

THE CERVICAL PORTION OF THE SYMPATHETIC 



pharynx, where they join with branches from the glossopharyngeal, vagus, and 

 external laryngeal nerves to form the pharyngeal plexus. 



The superior cardiac nerve (n. cardiacus superior} arises by two or more branches 

 from the superior cervical ganglion, and occasionally receives a filament from the 

 trunk between the first and second cervical ganglia. It runs down the neck behind 

 the common carotid artery, and in front of the Longus colli muscle; and crosses 

 in front of the inferior thvroid 



CAVERNOUS PLEXUS 



FIRST 



CERVICAL 



NERVE 



XILLARY NERVE 



HENOPALAHNE 

 GANGLION 



I \ SUPERIOR CARDIAC 

 P*-* NERVE 



.MIDDLE CERVICAL 

 ^^ GANGLION 



/ / MIDDLE CARDIAC 



ft/ NERVE 



artery, and recurrent nerve. 

 The course of the nerves on the 

 two sides then differ. The right 

 nerve, at the root of the neck, 

 passes either in front of or behind 

 the subclavian artery, and along 

 the innominate artery to the 

 back of the arch of the aorta, 

 where it joins the deep part of 

 the cardiac plexus. It is con- 

 nected with other branches of 

 the sympathetic; about the 

 middle of the neck it receives 

 filaments from the external 

 laryngeal nerve; lower down, 

 one or two twigs from the 

 vagus; and as it enters the 

 thorax it is joined by a fila- 

 ment from the recurrent nerve. 

 Filaments from the nerve com- 

 municate with the thyroid 

 branches from the middle cer- 

 vical ganglion. The left nerve, 

 in the thorax, runs in front of 

 the left common carotid artery 

 and across the left side of the 

 arch of the aorta, to the super- 

 ficial part of the cardiac plexus. 



The Anterior Branches (nn. 

 carotid exlerni} ramify upon 

 the common carotid artery and 

 upon the external carotid artery 



and its branches, forming around each a delicate plexus, on the nerves composing 

 which small ganglia are occasionally found. The plexuses accompanying some 

 of these arteries have important communications with other nerves. That sur- 

 rounding the external maxillary artery communicates with the submaxillary gan- 

 glion by a filament; and that accompanying the middle meningeal artery sends an 

 offset to the otic ganglion, and a second, the external petrosal nerve, to the genicular 

 ganglion of the facial nerve. 



The middle cervical ganglion (ganglion cervicale medium) is the smallest of the 

 three cervical ganglia, and is occasionally wanting. It is placed opposite the sixth 

 cervical vertebra, usually in front of, or close to, the inferior thyroid artery. It 

 is probably formed by the coalescence of two ganglia corresponding to the fifth 

 and sixth cervical nerves. 



It sends gray rami communicantes to the fifth and sixth cervical nerves, and 

 gives off the middle cardiac nerve. 



The Middle Cardiac Nerve (n. cardiacus medius; great cardiac nerve), the largest 



EIGHTH 



CERVICAL 



NERVE 



FIRST 



THORACIC 



NERVE 



LOWER CERVICAL 

 GANGLION 



NFERIOR CARDIAC 



NERVE 



FIG. 844. Diagram of the cervical sympathetic. (Testut.) 



