4:34 NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



and intestines following extirpation of the coeliac plexus. By 

 comparative experiments, it was shown that this did not re- 

 sult from the peritonitis produced by the operation. 1 



As regards secretion, the influence of the sympathetic is 

 very marked. When the sympathetic filaments distributed 

 to a gland are divided, the supply of blood is very much in- 

 creased, and an abundant flow of the secretion follows. This 

 point we have already discussed in another volume, and have 

 referred particularly to the experiments of Bernard upon the 

 salivary glands. 3 In some recent experiments by Peyrani, 

 it has been shown that the sympathetic has a remarkable in- 

 fluence over the secretion of urine. "When the nerves are 

 galvanized in the neck, the amount of urine and urea is in- 

 creased, and this increase is greater with the induced than 

 with the constant current. "When the sympathetic is divided, 

 the quantity of urine and urea sinks to the minimum. 3 



Since the publication of our volume on secretion, Dr. 

 Moreau has published a series of observations on the influ- 

 ence of the sympathetic nerves upon the secretion of liquid 

 by the intestinal canal, which are peculiarly interesting in 

 their bearing upon the sudden occurrence of watery diar- 

 rhoea. In these experiments, the abdomen was opened in a 

 fasting animal, and three loops of intestine, each from four to 

 eight inches long, were isolated by two ligatures. All of 

 the nerves passing to the middle loop were divided, taking 

 care to avoid the blood-vessels. The intestine was then 

 replaced, and the wound in the abdomen was closed with 

 sutures. The next day the animal was killed. The two 

 loops with the nerves intact were found empty, as is normal 

 in fasting animals, and the mucous membrane was dry ; but 

 the loop with the nerves divided was found filled with a 



1 SAMUEL, Principes fondamentaux de Vhistoire du systeme ncrveux nutritif. 

 Journal de la physiologic, Paris, 1860, tome iii., p. 580. 



2 See vol. iii., Secretion, p. 28, et seq. 



3 PEYRAXI, Le sympafhique par rapport d la secretion des urines. Complex 

 rendus, Paris, 1870, tome Ixf., p. 1300. 



