MOVEMENTS OF THE SMALL INTESTINE. 381 



to excite peristaltic movements in the intestine as vigorous as 

 those which take place after death ; and on ceasing the com- 

 pression, the movements were arrested. 1 



The nerves which are distributed to the small intestine 

 are derived almost exclusively from the sympathetic system. 

 The only part receiving filaments from the cerebro-spinal cen- 

 tres is the commencement of the duodenum, to which are dis- 

 tributed a few branches from the pneumogastric. The experi- 

 ments of Brachet, 2 by which he attempted to prove that the 

 movements of the intestines were under the control of the 

 pneumogastric and nerves emanating from the spinal cord, 

 have not been verified by other observers. Recent ex- 

 periments render it probable that an influence, derived 

 from the cerebro-spinal system, is essential to the functions 

 of the sympathetic ganglia, 3 which may account for some 

 of the results obtained by Brachet after dividing the spinal 

 cord. The experiments of Muller, however, render it cer- 

 tain that the peristaltic movements are to some extent under 

 the influence of the sympathetic nerves distributed to the in- 

 testines. In these experiments, movements of the intestine 

 were produced by galvanization of filaments of the sympa- 

 thetic distributed to its muscular coat, after the ordinary post- 

 mortem movements had ceased. The same results followed 

 the application of caustic potash to the semilunar ganglia , 

 the movenents reappearing when the potash was applied, 

 " with extraordinary vivacity " in the rabbit after the abdo- 

 men had been opened and the movements had entirely 

 ceased. 4 These experiments have been confirmed by Longet, 

 who found, however, that the movements did not take place 



1 SCHIFF, in LONGET, Traite de Physiologie, Paris, 1861, tome i., p. 147. 



2 BRACHET ET FOUILHOUX, Encydop'edie des Sciences Medicates (Analomie et 

 Physiologic], Paris, 1840, tome v.,p. 258. 



3 BERNARD, Recherches Experimentales sur les Nerfs Vasculaires el Calorifiques 

 du grand Sympathique. Journal de la Physiologic, Paris, 1862, tome v., p. 

 383. 



4 MULLER, Physiologic du Systeme Nerveux, Trad, par Jourdan, Paris, 1840, 

 tome i., p. 122. 



