1881.] i^O [Stowell. 



Tlie Vagus Nerve in the Domestic Cat CFelis domesiica). 

 By T. B. Stowell, A.M., Ph.D. 



{Read before the American Philosophical Society, July 15, 1881.) 



The idea of using tlie cat as the basis of anatomical study is by no means 

 arecentone. Straus-Durcl^heim's "AnatomieduChat, " Dr. B. G. Wilder's 

 " Anatomical Uses of the Cat," and other papers published by the same 

 author since 1877, and Mivart's recent work on "The Cat]" present the 

 general thought with more or less directness. I am not aware, however, 

 tliat any one has made a study of the nerves of the cat in their detailed 

 distribution. Having compared the vagus nerve in man, cat, dog, horse, 

 ox, sheep, rabbit and frog, I am satisfied that the cat {Felis doraestica) pre- 

 sents advantages over all others as a basis for comparative study. I ac- 

 cordingly submit the accompanying figures and text to aid students who 

 may be disposed to investigate Comparative Neurology. 



The cat, dog, and rabbit were injected with plaster, as recommelided by 

 Prof. Simon H. Gage, of Cornell University, in a paper published in The 

 American Naturalist, vol. xii, p. 717. Thefiguresare semi-diagrammatic ;^ 

 they were originally drawn to a scale, natural size; for the purpose of giving 

 prominence to certain relations, to ramuli and anastomotic filaments, such 

 modifications have been made as seemed necessary; where a nerve trunk is 

 continuous, with no distinctive characters, it is shortened, e.g., thegastro- 

 cardiac portions of the vagus (Fig. 9). The figure of the stomach is re- 

 duced one-half (Fig. 13). For the sake of simplicity no attempt has been 

 made to reproduce plexuses or the terminal ramification of filaments. 



The nomenclature used is largely that advocated by Dr. B. G. Wilder, 

 before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Boston, 

 1880, in a paper entitled " A Partial Revision of the Nomenclature of the 

 Brain," and in a more detailed communication published in Science, March 

 19, and 26, 1881, entitled "A partial Revision of Anatomical Nomencla- 

 ture, with especial reference to that of the Brain." The simplicity and 

 perspicuity of the nomenclature commend it alike to the lecture-room and 

 the laboratory. 



[In cases wliere it was thought that any possible doubt might arise from using 

 the new terminology, the new words are followed by their anthropotomical 

 equivalents.] 



The vagus nerve (N. vagus; N, pneumogastricus; Pars vaga; Par vagum; 

 N. ambulatorius; N. symimthicus medius; Eighth pair, pneumogastric 

 branch, Willis; Tenth pair, Sommering and Vicq-d'Azyr) presents the 

 following marked characters, viz : — 



General Characters : N. vagus has the most extensive distribution 

 and the longest course of the cranial nerves ; in its cephalic region princi- 

 pal rami are derived from ganglia ; il forms by its frequent and complex 

 anastomoses with N. sympathicus numerous plexuses, hence presents in- 

 volved physiological and pathological complications ; its terminal fila- 



PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XX. 111. P. PRINTED MARCH 8, 1882. 



