Wound licking is an instinctive response in humans and many other animals to an injury. Dogs, cats, rodents and primates all lick wounds. The enzyme lysozyme is found in many tissues and is known to attack the cell walls of many gram-positive bacteria, aiding in defense against infection. Tears are also beneficial to wounds due to the lysozyme enzyme.
Read more about Wound Licking: Mechanism, In Non-human Animals, In Humans, Idiomatic Use, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words wound and/or licking:
“The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal—every other affliction to forget: but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open—this affliction we cherish and brood over in solitude.”
—Washington Irving (1783–1859)
“My father fight against you last time. We give you one good licking then and we do it again.”
—Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)