Colloid Osmotic Pressure of the Body Fluids of Marine Animals

Abstract

EXCHANGES of water between blood and tissues are generally believed, since Starling's work, to be regulated by the equilibrium of two forces, namely, hydrostatic capillary pressure which drives water out into the tissues, and blood colloid osmotic pressure which draws it into the vessels. Based on clinical and experimental investigations, I pointed out several years ago that this assumption leaves out of consideration the role of the tissues, which are, from a physico-chemical point of view, a much more complicated system than blood. In my opinion, the hydration of tissues determines the colloid osmotic pressure of blood, this pressure being but an intermediary between the different tissues¹.