Chap. VI.] NOSE AND NASAL CAVITIES. 75 



lachrymal sac and conjunctiva through the nasal 

 duct ; and may extend to the frontal sinuses and the 

 aiitrum, producing frontal headache and cheekache. 

 These relationships are often demonstrated in a severe 

 " cold in the head." From the nearness of the nasal 

 fossae to the cranial cavity it happens that meningitis 

 has followed upon purulent inflammations of the nose. 

 Foreign bodies of various kind are often lodged in the 

 nose, and may remain there for some years. Thus 

 Tillaux reports the case of an old woman aged 64, 

 from whose nose he removed a cherry stone that had 

 been there for twenty years. 



In washing out the nasal cavities with the " nasal 

 douche" the fluid is introduced by means of a 

 syphon. The nozzle of the syphon tube is introduced 

 into one nostril, the mouth is kept open, and the 

 fluid runs through that nostril, passes over the soft 

 palate, and escapes from the other nostril. The latter 

 cavity is therefore washed out from behind forwards. 

 The course of the fluid depends upon the fact, that 

 when the mouth is kept open, there is such a dis- 

 position to breath through it alone, that the soft 

 palate is drawn up and the nares cut off from the 

 pharynx. 



The roof of each nasal fossa is very narrow, being 

 only about \ of an inch in width. It is mainly formed 

 by the thin cribriform plate, but its width is such that 

 the danger of the roof being penetrated by so large 

 a substance as a pair of polyp forceps has been greatly 

 exaggerated. The cranial cavity has, however, been 

 opened up through the roof of the nose by penetrating 

 bodies introduced both by accident and with homicidal 

 intent. Fracture of this part also has been associated 

 with very copious escape of cerebro-spinal fluid through 

 the nostrils. A meningocele may protrude through 

 the nasal roof. In a case reported by Lichtenberg, 

 the mass hung from the mouth, having passed through 



