294 DR. CHAMBERS, ON MUCUS AND PUS. 
quantity of a solution of potash upon the specimen, and I have a “ dis- 
solving view ” produced, for the elegant little filaments (cilia) have van- 
ished. 
Surely, these exquisite organisms are not without a purpose! There 
must be sowe office which they fulfil. 
“Oh, happy living things! No tongue 
Their beauty might declare : 
A spring of love gushed from my heart, 
And I blessed them unaware.” 
The cilia always move in one direction, and in the bronchial tubes this 
is toward the windpipe—upwards. Hence all particles of dust, all sorts 
of materials in a finely powdered state, which may be accidentally sucked 
in during respiration, are prevented descending into and accumulating 
in the air-cells by the influence of these cilia. A small, almost atomic, 
portion of road dust we often draw into the lungs on a blustry summer’s 
day, but it effects no injury, for it hardly has got in before the cilia “ take 
it in hand,” and it is sent back again from one to the other till it has 
reached the mouth. 
“Were it not for this grand provision, all the millers and stonecutters 
would be exterminated in a very short period. Even as it is, they do 
meet their death sooner than other folk, because of the inability of the 
cilia to prevent all the particles entering. A more energetic atom than 
usual will elude their vigilance and slip down occasionally, and this being 
oft repeated, the collected matter sets inflammation and other morbid 
processes agoing, which end in the extinction of life. The bronchial 
tubes and windpipe are composed of a kind of gristle or cartilage, mixed 
with tissue of sinewy description; and in addition to these there are a 
few fibres of muscular tissue (flesh). These muscular filaments can 
hardly be seen, but a very ingenious experiment has shown us their 
existence. Muscle always contracts when galvanized, and therefore if a 
galvanic shock causes the lung tissue to contract, it probably contains 
muscle. An English physiologist having dissected out the lung and 
bronchial tubes of an animal, placed the entire organ so that the opening 
of the windpipe was opposite the flame of a candle; next he applied the 
wires of the galvanic battery to the lung, and he heard the air rush out, 
and saw the candle extinguished.” 
With these extracts we must conclude our notice of these 
manuals, commending them to the notice of all who are 
anxious to acquire or spread a knowledge of the first prin- 
ciples of physiology. 
Three Lectures on the Formation of Mucus and Pus, being 
the Lumleian Lectures of the Royal College of Physicians. 
By Dr. T. K. Cuambers. 
Tue Lumleian lectures have this year been delivered by 
Dr. Chambers, the subject chosen being the formation of 
mucus and pus. The use of the microscope is of course 
essential in researches such as those which Dr. Chambers 
