388 Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



described later. Such large medullated nerves have been found 

 in all parts of the sympathetic system and are generally recog- 

 nized as cerebro-spinal sensory fibers. KoUiker (28) says that 

 the sensory fibers of the sympathetic system are larger or 

 smaller medullated fibers originating from the spinal ganglia 

 and conveying the scanty sensory impressions which emanate 

 from the several organs. In the upper and middle thirds of the 

 oesophagus of the cat and in the whole oesophagus of the dog 

 and rabbit and other animals which have striated muscle in the 

 muscular coat throughout the whole oesophagus, other medul- 

 lated nerves are found in the nerve trunks, which form no con- 

 nection with the sympathetic ganglion cells, but, sooner or 

 later, leave the nerve trunk to terminate on the striated muscle 

 in an end-plate which is exactly like the end-plate found in vol- 

 untary muscle in all parts of the body. 



The origin of these various nerves has been investigated 

 by Howell and Huber (22), Langley (3 1), Kronecker and 

 Liischer (29), Kreidel (30) and others. Howell and Huber, 

 while investigating the physiology of the communicating branch 

 between the superior and inferior laryngeal nerves, determined 

 that this was a sensory branch of the superior laryngeal nerve 

 and carried sensory fibers from the trachea and oesophagus. 

 Kronecker and Liischer decided, as the result of their experi- 

 ments, that the inferior or recurrent laryngeal nerve brought 

 the motor fibers to the cervical and upper thoracic portions of 

 the oesophagus. Langley found that the motor innervation of 

 the whole oesophagus and of the cardiac end of the stomach is 

 from the vagus nerves, which also carry inhibitory fibers to the 

 cardiac and adjacent regions of the oesophagus. Kreidel, how- 

 ever, has carried out a number of experiments to determine 

 from which root arise the nerves supplying the oesophagus and 

 decided that, while the vagus nerves carry the fibers to their 

 place of distribution, they arise, not from the vagus root, but 

 from the glossopharyngeal. By comparing the results of these 

 workers, we may arrive at the conclusion that all the nerve 

 fibers — motor, sensory, vasomotor and preganglionic — found 

 in the nerve trunks of the intermuscular plexus of the oesoph- 



