Neural Integration 181 



into the blood, by the thoracico-lumbar autonomic, produce 

 an equilibrating mechanism of well-nigh inconceivable com- 

 .plexity and delicacy, the workings of which are, however, 

 beginning to be revealed to us, both as to details and as to 

 rationale for the life of the organism as a whole. 



The whole scheme is adjusted, we may say, for these two 

 necessities of the organism: (1) to serve the organism in its 

 uninterrupted and uninterruptible, and therefore normal, 

 growth and existence; and (2) to secure the perpetuity of 

 the organism through the recurring times of special demand 

 and stress which are inevitable from the external conditions 

 of life under which all living beings exist. 



The supreme significance of all this from our standpoint 

 is that we get a glimpse of the means by which an extensive 

 and fundamental number of parts of the organism are sub- 

 ordinated in their special activities to the special needs of 

 the whole. The following from Cannon's chapter, Fatigue 

 and Blood Pressure, gives concreteness and some particu- 

 larity to this statement : "In connection with the foregoing 

 considerations [of facts bearing on the value of increased 

 arterial pressure in pain and strong emotion] the action of 

 adrenin on the distribution of the blood in the body is highly 

 interesting. By measuring alternations in the volume of 

 various viscera and limbs, Oliver and Schafer proved that 

 the viscera of the splanchnic area e.g., the spleen, the 

 kidneys, and the intestines suffer a considerable decrease 

 of volume when adrenin is administered, whereas the limbs 

 into which the blood is forced from the splanchnic region 

 actually increase in size. The action of the adrenin indicates 

 the relative degrees of sympathetic innervation." 21 



This last sentence is, of course, what specially concerns 

 us in this discussion. Continuing, and having in view his 

 own researches into the beneficial effects on fatigued striated 

 muscles of adrenin in the blood, Cannon says : "At times of 

 pain and excitement sympathetic discharges, probably aided 



