On the relation which subsists between the nervous and muscular systems in the more perfect animals, and the nature of the influence by which it is maintained

Abstract

The author, after referring to his former papers which have at different times been read to the Royal Society, and published in their Transactions, is led to view the brain and spinal marrow as the only active parts of the nervous system 3 the nerves, whether belonging to the class of cerebral or ganglionic, together with their plexuses and ganglions, serving only as the means of conveying and combining the various parts of the former organs, and therefore being passive with reference to their functions. This view of the subject is directly opposed to that which has been adopted by many physiologists, who consider these ganglions as the sources, and not the mere vehicles, of nervous influence. In order to determine this point, the author made the following experiment on an animal that had been pithed so as to destroy its sensibility, while the action of the heart continued. Under these circumstances, he applied mechanical irritation, and also various chemical agents, to the ganglions and plexuses of the ganglionic nerves, and found that the heart continued to beat with the same regularity as before, and with the same frequency of pulsation.