CHANGES IN NASAL EPITHELIUM

Attention has lately been directed in The Journal¹ to a report by Hilding² describing the varying degrees of ciliary activity in the nasal mucosa. It was shown that in those areas in the nose and communicating passages to which the inspired air had more or less direct access there was decidedly less movement of the mucus overlying the epithelium. This functional response to exposure naturally raises the question of an associated structural differentiation; and, in a recent contribution, Hilding³ has described his investigation of the alteration in morphology of the nasal epithelium in connection with changes in ventilation. The normal epithelium of the nose is not all alike; whereas in the preturbinal region it is deep but otherwise like squamous epithelium, it becomes thinner as the sections are taken from the turbinates, and farther posterior on the turbinates assumes a columnar character. Here a few cilia can