114 P A T II O 
wine and ftimulating liquors,) and taking gentle exercife, 
progrelTively increafing it according to the return of 
itrengrh. 
“ Laftly. The flannel and woollen drefs, in which thofe 
under a courfe of mercury Ihould be, literally fpeaking, 
encafed, is to be changed daily ; and, befides the ordinary 
precautions of having thofe articles of drefs well waffied, 
it is neceffary that they be expofed for at lead twenty- 
four hours to the open air, and afterwards to the influence 
of a large fire, before being again ufed.” 
Salivation is ufed as a curative means in lues, liver- 
complaints, in fome fevers, &c. in our account of which 
we (hall take further notice of it. It has been recom¬ 
mended, moreover, as a cure for pbthifis by Dr. Ruth ; 
and a cafe was publifted in the 3d volume of the London 
Medical and Phyfical Journal, ftrongly corroborative of 
this treatment, by Dr. Peiffer. We may here remark 
that there is every reafon to fuppofe that cafe, as well as 
feveral others recorded in fupport of the fame opinion, 
were not genuine phthifis, but rather that form of pul¬ 
monary difeafe which fupervenes on difordered (fates of 
the hepatic fyftem, and in which mercury undoubtedly 
exerts a falutary influence. 
With reganl to the treatment of mercurial ptyalifm, it 
is generally remarked, that, as foon as the mercury ceafes 
to be adminiftered, the fpitting ceafes of itfelf. At all 
times, however, this does not fake place; and accordingly 
we have many methods recommended by various authors 
for its removal. Thofe molt in repute are purgative me¬ 
dicines, opium, and fulphur. If any mercury remains in 
the fyftem, thefe will fometimes relieve ; but thele medi¬ 
cines are not all of equal efficacy. Mr. Hunter thinks 
purgatives ufelefs, and Dr. Parr lias not found them 
highly beneficial, though he thinks they fometimes lefl'en 
the difcharge. Opium is highly ufeful, particularly in 
the form of Dover’s powder. Sulphur is known to lefl'en 
the activity of mercury out of the body ; and, as it en¬ 
ters the circulation with little change, it may have the 
fame effect on the circulating fyftem. But this, like 
other finely-fpun theories, deceives us in praClice. Sul- 
phuris by no means highly ufeful in thefe circumftances. 
Diuretics, which feem to excite what appears to be a vi¬ 
carious difcharge, have been employed but with little ef¬ 
fect. We believe every praftitioner, by the means men¬ 
tioned, has been able to mitigate falivation ; but by no 
remedies, in every inftance, to conquer it wholly. See 
Hunter, Swediaur, Bell, and Howard, on the Venereal 
Difeafe ; Stahl de Salivatione Mercuriali; Alberti de Hy- 
drargyrofi ; and Hamilton on the Ufe and Abufe of Mer¬ 
curial Medicines. 
As a critical difcharge, falivation is for the moft part 
falutary, and often terminates the difeafe that excites it. 
This is frequently the cafe in fevers; and the following 
inftance is perhaps worth relating. A lady, aged twenty- 
four, and of a delicate conftitution, was attacked with 
the typhus in the fpring of 1788, under which (lie gra¬ 
dually drooped for nearly three weeks. Dr. Good thought 
her in great danger; but on the twentieth day a fudden 
and copious ptyalifm fupervened that evidently afforded 
her confiderable relief. “This continued for upwards of 
.1 week, the daily fecretion being never lefs than a pint, 
and twice not lefs than a pint and a quarter. Yet, 
inftead of adding to her debility, it appeared to give 
freflt vigour to the fyftem : the digeftive funftion re¬ 
fumed its office; (he daily improved in (L ength, and, on 
its ceffation at the above period, was in a (late of conva- 
lefcence.” 
We have numerous hiftories in which it has proved 
equally ferviceable about the acme of ftnall-pox; and 
the fluid of dropfies is faid to have been frequently dire¬ 
charged by this channel. An extraordinary inftance of 
this is related by Dr. Huxham, in Phil. Tranf. for i7 a 4~ 
vol. xxxiii. The patient was a man aged forty, of a (pare 
bilious habit, who had an attack of jaundice, followed 
by a paroxyfm of colic, this laft being produced by 
3 
LOGY. 
drinking too freely of cider. Among other medicines 
was given a bolus, containing a fcruple of jalap, eight 
grains of calomel, and a grain of opium. Copious de¬ 
jections followed, and a few hours afterwards the pa¬ 
tient complained of pain and fwelling in the fauces, fpat 
up a little thick brown faliva, which was foon confider- 
ably increafed in quantity, of a deep colour, refembling 
greeniffi bile, though fomewhat thinner. This flux of 
green and bilious faliva continued for about forty hours, 
during which time the quantity difcharged amounted to 
four pints. The colour of the faliva then changed to 
yellow, like a folution of gamboge, wit., an increafe ra¬ 
ther than a diminution of the quantity. It continued 
of this colour for the fpace of forty hours more, after 
which it gradually became pellucid, and the falivation 
ceafed as fuddenly as it came on. During the flow of the 
faliva, the teeth and fauces were as green as if they had 
been ftained with verdigris, and the teeth retained the 
fame colour for a fortnight after the ptyalifm had ceafed. 
The patient had a few years before been fuddenly attacked 
by a fpontaneous falivation, fo exceffive as to endanger his 
life. In the prefent inftance, therefore, it is probable 
that the dofe of calomel co-operated with the peculiarity 
of the conftitution in exciting the difcharge : but, what¬ 
ever was its caufe, it proved critical both of the jaun¬ 
dice and the colic; for, from the moment it took place, 
the pain of the bowels ceafed, and the greeniffi colour of 
the (kin began to fubfide, the urine being at the fame 
time fecreted more abundantly, and of a blackiffi hue. 
A very remarkable cafe is related in the London Med. 
and Phyf. Journal, vol. xxx. p. 37, by Dr. Yeats. The 
fubjeft: was a female, in whom a ptyalifm was excited for 
the purpofe of improving the date of the menftrual dif¬ 
charge. This attempt, however, brought on very great 
derangement of the digeftive organs, manifefted by im¬ 
mediate rejeftion of every kind of medicine or aliment, 
by acid galtric fecretion, &c. The cure of this ftate re¬ 
filled every means fuggefted by the experience of Dr. 
Yeats, until he again induced ptyalifm, when every un- 
pleafant fymptom abated, and the patient gradually and 
perfeftly recovered. Remarkable as this cafe appears, and 
difficult as it is to trace the mode of curation eftabliffied 
by the refufcitation of ptyalifm, we perfeftly coincide 
with Dr. Yeats in attributing the recovery of his patient 
to that procefs. The reader will meet with fome impor¬ 
tant remarks on this fubjeft in the Med, Obferv. and En¬ 
quiries, vol. iii. by Sylvefter and Dobfon, and by Bardfley 
in the Med. Reports. 
£. Pt. fympatheticus, or mouth-watering. A watering 
of the mouth experienced by fome at the fight or fmell of 
food is an inftance of its production by nervous influence. 
Its occurrence in fever and other complaints, where it 
feems to produce very falutary effeCts, (hows that it fome¬ 
times becomes fpontaneoufly the feat of tranflated or 
fubftituted difeafe. Mechanical preffure, as is well 
known, excites very much the aftion of the falivary 
glands; as in chewing, fucking, &c. It is on this prin¬ 
ciple that it has been recommended to roll a marble, or 
fmall bullet, in the mouth, for the purpofe of afl'uaging 
third; the mufcular motion neceffarily involved in this 
aft, eliciting copious falivary fecretion, and confequent 
moiftening of the fauces. Tobacco likewife, and all 
other local irritants, are capable of inducing this en- 
creafed fecretion. 
y. Pt. mellitus, or fweet fpittle. This is generally 
connefted with diforder of the ftomach: its remote 
caufes are probably identical with thofe of Diabetes mel¬ 
litus. Dr. Good obferves of it, that the fecretion of fw'eet 
or mawkiffi faliva is not only for the moft part free, but 
accompanied with naufea, and other fymptoms of indi- 
geftion : and is probably what Sauvages intends by his 
firft fpecies, P. naufeofus, or a (aburra nidorofa. It is 
relieved by magnefiaand other abforbents; but will often 
only yield to an emetic, followed by warm ftomachics. 
It may be neceffary, no doubt, to vary the treatment ac¬ 
cording 
