SALIVARY FISTULA. 
601 
i 
had completed their fifth year, I would have these horses 
sent to the regiments, fit to take their place in the ranks in 
all respects, save the being accustomed to the soldier’s 
weapon. I have, &c. 
R. J. Hurford, Y.S., 9th Lancers. 
Major General Sir W. R. Gilbert, K.C.B., &c., 
Commanding Punjab Division. 
SALIVARY FISTULA, SHOWING THE ABUNDANCE OF 
THE SECRETION OF SALIVA. 
By Charles Dickens, M.R.C.V.S., Kimbolton. 
Sir, —Having noticed in your periodical of this month an 
excellent paper emanating from a continental veterinarian, 
upon the action and peculiarities of the salivary glands, re¬ 
flecting great credit upon the author for research and industry, 
and forming a subject for reflection to the practical man in a 
pathological sense, as a doubt is expressed relative to the 
quantity secreted within a given time (or that the author has 
made a lapsus ), it may not be ill-timed, in connection with 
the subject, to relate the particulars of a case which once oc¬ 
curred in my own practice; and should you deem it worthy 
of a corner in your Journal, it is much at your service. 
1 am, yours very truly. 
A farmer requested my advice respecting a four-year-old cob, 
which he was daily riding as hack, and which, to use his own 
expression, had been “ spitting ” from one side of his jowl for 
some days past. It was recognised as an open parotid duct 
on the left side. Finding the saliva trickling in an almost 
continued stream, curiosity induced me to time a given quan¬ 
tity, as caught in a graduated glass measure. The following 
was the result:—While in the act of masticating hay, from 
8 to 10 drachms per minute flowed; but if the jaws were 
quiet, from 6 to 8 drachms only. Now, if we take the me¬ 
dium at 1 oz. per minute, and suppose an equal secretion from 
the opposite gland, it will fall little short of a gallon per hour , 
in a comparatively small animal. Adding to this, therefore, 
the submaxillary, sublingual, &c., secretions, we shall find 
that M. Colin has not so very far exaggerated . I shall not 
trouble you or your readers with a lengthened account of the 
treatment. Suffice it to say, that a cautious application of 
