Gamble, Ross, and Tisdall (1) originally pointed out that electrolytes and water were lost from the body during fasting in a manner which could be reasonably predicted from the concentration of salts in the body fluids. This concept is the basis for the study of changes in body composition by examination of electrolyte balance and weight changes. Darrow, Da Silva, and Stevenson (2) elaborated the method of calculation and showed that shifts of sodium between extracellular and intracellular fluid could be inferred in certain conditions from balance measurements. In this laboratory, studies in both man and animals (3, 4) have frequently demonstrated losses or gains of sodium which cannot be reasonably explained on the basis of shifts so calculated. Two possible explanations are: (a) Unmeasured skin losses may lead to the calculation of erroneously large retentions, or (b) Electrolyte may be sequestered in the body in an osmotically inactive form quickly available to the body fluids. Flanagan, Davis, and Overman (5), studying both balances and composition of tissues in dogs with adrenal insufliciency, noted such discrepancies and suggested that bone might serve as a sodium reservoir.The early work of Gabriel (6) demonstrated the presence of substantial amounts of sodium in the chloride-free residue of bone extracted with alkaline glycol solutions. Harrison, Darrow, and Yannet (7) showed that the ratio of sodium to chlonde in the skeleton is greatly in excess of that found in a plasma ultrafiltrate, and defined this as "extra" bone sodium. Subsequent investigators have confirmed these findings (8, 9), and Kaltreider, Meneely, Allen, and Bale (8), Stern, Cole, Bass, and