C 398 3 
XXVIII. On the JV erves ; giving an account of some experi- 
ments on their structure and functions, which lead to a new 
arrangement of the system. By Charles Bell, Esq. Com- 
municated by Sir Humphry Davy, Bart. P. R. S. 
Read July 12, 1821. 
D uring the general advancement of science which has 
lately taken place in this country, observations have been 
gradually accumulating in the schools of the metropolis, which 
prove that the department of Anatomy has not been stationary. 
The nervous system, hitherto the most unsatisfactory part of 
a physiologist's studies, has assumed a new character. The 
intricacies of that system have been unravelled, and the pe- 
culiar structure and functions of the individual nerves ascer- 
tained ; so that the absolute confusion in which this depart- 
ment was involved has disappeared, and the natural and 
simple order has been discovered. 
In proceeding to give some account of these new obser- 
vations, the Author of this paper had conceived, that it 
would be more suitable to the scientific body he had to 
address, to lay the subject before them in the precise manner 
in which it first presented itself to his enquiries, and to detail 
his observations and experiments in the succession in which 
they were made ; but he has been persuaded by some of 
the Members of this Society to change that form, and to 
present the subject in the manner to which he has been 
