92 



NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



of the encephalic; and from the 

 ganglions, formed by such com- 

 munication, sends off nerves, 

 which accompany the arteries, 

 and are distributed particularly 

 to the organs of involuntary 

 functions. At its upper part, it 

 is situate in the carotid canal, 

 where it appears under the form 

 of a ganglionic plexus ; two fila- 

 ments of which proceed to join 

 the sixth pair of encephalic 

 nerves, and another to meet the 

 Vidian twig of the fifth pair. 

 By means of the fifth pair, it 

 communicates also with the oph- 

 thalmic ganglion, which Bichat 

 considered to .belong to it. On 

 issuing from the carotid canal, 

 the nerve passes downwards, 

 along the side of the spine, to 

 the sacrum ; presenting a series 

 of ganglions; three in the neck, 

 the superior, middle, and in- 

 ferior cervical; twelve in the 

 back, the thoracic; five in the 

 loins, the lumbar; and three 

 or four in the sacrum, the sa- 

 cral. When it reaches the 

 coccyx, it terminates by a small 

 ganglion, called coccygeal; or by 

 uniting with the great sympa- 

 thetic of the opposite side. 



The ganglions are of an irre- 

 gular, but generally roundish, 

 shape. They consist of nervous 

 filaments, surrounded by a red- 

 dish-gray, pulpy, albuminous, or 



Great Sympathetic Nerve. 



1. Plexus on the carotid artery in the carotid foramen. 2. Sixth nerve (motor externus). 3. First 

 branch of the fifth, or ophthalmic nerve. 4. A branch on. the septum narium going to the incisive fora- 

 men. 5. Recurrent branch or Vidian nerve dividing into the carotid and petrosalf branches. 6. Poste- 

 rior palatine branches. 7. Lingual nerve joined by the chorda tympani. 8. Portio dura of the seventh 

 pair. 9. Superior cervical ganglion. 10. Middle cervical ganglion. 11. Inferior cervical ganglion. 

 12. Roots of the great splanchnic nerve arising from the dorsal ganglia. 13. Lesser splanchnic nerve. 

 14. Renal plexus. 15. Solar plexus. 16. Mesenteric plexus. 17. Lumbar ganglia. 18. Sacral gan- 

 glia. 19. Vesical plexus. 20. Rectal plexus. 21 . Lumbar plexus (cerebro-spinal). 22. Rectum. 

 23. Bladder. 24. Pubis. 25. Crest of the ilium. 26. Kidney. 27. Aorta. 28. Diaphragm. 29. Heart. 

 30. Larynx. 31. Submaxillary gland. 32. Incisor teeth. 33. Nasal septum. 34. Globe of the eye. 

 35, 36. Cavity of the cranium. 



felatinous substance, which differs from the gray matter of the brain, 

 ir E. Home 1 considers their structure to be intermediate between that 



24 



1 Lect. on Comp. Anat., v. 194, Lond., 1828. 



