SALIVA. 



421 



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mutism. Donne says the saliva becomes acid 

 in many forms of disease. Brugnatelli found 

 oxalic acid in the saliva of a phthisical patient. 

 The following is Simon's analysis of the saliva 

 of mercurial salivation (it contained acetic acid 

 which was volatilised during evaporation) : 



Water 974" 12 



Yellow viscid fat - 6 '94 



Ptyalin, extractives, and traces'] 

 of casein J 



Alcoholic extractives, and salts - 7'57 

 Albumen - - 7*77 



This saliva, therefore, differed from that of 

 health in containing excess of solid constitu- 

 ents, arising from excess of fatty matter, ex- 

 tractives, albumen, and salts. The ptyalin 

 remains much as in health. 



L'Heritier gives the following as the mean 

 of three analyses of the saliva in mercurial 

 salivation. 



Water - - - 970-0 instead of 986- 5 health. 

 Organic matters 28' 6 12'6 



Inorganic matters I'l 



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L'Heritier, like Simon, found no great va- 

 riation in the amount of ptyalin. 



Dr. Wright found a great increase in the 

 quantity of mucus contained in the saliva dur- 

 ing mercurial salivation. He could not detect 

 mercury in the secretion. His analysis is as 

 follows : 



Water ... 



Ptyalin 



Fatty acid - 



Albuminate of soda - 



Mucus, with a trace of ptyalin 



Lactates "1 



Phosphates ^tash 



Hydrochlorates 



Hydrosulphocyanate J 



Gmelin found a considerable variety in the 

 saliva of patients who had been salivated by 

 mercurial inunction. In one case a large 

 quantity of fat was detected by him. He 

 obtained mercury from this saliva. 



Spontaneous Salivation. The saliva of 

 spontaneous salivation has been examined by 

 Vogel, who found it constituted as follows : 

 Water - - - 991 '2 



Ptyalin, osmazome, fat, and 1 

 albumen - - J 



Salts of soda, potash, and lime 4'4 



This shows no great variation from the na- 

 tural standard. 



Mitscherlich and Guibourt, who also ex- 

 amined the saliva of spontaneous salivation, 

 found no increase in the solid constituents, 

 while the sulphocyanogen and ptyalin were 

 deficient. 



Simon examined the saliva of a patient suf- 

 fering from inflammation of the pancreas ('?). 

 It was a clear viscid fluid secreted in great 

 abundance. It contained mucus, and was of 

 alkaline reaction. Its specific gravity was 

 lOOo. 



Under the microscope, numerous oil ve- 

 sicles were visible, besides ordinary mucus, 



.. 



globules, and epithelium scales ; 1000 parts of 

 this saliva yielded 10 parts of solid matters. 



L'Heritier examined the saliva of chlorosis, 

 and found it to suffer from watery degenera- 

 tion, in the same manner as the animal tissues 

 and secretions generally. 



In dropsy, with albuminous urine, the saliva 

 was found by L'Heritier to contain, 



Water - 985' 9 



Organic matter - - 13'6 

 Inorganic matter - - - 5 



The amount of water contained in saliva 

 appears to diminish in inflammatory affections. 

 The following is a mean result obtained from 

 six analyses made on the saliva of cases of in- 

 flammatory fever, pneumonia, and erysipelas : 



Water - 968'9 



Organic matters - - 30' 

 Inorganic matters - I'l 



The proportion of ptyalin was found in- 

 creased. 



Scherer analysed the saliva of a girl suffer- 

 ing from a scorbutic affection of the mouth. 

 There was a large secretion, forty ounces flow- 

 ing in the twenty-four hours. It was fetid 

 and alkaline, and of specific gravity 1004. 



Analysis yielded the following result : 



Water - - - 988 "8 



Casein - 6'5 



Fat - - 0-6 



Extractive matter and ptyalin 1*8 



Carbonate of soda - 1'2 



Chloride of sodium - - 0'7 



Phosphate of lime - - 0'4 



Confervoid growths and infusoria were de- 

 tected in this saliva as taken fresh from the 

 patient. 



A specimen of saliva from a phthisical pa- 

 tient was examined by Landerer*, who found 

 it to contain a great number of small fat glo- 

 bules aggregated into a viscid mass. These 

 globules exhibited the properties of oleicacid. 



Several kinds of diseased saliva have been 

 analysed by Dr. Wright, and I shall subjoin 

 his analyses. 



FATTY SALIVA. 



Water 987'4 



Ptyalin - '7 



Adventitious fatty matter and ~| 

 fatty acid - J 



Albuminate of soda - 1'5 



Sulphocyanide of potassium - a trace 



Mucus " - 2 '4 



Lactates - f potash ~j 



Hydrochlorates - -I soda 1*8 



Phosphates - (jime J 



SWEET SALIVA. 



Water - 986 '9 



Ptyalin - '3 



Fatty acid - 2 



Muco-saccharine matter - - 5'6 



Albuminate of soda - '4 



Sulphocyanogen - a trace 



* Heller's Archiv. 1846, p. 297. 



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