696 SYMPATHETIC AND OTHER SYSTEMS OF NERVES. 



on the small intestine of the dog has been made by Bayliss and 

 Starling. They find, after section of the vagi and removal of the solar 

 ganglia, that mechanical stimulation of the intestine causes contraction 

 above and inhibition below the point stimulated ; the contraction 

 passing down as a peristaltic wave, having an inhibited region in front 

 of it. After local application of cocain or injection of nicotin, this 

 effect is no longer obtained. They take the results to show that the 

 enteric nervous system exercises reflex functions comparable to those of 

 the brain and spinal cord, the nerve cells receiving afferent impulses, and 

 sending inhibitory impulses downwards and motor impulses upwards. 

 This hypothesis, however, can hardly be regarded as more than 

 provisional. 



