John Bell, ags l0, of sioux City, Iowa, for his qusstion:
Why are tears salty?
The best eye lotion in the world is made by your own body. It is called the lachrymal fluid, and your body makes enough of it to bathe your eyes every minute. Sometimes it makes too much and the overflow spills down the cheeks in rivers of salty tears.
The word lachrymal, sometimes spelled lacrimal, is coined from an older word for weepy tears. Tears are made of lachrymal fluid which is manufactured in the lachrymal. You have one of these almond shaped glands under the lid at the outer corner of each eye.
This liquid is a special formula made mostly from the salty fluids that the living tissue of the body fluids bathe the living cells in a solution of soothing and nourishing chemicals. And the body has countless devises to keep the balance of chemicals just right of dissolved proteins and other foods, antibiotics and the proper balance of salty tears. The lachrymal glands draw upon this abundant supply of body fluid to manufacture tears. _
The tears are not made only for weeping. Nor are they made only to flow when we cry from merriment. Tears are actually made to be used as a eye lotion and we use, the lotion every time we blink. As the eyelids blink shut, they squeeze the tear glands. The eyelids work like windshield wipers and smooth the soothing lotion for the eyes.
The lachrymal fluid is a gentle lotion that can be used safely hundreds of times every day. The glassy surface of the eyes are used to its dissolved salty chemicals. These and other substances are present in the fluid in just the right amounts. There are soothing and healing nutrients and special substances that attack certain bacteria. The lachrymal fluid cannot destroy all invading bacteria and sometimes our eyes become infected. But without a doubt its chemicals destroy many common germs that blow into our eyes, and it protects our eyes from dust and infections that invade them every day.
Our eyes are bright windows looking out through the dusty air. Most of the dust fragments are too small to be noticed, but they tend to stick on the shiny surfaces of the eyes. If we did not Wipe them off our eyes would become fogged and clouded with dust. This is why we blink every few moments. This is why the eye wiping fluid is a soothing lotion of dissolved salts and other chemicals.