SYMPATHETIC NERVE. 



519 



by the union of the [Fio. 157. 



Vidian hranch of the 

 fifth and sixth pair 

 of nerves, whose di- 

 verse properties com- 

 ing together, consti- 

 tute, as it were, a 

 tertium quid, styled 

 the sympathetic. 

 This view is ex- 

 plained by the ac- 

 companying figure, 

 from Lobstein. 



The latter opinion, 

 which places the or- 

 igin in the interior 

 of the arteries, re- 

 gards the lining coat 

 of these vessels as 

 essentially nervous, 

 and makes the semi- 

 lunar ganglion, in 

 the abdomen, the 

 great centre of this 

 system. Whatever 



may be its origin, there is strong reason for believing, with 

 Bichat, that it is the especial nerve or system of nerves for 

 organic life, presiding over the functions of involuntary 

 motion, as digestion, absorption, circulation, secretion in 

 a word, all the functions of nutrition. There are also 



FIG. 157 represents the origin of the Sympathetic Nerve, agreeably to Lob- 

 stein, a a Carotid artery. 6 Ganglion of Laumonier. c From this latter 

 ganglion three branches are sent off to join the sixth pair of nerves, d The 

 sixth nerve separated into two fasciculi, e The superior fasciculus. / The 

 inferior fasciculus parted, by a groove, from the superior; and it is the infe- 

 rior which unites with the three branches from the ganglion, g Petrosal 

 branch of Vidian nerve joining the ganglion, h Twig of the latter branch. 

 i t Filaments proceeding from the ganglion to the artery, j A branch going 

 behind the carotid from the ganglion, k A branch going from the ganglion in 

 front of carotid, dividing it. I m Sympathetic nerve. w 



