EXCESSIVE SECRETION OF SALIVA. SALIVATION. 



PTYALISM. 



Causes ; a symptom of other diseases, of the mouth, teeth, throat or 

 stomach ; rank aqueous vegetation, lobelia, pilocarpin, muscaria, tobacco, 

 mustard, and other acrid vegetables ; caustic alkalies, acids, salts ; com- 

 pounds of mercury, gold, copper, iodine ; palsy of lips ; harsh bit ; fungi 

 on clover, sanfoin, etc. Symptoms ; salivary escape ; frequent degluti- 

 tion ; thirst ; disordered digestion, etc. Treatment ; remove cause ; astrin- 

 gent washes ; sedatives ; embrocations to the glands. 



This is often a symptom of some other affection such as aph- 

 thous fever, dumb rabies, epilepsy, stomatitis, pharyngitis, den- 

 tition, caries and other diseases of the teeth, wounds and ulcers 

 of the mouth, gastric catarrh, etc. In other cases it is due to 

 direct irritants in the food or medicine, as very rank, aqueous, 

 rapidly grown, spring grass, lobelia, pilocarpin, muscarin, to- 

 bacco, wild mustard, colchicum, pepper, garlic, ginger, irritant 

 and caustic alkalies, acids and salts, and the compounds of mer- 

 cury, gold, copper, or iodine employed locally or internally. 

 The application of mercurials to the skin is especially liable to 

 salivate cattle and dogs, partly because of a special susceptibility 

 to the action of this metal and partly from the tendency of these 

 animals to lick the medicated surface. Paralysis of the lips 

 causes a great flow of saliva from the mouth though no more 

 than the normal amount is secreted. The irritation of a large or 

 harsh bit will increase the secretion, and still more the former 

 habit of attaching to it small bags of spicy or irritant chemicals. 

 Certain fungi determine salivation. Mathieu saw profuse sali- 

 vation in horses, cattle and sheep fed on clover and sanfoin 

 which had become brown. 



Symptoms consist in the profuse flow of saliva, either in long 

 stringy filaments, or if there is much movement of the jaws, in 

 frothy masses ; frequent deglutition ; increased thirst and disor- 

 dered digestion (tympany, inappetence, colics, constipation, 

 diarrhoea). In mercurial salivation there may be loose teeth, 

 swollen, spongy, ulcerated gums, tympany, rumbling and the 

 passage of foetid flatus and soft ill-digested stools. 



Treatment consists in removing the cause, whether this is to 



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