Sputum has been separated into a sol and a gel phase by ultracentrifugation and the components of these phases examined. A glycoprotein of high molecular weight as well as serum albumin, immunoglobulin A, sll acid glycoprotein and lactoferrin were detected in the sol phase by gel filtration and immunodiffusion studies. A glycoprotein of similar chemical composition was isolated from the gel phase by solubilisation in 6 M urea/O. 1 M NaCl followed by fractional precipitation with ethanol.The carbohydrate content of this glycoprotein, termed the bronchial glycoprotein, varied from 58 (w/w) to 69% (w/w) with sputum from different patients and was composed of fucose, galactose, galactosamine, glucosamine and N-acetylneuraminic acid. Serine, threonine and proline constituted 44% (w/w) of the amino acid residues of the bronchial glycoprotein and an alkaline borohydride cleavage study indicated that 0-glycosidic linkages exist between N-acetylgalactosamine and the hydroxyamino acids in the peptide core. Fractionation of the bronchial glycoprotein on DEAESephadex A-25 yielded fractions enriched in sulphate and sialic acid but separate fuco, sialo and sulpho glycoproteins were not obtained. Similarly fractionation of the oligosaccharides released by the action of alkaline borohydride yielded a complex mixture of oligosaccharides but sulphated oligosaccharides free of sialic acid were not obtained. Separation of the oligosaccharides into two fractions of different sizes showed that sulphate content was greatest in the larger oligosaccharides whereas sialic acid content was highest in the smaller oligosaccharides. A methylation study of the bronchial glycoprotein, neuraminidase-digested bronchial glycoprotein and mild acid-hydrolysed bronchial glycoprotein revealed that the N-acetylneuraminic acid was linked to C-3 of penultimate galactose units. Fucose occurs in three different linkages, approximately 50 % is linked to C-2 of penultimate galactose units, approximately 25 % is linked to C-4 of glucosamine residues already substituted at