Ciliary action.

To those interested in diseases of the chest, ciliary action should be of absorbing interest, not only through its importance in the interpretation and treatment of inflammatory infections, but also from its intrinsic physiological fascination. It is surprising that physicians place so much stress on the value of cough and so little on that of ciliary action; the former is really a pathological phenomenon, while the latter is an everyday and normal means of protection. And again, those dealing with respiratory diseases should never lose sight of the dependence on cilia in the physiological processes of the nose and sinuses, with a corresponding danger when the mechanism is upset, the upper air passages then becoming a source of danger instead of a means of protection of the lower air tracts.