Mouse salivary secretion provoked by single or multiple oral administrations of the cholinergic agent pilocarpine was characterized. An accessory ad hoc device, manipulated by a single operator, was used to collect saliva from various mice simultaneously. A single challenge by pilocarpine in the range 40-400 µg provoked a dose-dependent secretory response. The secretory response lasted for about 40 minutes and was constituted by four clearly defined stages, namely: lag (5-10 min), maximal flow (10 min), slowering (15-20 min) and postsecretory rest. In this response, usual parameters were: maximal flow rate, 30-40 µl/min; total volume of saliva, 250-350 µl/mouse and total salivary protein, about 700 µg/mouse. Temporal desensitization of the secretory response was observed within the first hour following a single stimulation by pilocarpine. However, recurrent stimulations by this agonist given at 24-h intervals produced an equally intense secretory response, thus suggesting resensitization during that period. The polypeptide composition of salivas obtained from a number of mice after a first pilocarpine stimulation were undistinguishable from each other. That salivary polypeptide pattern was also observed in a series of salivas obtained day by day from single animals stimulated at 24-h intervals by the agonist. Thus, both the characteristics of the secretory response as well as the polypeptide composition of mouse saliva after short-term or long-term challenges by pilocarpine were found to be highly consistent. Accordingly, these studies open the possibility of accomplishing a systematic molecular typing of saliva from individual living mice either from natural populations or from mice subjected to experimental laboratory conditions