visine in your coffee

[hot_pastrami]

Originally posted by insoluble
quantify

v 1: use as a quantifier; in logic 2: express as a quantity; "Can you quantify your results?"

Since nit-picking was occurring before I arrived on the scene... doesn't "quantify" always refer to a quantity? In order to quantify results, wouldn't one need to be providing numerical evidence to back the results?

Anyway...

Originally posted by insoluble
So you are in essence saying that people commonly introduce poison into a highly membranous area of their bodies (eyes) and are OK, but to swallow a few drops is fatal?

One thing to keep in mind about the eye is that it's plumbed to move fluid out on the eye, not to absorb it so much. That's part of the reason such drops work well, they stay on the surface of the eye rather than absorbing. The mouth and stomach are much more apt to absorb foreign fluids. And depending on the entry point, what is absorbed will naturally end up in a different place (and/or take a different route to get there), leading to different effects upon the body.

For instance, if I'm not mistaken, swallowed fluids will hit the kidneys relatively fast. Perhaps that has something to do with it.