REFLEX ACTION OP PERIPHERAL GANGLIA. 523 
irritability: in the cat, according to Bradford, ii gives no secretion three 
days after section. 
Stimulation of the ganglion will still cause secretion and pallor of 
the gland for several weeks after section of the nerve, and possibly 
indefinitely. 
Eaceision of the mperior cervical [/fin/Pun has also no certain effect 
upon the salivary glands, and dues not give rise to a secretion. In the 
rabbit I e<»uld see no decrease in the size of the submaxillary glands, 
or alteration in their histological appearance, nine, sixteen, and twenty- 
three days respectively after removal of the ganglion, nor in a case in 
which the ganglion had been removed five years previously by Dr. Pye- 
Smith. The chorda tympani still causes secretion and flushing of the 
gland, though the hushing is apparently less than normal. Bradford 
removed the superior cervical ganglion in the cat. He found no atrophy 
of the gland up to seven weeks after the operation: indeed, in his cases 
both the submaxillary and the parotid glands were somewhat heavier 
on the operated than on the sound side. Removal of the ganglion 
causes the sympathetic filaments on the gland artery to degenerate, the 
loss of irritability being fairly rapid : thus, three days after the operation, 
Bradford obtained no secretion on stimulating these nerve-filaments. 
Secretion due to a Keflex Action of Peripheral Ganglia. 
\Ve may reject the view of Bernard, 1 that a secretion can be 
obtained from the submaxillary gland of the dog, by means of nervous 
impulses passing from the, mucous membrane of the tongue by the 
lingual nerve to the " submaxillary " ganglion, and thence to the gland. 
The direct proof alleged in favour of this view was that occasionally, 
after section of the chordo-lingual, direct stimulation of the tongue, or 
the application of ether, caused a slight secretion. As no anaesthetics 
were given, it is quite possible that a slight how from the duct might be 
caused by reflex movements. The result was not obtained by Eckhard, 
Bidder, and others : and until it can be obtained with some constancy, 
and after administering at any rate a moderate amount of anaesthetics, it 
may properly be disregarded. 
The indirect proof alleged is that after section of the chordo-lingual, 
stimulation of the lingual on its course to the tongue (the nerve being 
cut and the central end stimulated) causes a secretion from the sub- 
maxillary gland. This, in fact, is commonly the case. The amount of 
the secretion, broadly speaking, increases the nearer the electrodes are to 
the chorda tympani. It is often barely more than perceptible. The 
fact observed by Bernard, that three to five days after section of the 
chordo-lingual, a secretion could no longer be obtained, seems sufficient, 
with our present knowledge of the central nervous system, to show that 
the lingual secretion cannot be reflex in the ordinary sense. 
There can be little doubt that Schiff s 2 explanation rs m the mam 
correct, namely, that some secretory fibres for the submaxillary gland, 
instead of running to it direct by the chorda tympani, accompany the 
lingual for a short distance and then run back to the gland. Schiff 
1 Journ. dc I'anat. el physiol., etc., Paris, 1864, tome i. p. 507. For some further 
account of the earlier papers, see Foster's "Text-book of Physiology," 1879, 3rd edition, p. 
240. 
- "Lecons sur la physiol. de la digestion." 1S67, tome i. p. 284. 
