210 THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



rangements, nausea, want of appetite and pal- 

 pitation of the heart, from the diseased state of 

 the nerves ; and, lastly, the generation of animal 

 heat is attributed to secretion, and all secretions 

 are referred to the influence of the nerves. 



CCXXXIV. Some of these opinions have 

 been transmitted, with the diseases they are ima- 

 gined to explain, from a remote period ; and they 

 might have continued for as long a time to per- 

 plex the scientific physician, if important disco- 

 veries had not allowed us to examine them with 

 greater philosophical acuteness. If our know- 

 ledge had been confined to the nerves appropri- 

 ated to the senses or to motion, it would have been 

 impossible to deny, that, as certain parts of the 

 nervous system have obvious functions to per- 

 form, it is not improbable that others, still un- 

 known, may possess the faculty of secreting the 

 various fluids of the body, but the discovery of 

 Mr CHARLES BELL has thrown considerable light 

 on this subject. He proves that " the anterior 

 column of each lateral division of the spinal 

 marrow is for motion, the posterior column is 

 for sensation, and the middle one is for re- 

 spiration ;"* and, still further, " that there is an 

 obvious division of the medulla spinalis, corre- 

 sponding to the cerebrum and cerebellum ; every 

 regular nerve has two roots, one from the ante- 

 rior of these columns, the other from the poste 

 rior : such are the fifth pair, the sub-occipital, the 

 * BELL on the Nerves, p. 22. 



