ioo SCIENCE PROGRESS 



intermediate between the anterior and posterior columns. This 

 idea, although repeatedly insisted upon by Bell as fundamental, 

 was not favourably received by physiologists, with one notable 

 exception, viz. Gaskell, who took it as the foundation of his 

 Splanchnic System of Nerves connected with the lateral tract 

 and with Clark's column and distributed to " visceral " muscles, 

 among which curiously enough Gaskell places the muscles of 

 facial expression. It would take us too far afield to discuss 

 these considerations which are hardly germane to the simpler 

 issue now before us ; nevertheless as indicating a favourable 

 opinion of Bell's position in this respect at variance with the 

 unfavourable opinion 1 am now presenting, I think it may 

 be right to indicate by a short quotation from Gaskell's writings 

 that a distinguished physiologist does actually in 1886 attach 

 high value to Bell's work. Obviously, however, I do not 

 subscribe to the opinion I am about to quote : 



"As regards this latter question (as to the double character 

 of each of the two roots, anterior and posterior) the answer has 

 already been given by one of the greatest of English physiolo- 

 gists : Charles Bell, in his description of the nerves of the body, 

 was the first to draw attention to the triple nature of the nerve 

 roots throughout the central nervous system. He divided them 

 into three sets: (1) anterior, containing the fibres of common 

 voluntary motion ; (2) posterior, containing the nerves of 

 sensation ; (3) lateral or respiratory, containing nerves which 

 excite motions dependent on or related to the act of respiration. 

 He says : ' I imagine that the same column or tract which gives 

 origin to the fourth, seventh, glossopharyngeal, pervagum, and 

 spinal accessory nerves is continued downwards along the 

 lateral parts of the spinal marrow, and that it affords roots 

 to the spinal nerves, constituting them respiratory nerves as 

 well as nerves of motion and sensation ; and that it especially 

 supplies the roots of the diaphragmatic nerve, and the external 

 respiratory nerve.' Charles Bell himself was, I understand, 

 more proud of this conception of special lateral and respiratory 

 roots than of his famous functional separation of the anterior 

 and posterior roots. Physiologists have doubtless failed to 

 follow up this clue thus given by Bell because the full bearing 

 of this triple arrangement of the nerve roots was not imme- 

 diately evident like the separation of anterior motor from 

 posterior sensory roots. Now, however, we can see the im- 

 portance of his conception; we see that this lateral tract of 

 nerve roots, these so-called respiratory nerves are the same 

 as the non-ganglionated part of the splanchnic root. The 

 significance of this agreement between Bell's conception and 



