SUMMARY OF THE VAGUS GROUP. 123 



VII nerve, seems to be correlated with the size of the 

 organs to be innervated. 



These branches of the lateral line nerve were all care- 

 fully traced and verified on the opposite side of the speci- 

 men plotted. They agree in detail with the description 

 given above, except for slight variations in the arrange- 

 ment of the anastomosing fibres. The cephalic and caudal 

 portions of the second ramulus have separate origins from 

 the r. lateralis and the caudal one only effects the anasto- 

 mosis with the first spinal. There seems to be a sub- 

 cutaneous anastomosis between the caudad portion and 

 the third ramulus. A less thorough examination of other 

 specimens shows that the general arrangement is the 

 same. There is considerable variation in the details of 

 the anastomoses, but there is always a very rich sub- 

 cutaneous plexus in this whole region, arising from ter- 

 minal branches of the r. lateralis, and the medial and 

 dorsal rami of the spinal nerves and converging in the r. 

 lateralis accessorius near the median line between the 

 general dorsal musculature and the inter-spinal muscles. 



Cole is certainly in error when he says ('98a, p. 169) 

 that " it is certain that the true lateral nerve never anas- 

 tomoses with the spinal nerves," if he uses the term 

 anastomosis in the ordinary sense. There are, unqestion- 

 ably, cases where branches of the lateralis vagi interdigi- 

 tate with and for a short distance are bound up in the 

 same sheath with branches of the spinals. But this 

 temporary mingling of these dissimilar fibres has neither 

 physiological nor morphological significance, and this is 

 doubtless what Cole means by his statement. 



Some further points bearing on the morphology of the 

 ramus lateralis vagi are given in Section 1 2 under the 

 head of the r. lateralis accessorius. 



XI.— Summary of the Vagus Group. 

 These nerves, including the r. lateralis, receive viscero- 

 motor, communis, general cutaneous and acustico-lateralis. 

 fibres. 



