284 THE ADRENAL SYSTEM AND VASOMOTOR FUNCTIONS. 



functional fluctuations simultaneously, thus rendering antag- 

 onistic augmentor and inhibitor nerves unnecessary. Nor can 

 we deem applicable the term "vasomotor" nerves to regulate 

 the blood-supply, since it implies active vasodilation besides 

 vasoconstriction. We have seen that "vasodilation" could not 

 be active; hence "vasoconstrictor" alone denotes the true 

 function of such a nerve, vasodilation being either passive or 

 indirect. The term "secretory" appears as faulty from our 

 standpoint, since it also suggests that the nerve possesses, 

 besides its own attributes, i.e., to excite and regulate gland- 

 ular activity, the power to supply the energy required to 

 sustain the process, which is not the case. 



That the foregoing views are sound is suggested by the 

 facility with which various familiar experiments are accounted 

 for. "If in the cat," says Foster, "the peripheral stump of the 

 divided sciatic nerve be stimulated with the interrupted cur- 

 rent, drops of sweat may readily be observed to gather on the 

 hairless soles of the foot on that side." The sciatic, as we view 

 it, supplies all the nerve-impulses of the organ; stimulation 

 will, therefore, furnish all the energy required for the entire 

 process. Again, he states: "The sweating is not due to any 

 increase of blood-supply, for it may be observed when the 

 cutaneous vessels are thrown into a state of constriction by 

 the stimulus. . . ." We have seen that this very constric- 

 tion is an important feature of the process, as we understand 

 it, since it insures rapid vis a tergo motion and increased 

 energy. Continuing the sentence, he adds: ". . . or even 

 when the aorta or crural artery is clamped previous to the 

 stimulating of the sciatic nerve of a recently amputated leg." 

 Even these factors should not prevent diaphoresis, if, as we 

 contend, the motor nerve the sciatic, in this case contains 

 both sets of functional fibers. The motor apparatus being 

 thus complete, the amputated limb is thus far better able to 

 respond normally to an artificial stimulus than would a system 

 embodying mutually antagonistic nerves, such as that now 

 thought to prevail. "Moreover," says Professor Foster, "when 

 atropine has been injected, the stimulation produces no sweat, 

 though vasomotor effects follow as usual." It is evident that 

 the drug caused this by inducing adrenal insufficiency, thus 



