hard food is an aid to the teeth by helping the circulation and nerves in the pulp. To take a very hot or very cold drink into the mouth may cause the enamel to crack. If a tooth aches, or a small decayed place is found in it, a dentist should be consulted at once. A tooth is so valuable to the health that no tooth should be extracted when it can be saved.
The process of digestion consists in liquefying the food that it may pass through the walls of the food tube into the blood, and through the walls of the blood vessels into the tissues. It is accomplished: (1) by mechanical means, including the chewing muscles, the teeth, and three layers of muscles in the walls of the food tube; (2) by chemical means, or the action of alkalies and acids upon the food; (3) by organic agency, or the action of ferments. A ferment (or enzyme) is a vegetable substance which has the power of producing a chemical change in large quantities of substance brought in contact with it, without being itself changed. There is one ferment secreted in the mouth, two in the stomach, and three in the small intestine.
Digestion in the Mouth.—Saliva is formed by six glands: one in the cheek in front of each ear, one at the angle of each lower jaw, and one pair is beneath the tongue. Each gland opens into the mouth by a duct. Saliva is ropy because it is mixed with mucus formed by the mucous membrane lining the mouth; it usually contains air bubbles. There is a ferment in the saliva called ptyalin, which has the power of changing starch to malt sugar. If a bit of bread is chewed for a long time, it becomes sweet, because some of the starch is changed to sugar. The flow of saliva is caused by chewing, or by the sight, or even the thought, of agreeable food. Dryness of food is by far more powerful than anything else in causing the saliva to
