274 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



tern. This intimate relationship of the various systems 

 of nerves led to the conjecture that the office of the 

 ganglionic nerves was to harmonize the various work- 

 ings of the animal body. Bell was the first to remark 

 that the gray matter in the ganglia made the system 

 of nerves reflex in its activities, and left it independent 

 of the will, or voluntary effort. He found that fila- 

 ments from the superior ganglia at the base of the 

 brain exchanged fibrils Avith the pneumogastric and 

 glosso-pharyngeal, and thus put respiration and de- 

 glutition beyond the dictation of mental operations. 

 He mentions that a bolus of food, after it passes the 

 isthmus of the fauces, is no longer under control of the 

 wall, but that it is involuntarily swallowed, whether 

 pleasant or disagreeable. Through the influence of 

 the sympathetic system the intestines are peristaltic, 

 the glands secrete, and the blood-vessels and capillaries 

 execute their functions. By the agency of the repro- 

 ductive ganglia wonderful migrations in the animal 

 world are executed. When the ovaries of the salmon 

 become charged with spawn, a migration is made 

 from the sea to the head waters of the rivers that 

 the ova may be deposited in places favorable for 

 the hatching and thriving of the fry ; and as much 

 may be said of a thousand other kinds of fishes. In 

 the spring millions of wild fowl wing their way to the 

 north, that their young may be reared in regions fa- 

 vorable for their safety and development. The fern a 1 es 

 take the lead in these northern flights, and the males 

 head the returning flocks. 



Sir Charles Bell was gifted with many talents, and 

 he buried none in the rubbish of life. He pursued his 

 studies con anwre, and became distinguished in all he 

 undertook. His discoveries in the functions of the 



