DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 



By W. H. HARBAUGH, V. S., Richmond, Virginia. 



Tlie organs pertaining to the respiratory function may be popularly 

 classed as follows: The nasal openings, or nostrils; the nasal cham- 

 bers, through which the air passes in the head; the sinuses in the 

 head, communicating with the nasal chambers; the i^harynx, common 

 to the functions of respiration and alimentation ; the lar^-nx, a com- 

 plicated structure situated at the top of the wind-pipe; the trachea, 

 or wind-pipe; the bronchi (into which the wind-pipe divides), two 

 tubes leading from the wind-pipe to the right and left lung, respec- 

 tively; the bronchial tubes, which penetrate and convey air to all 

 parts of the lungs; the lungs. 



The pleurals a thin membrane that envelops the lung and is reflected 

 against the walls of the thoracic cavitj^ The diaphragm is a mus- 

 cular structure, completely separating the contents of the thoracic 

 cavity from those of the abdominal cavity. It is essentially a muscle 

 of inspiration, and the principal one. Other muscles aid in the 

 mechanism of respiration, but the diseases or injuries of them have 

 nothing to do with the class under consideration. 



Just within the nasal openings the skin becomes gradually but per- 

 ceptibly finer, until it is succeeded by the mucous membrane; the 

 lino of demarkation is not always well defined. Near about the junc- 

 tion of the skin and membrane is a small hole, presenting the appear- 

 ance of having been made with a punch; this is the opening of the 

 nasal duct, a canal that conveys the tears from the eyes. Within 

 and above the nasal openings are the cavities or fissures called the 

 false nostrils; if the finger is inserted up into them it will be demon- 

 strated that the superior extremity is blind; just in this situation 

 there is often found a little tumor, to be described hereafter. The 

 nasal chambers are completely separated, the right from the left, by 

 a cartilaginous partition. Each nasal chamber is divided into three 

 continuous compartments by the two turbinated bones. 



The mucous membrane lining the nasal chambers, and in fact the 

 entire respiratory tract, is much more delicate and more frequently 

 diseased than the mucous membrane of any other part of the body. 



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