section of
New Orleans Spitting Spitting is the act of forcibly ejecting saliva or other substances from the mouth. In many parts of the world, it is considered rude and a social
taboo, and has sometimes been outlawed. In some countries, for example, it has been outlawed for reasons of public decency and attempting to reduce the spread of disease. These laws may not be strictly enforced, but in
Singapore, the fine for spitting may be as high as SGD$2,000 for multiple offenses, and one can even be arrested. In
China, expectoration is more socially acceptable (even if officially disapproved of or illegal), and
spittoons are still a common appearance in some cultures. Some animals, even humans in some cases, use spitting as an automatic defensive maneuver.
Camels are well known for doing this, though most domestic camels are trained not to. Spitting by an infected person (for example, one with
SARS-CoV-2) whose saliva contains large amounts of
virus, is a health hazard to the public.
Glue to construct bird nests Many birds in the
swift family, Apodidae, produce a viscous saliva during nesting season to glue together materials to construct a nest. Two species of swifts in the genus
Aerodramus build their nests using only
their saliva, the base for
bird's nest soup.
Wound licking A common belief is that saliva contained in the mouth has natural
disinfectants, which leads people to believe it is beneficial to "
lick their wounds". Researchers at the
University of Florida at
Gainesville have discovered a
protein called
nerve growth factor (NGF) in the saliva of
mice. Wounds doused with NGF healed twice as fast as untreated and unlicked wounds; therefore, saliva can help to heal wounds in some species. NGF has been found in human saliva, as well as
antibacterial agents as secretory
mucin,
IgA,
lactoferrin,
lysozyme and
peroxidase. It has not been shown that human licking of wounds disinfects them, but licking is likely to help clean the wound by removing larger contaminants such as dirt and may help to directly remove infective bodies by brushing them away. Therefore, licking would be a way of wiping off pathogens, useful if clean water is not available to the animal or person.
Classical conditioning In
Pavlov's experiment,
dogs were conditioned to salivate in response to a ringing bell; this stimulus is associated with a
meal or
hunger. Salivary secretion is also associated with
nausea. Saliva is usually formed in the
mouth through an act called
gleeking, which can be voluntary or involuntary.
Making alcoholic beverages Some old cultures use chewed grains to produce alcoholic beverages, such as in Latin America
chicha de muko (a type of
chicha) and
kasiri, and in Japan
kuchikamizake (a type of
sake). ==Substitutes==