Title
On the Respiratory Functions of the Nose and Their Relation to Certain Pathological Conditions
Author
Greville Macdonald, M.D. (Lond.)
Image
Description
This volume, published in 1889, is Greville Macdonald’s focused scientific monograph examining the physiological role of the nose in respiration and its relationship to disease. Rather than treating the nose as a passive conduit, Macdonald presents experimental evidence demonstrating its active role in warming, humidifying, and chemically modifying inspired air.
The work is structured around laboratory experimentation, anatomical analysis, and clinical correlation. Macdonald devotes substantial attention to nasal airflow dynamics, turbinate function, humidity regulation, and temperature modulation—topics that would later become foundational to modern otolaryngology and respiratory physiology.
Illustrations depict experimental apparatus used to measure air temperature, humidity, and chemical changes during nasal passage, reflecting the late-19th-century shift toward quantification and controlled physiological study.
Condition
Original green cloth boards with gilt spine lettering; light edge wear and mild spine rubbing; binding sound; pages clean and bright with minimal foxing; no loose or missing pages observed.
Gallery
Historical context
By the late 19th century, medicine was moving decisively away from purely descriptive anatomy toward experimental physiology. Macdonald’s work belongs to this transition. At a time when mouth breathing, adenoid hypertrophy, and chronic nasal obstruction were increasingly implicated in systemic illness, this book provided empirical support for the nose’s physiological importance.
Published in Boston and New York by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, the book reflects the transatlantic exchange of medical ideas between British clinicians and American academic medicine during this period.
Curious Facts, Ephemera, and Trivia
The book treats nasal breathing as a measurable physiological process, not a passive anatomical feature.
Macdonald served as physician to the Throat Hospital, Golden Square, London—an institution central to early ENT specialization.
Experimental diagrams show early use of chemical desiccants and measurement chambers to quantify humidity changes in inspired air.
Excerpt
“The nasal passages are not merely channels for the ingress of air, but organs endowed with a definite respiratory function.”
Why it is in the Cabinet
This book represents the moment when the nose stopped being ignored. It documents the scientific pivot from assumption to measurement, and from symptom to mechanism. Quiet, methodical, and foundational—exactly the kind of work that modern medicine stands on without remembering it.
Digital Access
A digitized copy of this work is available for research and reference purposes. The digital version preserves the original pagination, illustrations, and layout of the 1889 edition.
View or download the digital copy
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