A series of experiments in anesthetized rabbits were conducted to determine whether hyperinflation of the lung alone could produce a protein-permeable lung epithelium and whether a protein-permeable lung epithelium allowed accumulation of liquid in the alveolar space. Some animals had their entire lungs subjected to distending pressures; others had only an area of the lung subjected to the high distending pressure. Alveolar liquid was measured by dilution of radioactive solutes upon instillation of saline into atelectatic lung, and protein permeability was determined by the loss of labeled albumin from the alveolar space over 40-60 min. Inflation of the entire lung at 40 cmH2O for 20 min increases air-space gas volume three- to fourfold, does not produce a protein-permeable epithelium, and does not result in accumulation of alveolar liquid. Distension of a small area of the lung by 40 cmH2O pressure for 20 min increases the gas volume 6- to 12-fold and produces a protein-permeable epithelium, but does not result in liquid accumulation in the alveoli. It is concluded that only very high distending volumes cause the lung epithelium to become permeable to protein and that a protein-permeable epithelium alone does not induce alveolar edema.