256 ENDOCRINE GLANDS 



All which, in his writings, refers to the mechanism of 

 organic life could be quoted to-day, as well as a century 

 ago, and would give the essential facts of the nervous regu- 

 lation of the organic or vegetative organism. 



Knowing already the difference between the two pro- 

 cesses: vegetative and organic life, Bichat shows that 

 the anatomical system of "the ganglia" presides on the 

 first, while the latter is commanded by the cerebro spinal 

 axis and its dependent nerves. This statement is really 

 too absolute; nevertheless, it is pretty nearly correct and 

 had a certain amount of influence on the subject. 



"So far all the anatomists have considered the nervous 

 system as a uniform system, but one has only to think of 

 the various methods of distribution, the texture, the 

 various properties and uses of the various branches to see 

 that it must be divided into two general systems, essen- 

 tially distinct of each other arid having for chief centres, 

 one, the brain and its dependencies, the other, the ganglia. 

 The first belongs primarily to animal life. It is the agent 

 of transmission to the brain of exterior impressions which 

 become sensations and also serves as conductor to the will of 

 this organ, which is executed by the voluntary movements. 

 The second, nearly everywhere distributed to the organs 

 of digestion, circulation, respiration and secretion depends 

 more particularly to the vegetative life, where it has 

 a more obscure part than in the preceding. Neither is 

 limited strictly to the organ of one or the other life, for 

 instance; certain cranial nerves send filaments to glands, 

 to involuntary muscles, etc., and the nervous system of 

 the ganglia has sometimes filaments in voluntary muscles. 

 It is by the general disposition, leaving aside the few 

 exceptions, that the division of these two systems is based. 

 No parallel is made here to show the difference, for the 



