668 Fourth report — 1834. 



nerves going to the organ and the various functions it performs. 

 He then gave a view of the many actions performed by the fea- 

 tures, and especially by the mouth and lips, contending that 

 these different motions could not be performed by the opera- 

 tion of one uniform source of energy in the brain, and one 

 mode of communication between the brain and exterior organs, 

 and that these considerations laid open to us the reason why 

 different nerves came to the same part, and formed connexions 

 which, without seeing the necessity for such combination, would 

 appear to us matter of accident. 



Sir Charles Bell proceeded to show how the investigation of 

 the roots of nerves threw further light upon this interesting 

 subject. He spoke of the columns of the spinal marrow, the 

 double roots of the spinal nerves, the ganglions on the posterior 

 root, and the resemblance of the fifth nerve of the head to the 

 spinal nerves. Taking the great work of Monro upon the 

 nervous system, he presented in succession the plates of the 

 roots of the spinal nerves, that of the ganglion of the fifth, and 

 that of two nerves going to one muscle. He called upon those 

 gentlemen who were of his own standing to remember the zeal 

 with which their old professor treated of these subjects, and 

 asked them if they thought his gratitude was due to any other 

 authority. "Often," said he, "have I hung over these plates 

 and repeated all the dissections." These are the points of 

 anatomy that have suggested the experiments to ascertain 

 whether nerves were common nerves, or whether each was 

 endowed with powers differing from those of others, and re- 

 sulting from the column or part from which it took origin. A 

 short history of his experiments on the spinal iierves and on 

 the fifth, terminated this discourse. 



In continuation of the preceding remarks. Sir Charles Bell re- 

 minded his audience of the extraordinary complication of nerves 

 presented in the human body after minute dissection. He laid 

 before the section the plates of the nerves given by some of our 

 best authors, and asked if there could be found any clue to this 

 remarkable intricacy. He then proceeded to show that there was 

 a method in addition to those he had pointed out before, a 

 method of mquiry which enlarged the field of our observations, 

 and vastly increased the interest of the subject. This was com- 

 parative anatomy ; the investigations of which, still following 

 the functions of the parts, shewed the nerves increasing in 

 number and in complication, in proportion as additional actions 

 were required, in the parts constituting the system of the ani- 

 mal body. 



He presumed it would be granted that Nature wrought Avith 



