LESIONS OF THE PAROTID DUCT. 
351 
that the absence of secretion of saliva on the right side occasioned 
indigestion. Externally, there was not the slightest apparent trace 
that could indicate that the parotid on that side was deprived of 
its secretive properties. 
We have already stated that the patient which furnished us 
with the fifth case died in consequence of a disease. After death, 
we made a very careful post-mortem examination, and directed 
our attention chiefly to the parotid duct, which had been longi- 
tudinally divided by the bistoury. The following were the results: 
At the spot where the duct had been opened, the skin was a 
little more adherent, and the subjacent cellular tissue was hard and 
condensed, which rendered it difficult to detach the duct from the 
surrounding parts. Just where the cicatrice had been formed there 
was a thickening of the parts, a species of swelling. Although by 
touching it I had convinced myself that the passage of the duct was 
not obliterated, in order to remove all possibility of doubt on the 
subject, I introduced into it a flexible osier twig, which passed 
through to the parotid without encountering the least obstacle. 
The parotid gland did not present the slightest apparent morbid 
lesion, even when compared with the opposite one. 
The sixth case we related furnished us with an instance of trans- 
verse division of the canal, attended by loss of substance. The 
cicatrization, as we have already stated, failed not to take place 
from simple re-union of the lips of the wound. 
In support of our opinion, we can shew the pathological prepara- 
tion of the two portions of the parotid duct, which, at the part that 
was divided, bore evident traces of a perfect cicatrization. The 
parotid was paler and tougher than that on the opposite side. The 
cellular tissue also was closer and firmer : that lying between the 
lobes was peculiarly marked by these characteristics. In the internal 
portion of the canal, contiguous to the gland, was a fatty, adhesive, 
gelatinous matter which clung to those parts of the walls of the 
conduit that had become thinnest. 
That portion of the duct which opens into the mouth was some- 
what thickened, and the diameter of its opening was less than 
natural. 
The experiments we have tried, as well as the facts we have 
collected, all tend to prove that lesions of the parotid duct are 
neither tedious nor difficult of cure , and that they are susceptible 
of cicatrization by pure and simple re-union of the lips of the fistu- 
lous wound. 
Independently of the practical facts here related, we have com- 
municated several others in the volume of the Recueil for 1841, 
page 552. 
