UTILISATION DU CHAT DANS L'ÉTUDE EXPÉRIMENTALE DES PNEUMOCONIOSES

Abstract Among mammals with a bronchial system comparable to that of man, cats are distinguished by their small size and relatively low price. Rather short bronchioles prolonged by a very extensive ramifications of alveolar ducts are coated with a cubic non-ciliated epithelium without goblet cells. The bronchi differ greatly from those of rodents commonly used, owing to their large number of glands originating in the neighbourhood of the cartilaginous bronchi. A large number of smooth muscle fibers are observed in the region of the alveolar ducts. Short exposures reveal the places where dust cells first force their way towards the interstitial spaces and their motion up to the subpleural interstices. Prolonged dust exposures show the formation of perivascular and peribronchiolar deposits which are very similar to those found in man. In some cases it was possible to observe true dust nodules.