CHAPTER XY. 



SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



General arrangement of the sympathetic system Peculiarities in the intimate 

 structure of the sympathetic ganglia and nerves General properties of the 

 sympathetic ganglia and nerves Functions of the sympathetic system 

 Va so-motor nerves Reflex phenomena operating through the sympathetic 

 system Trophic centres and nerves, so called. 



WHILE there are certain points in the physiology of the 

 sympathetic nervous system that are perfectly well estab- 

 lished, it must be admitted that its functions are, in many 

 respects, obscure, and that our positive knowledge of its 

 general properties and its relations to the functions of nutri- 

 tion, secretion, movements, etc., amounts to comparatively 

 little. The very name, sympathetic, is some indication of 

 our indefinite ideas with regard to its functions ; but we have 

 adopted this name, for the reason that it is the one most 

 generally in use, though it has no very exact relation to the 

 peculiar functions of the system. It is sometimes called the 

 ganglionic nervous system ; but this name is inappropriate, 

 as it implies that it alone possesses ganglia. The name of 

 the system of organic, or vegetative life is more in accord- 

 ance with its general functions ; but this is not so commonly 

 used as that of sympathetic system. The older anatomists 

 and physiologists called the great cord of this system the 

 nervus intercostalis. 



As far as we know, there is no account of the sympathetic 

 system, even in the most recent works on physiology or in 

 special treatises, a careful study of which does not convey 



