glass of it isn't possible. Drinking sea water is dangerous and
will result kidney failure. This is what everybody thought until Dr. Bombard
proved that people could survive on sea water (we are talking about staying
alive, not healthy). Many experts still disagree with Bombard's theory, but
the fact that he has survived 63 days on drifting raft without any other
food and water than what the ocean could provide him gives a lot of credit
to his research on sea survival. Bombard doesn't disregard the danger of
drinking sea water. During his testing periods he got sick when he tried to
drink more than 32oz of sea water per day for more than five days. After
numerous tests and various castaway experimentation (drifting at sea for
weeks), he came to the conclusion that people could safely drink sea water
in quantities not exceeding 32oz per day. Safely here doesn't imply healthy,
it is rather the maximum amount of sea water a man could drink without
experiencing major health complication or life threatening conditions. Of
course all his tests were limited on himself (although many other people
like the crew of La Balsa expedition and the Incas themselves were known to
regularly drink sea water). If you must drink sea water, follow Dr. Bombard
's advice.

32oz. per day, for 63 days. Not poison, not recommended also, but a much
longer survival than simply doing nothing.

IMHO, It's always better to rely on empirical evidence, than simply work on
non systemic body system theory...

Oh yeah, Jaxashby - don't bother replying to any of my posts, since you
aren't achieving your objective any longer, and more than adequately proven
your ignorance to many people.


"Dennis Gibbons" wrote in message
et...
Actually we just got through that section here in Nursing School.

The lower bowel ( the colon) does absorb excess water from food. However,
it is not by some magic process. There are not little guys in there
pumping
water through the colon wall. It is by passive osmosis only. By
definition
osmosis moves water from an area of lesser solute concentration to one of
greater concentration. Since sea water has a higher gradient of salt,
water
would go in that direction no matter which end of the alimentary canal you
were using.
Clear enough?

--
Dennis Gibbons
dkgibbons at optonline dot net
"AC" wrote in message
...
You don't seem to understand how the lower bowel works. Try researching
it,
and you will understand.

The part of the bowel before the anus re-hydrates the body through
re-absorbtion. It does this by several means to which "JAXAshby", for
one -
would not even have a clue.


"Dennis Gibbons" wrote in message
t...
The problem is that since sea water has a higher salt concentration
than
the
body, if water could travel through the skin, it would LEAVE the body.
Water follows salt (let's hear it for countercurrent multiplication in
the
loops of Henle)

--
Dennis Gibbons
dkgibbons at optonline dot net


"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
KNOCK IT OFF, YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

you know not a thing you are talking about. a seawater enema is
JUST
AS
DANGEROUS as drinking seawater.

Idiot. geesus kriste!!

From: "AC"
Date: 8/29/2004 5:56 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

You'd be much better off giving yourself an enema with it, than
sitting
in
it.

Several cases of extended survival at sea without drinking, using
seawater
enemas have been reported.


"KimDalkin" wrote in message
...
I just finished ready Jack London's "South Sea Island Tales".

In it he descibes Islanders preventing dehydration by sitting in
sea
water. A hurrican had just destroyed the islands drinking water.
He
describes it relieving thirst, though not getting rid of it
entirely.

I spoke to a doctor friend of mine, and he thinks its pluasible.
The
density of salt in the body is just slightly less than sea water.
If
severely dehyrated, then reverse osmoosis would occur, and water
would
pass through the skin back into the body.

Does reverse osmosis occur?
If so, should the Ancient Mariner of jumped into the sea, instead
of
watching the boards shrink?

Kim