Animal body fluids are a vital aspect of physiology. Life depends on the satisfactory functioning of protoplasm, and the functioning of protoplasm is in its turn dependent on its being bathed by a suitable medium. Animal Body Fluids and their Regulation is designed to introduce the student to some of the reasons why the composition of the bathing medium is so important and to the manner in which it is maintained. Examples are given to show how the problems involved in maintenance vary with the environment, and to show the nature of the solution of these problems adopted by most of the major groups of animals.

In recent years a considerable volume of research has been devoted to studying the relationship between the physiology of animals and their particular environments. As a result there has been an increasing emphasis placed on physiology in scholarship and introductory university courses. Some aspects of the subject, for example vertebrate respiration and nervous conduction, have been comprehensively summarized in books at this level. Animal body fluids and their regulation, however, has not so far been satisfactorily covered. This book fills an important gap and should be especially useful to scholarship candidates and first year university students.