THE SYMPATHETIC SYSTEM 281 



sometimes antagonistic to those vegetative fibres which 

 follow the course of the cranial nerves. We, furthermore, 

 will see that the pelvic plexus, in a great many ways, has 

 physiological properties very similar to the vegetative 

 cranial nerves, but that it also possesses a series of func- 

 tions similar to the lumbar and thoracic sympathetic. 

 We are, therefore, tempted to reach the following con- 

 clusions: The median ventral column probably gives to 

 the pelvic plexus fibres which resemble the vegetative 

 fibres of the cranial nerves, 4 the intermediate lateral 

 column probably gives to this same plexus fibres which 

 physiologically resemble the thoracic and lumbar sympa- 

 thetics. This is only a theory and needs to be proved by 

 morphological and physiological facts. From a clinical 

 point of view, however, it is not necessary to understand 

 the respective part played by these two columns. 

 We have now to study the vegetative ganglia. 



THE GANGLIA OF THE VEGETATIVE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



The ganglia have for a long time been considered as the 

 chief anatomical characteristic of the vegetative nervous 

 system. If we leave out the spinal ganglia and their 

 equivalents in the cranial nerves (Gasserian ganglion of 

 the V, geniculated ganglion of the VII, jugular and plexi- 

 form of the X, ganglia of Andersch and Ehrenritter of the 

 IX, ganglia of Corti, of Boettcher of the VIII). This 

 conception is perfectly true, but we must not consider 

 that the sympathetic system and the vegetative nervous 

 system are the same. 



When we studied the vegetative arc, we saw that the 

 ganglia were arranged, some as a series of beads (lateral 

 vertebral chain), the others irregularly disposed behind 



4 This disposition is confirmed by the medullary localization of the defecation 

 centre in the lower lumbar region. 



