Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1914-04-10
MYSTERIES OF SEA- HOLES IN THE HEAD
Closets in Human Uranium Must
Be Kept Ventilated.
Nose Serves 40 Radiator-Positjon .,
the Eustaehian Tube-open Space,
Receive Warmed and Moistened
Air to Insure Health.

Our heads are full of holes that n,,s.
be ventilated If we are to remain "
good health. Most people think the al,
they inhale goes only to their lungs
and that its one use is to purify their
blood. The air has another and inst
as important function--the aeration
OF the hidden cupboards and closets
Of the head.
The nose Is . sort Of radiator
formed Of twisted tubes. in which the
inhaled air is warmed and moisteped
When you exhale vigorously the air ia
forced up into the recess back of tina
nose. This is called the naso- pharynr
From this many tubes open upward
and backward. each leading to one or
more of the closets in the head.
The best known Of these is the Eus.
tachian tube. which runs from the
back Of the pharyIz to the middle ear.
The middle ear is behind the drum. In
1t are situated the little bones that
connect the drum with the nervous ap-
paratus Of the inner ear. In the rear
walls Of the middle ear is a large r.
regular opening leading to the mas.
told antrum. large cavity in the up
per part Of the mastoid bone, Behind
the ear. This communicates again
with net work Of irregular cavities
that make sponge-like structure Of
the interior of the mastofd process.
Air passes through the Eustachian
tubes into the middle ear and on into
the hollows Of the mastoid bone. In.
lection also takes the same route, and
this is how a nasal catarrh may cause
serious attack of mastoiditis that
can be cured only by a terrible and
often fatal operation that begins with
chopping open the mastoid bone with
a chisel and mallet.
Over tie eyebrows, toward the mid
die and in the lower part of the
frontal bone are the frontal sinuses,
irregular cavities which are connected
with the middle of the nose by tube
called the infundibulum.
Behind these again are the cells Of
the ethmoid bone, called the anterior
and posterior ethmoidal sinuses. These
open also into the nose by two differ
ent tubes. The anterior sinuses open
also into another cavity called the an
trum Of Highmore.
The antrum is situated in the cheek,
over the bicuspid and mo-
lar teeth. Its size varies in different
individuals and it is not always the
same size on each side of the face.
It opens directly into the pharynx. Its
floor is the alveolar process of the
upper teeth and its roof is the floor Of
the eye cavity.
Farther back in the head than any
Of these except the .mastoid are tho
sphenoidal sinuses. They also open
into the pharynx by two round holes
and they sometimes communicate
with the posterior ethmoid cells or
sinuses. ~ IA e
Many OF these sinuses communicate
with the posterior ethmoid cells or SIN
uses. +.
Most Of these sinuses communicate
with labyrinths or smaller holes In
the bones about them. Many OF them
do not exist at birth and only begin
to develop about the seventh year.
growing larger until the age OF about
twenty.
Vigorous exhalation drives the air
that has been warmed and moisteneo
In the lungs into all Of these hidden
cavities In the head. They are there
to contain air, and this air must not
become stagnated. II the head DO
stopped up by catarrh some OF them
are sure to become involved. The re,
suit is headache, earache and some =
times insanity.
Therefore, in breathing 1t is as I'M
portant to blow air forcibly up into
the upper pharynx as it is to draw II +
down into the lungs.