[Development of nasal septum in the rabbit. Studies of regional differences in the septum thickness]

Following older investigations concerning the influence of the nasal septum on the growth of the facial skull, in this article we tried to get a better understanding of the mechanism of growth of the nasal septum by studying the regional thickness of the septum during development. Rabbits varying in age from one day to 24 weeks were used to make relief maps of the nasal septum. A comparison between these maps led to the following conclusions: The anterior half of the septum and the posterior part of the septum adjacent to the sphenoid en ethmoid bone remain rather constant in composition. The middle part, however, shows a varying appearance. Near the snout the septum is very thin, backwards it thickens by concentric ellipses. Adjacent to the sphenoid, one finds the thickest part, anterior ward, diminishing gradually into a basic strip. In the region of the ethmoid bone the septum is always thin. The middle variable part mostly shows a thickening with outflows upward and downward. Where the alae vomeri are connected very closely to the septum, the growth in thickness lags behind. Our findings do not allow an exact explanation of the experimental results of other workers.