ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 85 



AMMONIA IN SALIVA, 



MAX. JACKSON. 



That ammonia does occur in human saliva has been shown by 

 Mallet and Hey ward (Chemical News, No. 1144), The mode of testing 

 was to place at the bottom of a perfectly clean and dry test-tube a 

 small quantity of saliva; a little magnesium oxide was then adried, 

 a slip of filtering paper moistened with the Nessler reagent suspended 

 in the upper part of tube, then corking and exposing to a tempera- 

 ture of 30°C. The amount found varied with different persons 

 and according to the experiments the "sole or chief source is not 

 found in the free gas, in the expired products of respiration merely 

 condensed in aqueous solution in the mouth." This was deduced 

 from an examination of the saliva coming directly from the different 

 glands. 



As a verification of thi« deduction, experiments are here cited 

 made on the same person at various times and under varying 

 circumstances. Tobacco smoke has been stated to contain am- 

 monia, and hence special reference was had to the use of tobacco. 



The experiments were carried out precisely as above. 



1° EXPERIMENTS MADE WITHIN AN HOUR AFTER EATING. 



not smoking, 120 m. g. 120 m. g. 140 m. g. r6o m. g. 

 after smoking, 120 m. g. 120 m. g. 100 m. g. 120 m. g. loo m. g. 



2° EXPERIMENTS MADE FROM ONE TO TWO AND A HALF HOURS AFTER EATING. 



not smoking, 120 m. g. 100 m. g. 100 m, g. 120 m. g. 140 m. g. 

 after smoking, 120 m. g. 60 m. g. 60 m. g. 120 m. g. 



3° EXPERIMENTS MADE FROM THREE TO FIVE HOURS AFTER EATING. 



not smoking, 1.40 m. g. 

 after smoking, 90 m. g. 100 m. g. 120 m. g, no m. g. 



4° EXPERIMENTS MADE TEN HOURS AND MORE AFTER EATING. 



not smoking, TOO m. g. 120 m. g. 120 m. g. 



In 1° the average for not smoking is 135 m. g. ; after smoking it is II2 m. g. 

 In 2° the averages are, respectively, 116 m. g. and go m. g. In 3° there is 

 only one experiment, giving 140 m. g. ; after smoking the average is 105 m. g. 

 In 4° the average is 113 m. g. ; no experiments were made after smoking under 

 this heading. 



From this one would deduce that the total amount of ammonia is 

 sometimes very decidedly affected by such things as smoking, the 

 food taken, &c., yet the main supply is evidently from some other 



