COMPOSITION OF HUMAN MIXED SALIVA. 271 



mouth once with distilled water, after which the saliva was 

 simply allowed to drop from the mouth into a beaker. With 

 ether and chloroform the mouth was filled once with the vapor 

 and the saliva then allowed to flow spontaneously into a 

 receptacle without any motion of the jaws. With the alcohol, 

 gin, and whiskey, 10 c.c. of the fluid were taken into the mouth, 

 held a moment, and then ejected, after which the saliva was 

 collected as in the other cases. Lastly, an experiment was 

 tried (Feb. 15) by chewing rubber as a stimulant, and com- 

 paring the saliva so obtained with a control secreted without 

 stimulation. Following are the results obtained : 



From these results it would seem quite clear that the several 

 agents employed, with the exception of chloroform, give rise to 

 a marked increase in the content of alkaline-reacting salts in 

 mixed saliva. Mechanical stimulation, as by chewing rubber, 

 however, is even more effective than the chemical stimuli 

 employed, although it must not be overlooked that in the 

 above experiments the action of alcohol, ether, whiskey, etc., 

 is necessarily of short duration. Further, there is evidence in 

 most of the results of an increase in amylolytic power, as well 



