Production of Negative Pressure in the Trachea of the Hen by Ciliary Action

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Abstract
Expts. were made on the tracheas of freshly killed hens to test the effect of the physiologic action of the ciliary mechanism in the air passages in the presence of occluding masses of mucus. Negative pressure was produced in these tracheas when a mass of mucus, large enough to occlude the lumen, was placed in the lower end and the lower end then stoppered. In like manner positive pressure was produced when the mucus was placed in the lower end and the upper end then stoppered. The phenomenon of pressure change was thus due to ciliary action, since absorption had been ruled out by the last described expts. The principle involved was thought to be that of a piston-cylinder action, with the piston being represented in the mass of mucus, the cylinder being the trachea and the motivating power of the piston lying in the ciliary action. Expts. with 3 or 4 tracheas connected in tandem were done showing that the effect of ciliary action upon occluding masses of mucus within the trachea was cumulative in that each added piston of mucus within a single tubular system, acted upon by ciliary action, increased the total pressure.

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