Abstract
Summary
Water transmission was measured through isolated human, rabbit, marine fish, and frog skins. The water transmission rate of fish and frog skins approximates free evaporation of water, and is 6 to 20 times greater than in mammalian skins. Human and rabbit skins contain a hexane-soluble lipid which appears to be the major regulator of passive water holding. This hexane-extractable lipid was not detected in the fish or frog skin. Burned mammalian skin contained 30% or less of the normal water-holding lipid and transmitted up to 4 times more water than intact skin. Water transmission by the surfaces examined was inversely proportional to the water-holding lipid content of the surface. The postburn decrease of hexane-extractable lipid in burned mammals was associated with production of a surface which closely resembles the skin of poikilotherms in water transmissivity and thermoregulatory capability. The maintenance of homeothermia may therefore be, in part, related to the presence of water-holding lipid in the skin.
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