The study by thermal methods of the dehydration/rehydration phenomena of crystal hydrates shows that it is possible to separate the total heat of rehydration of previously dehydrated crystals into two contributions, attributed to surface and bulk, respectively. Values obtained for a number of salt hydrates are given and the ratio between the surface portion and the total heat is found to be of the order of 1%. Such findings are in agreement with results previously obtained by optical microscopy and are discussed in terms of recent views about the reversible reactions of crystalline solids.