304 Mr. Bell on the fierves which associate the muscles 
natural classification with the diaphragmatic or phrenic, has 
given rise to very vague theories, and occasioned very inaccu- 
rate statements of pathological facts. What remains to be 
said under this head, I would rather offer in the form of 
queries. 
The frequency of sudden death, where no corresponding 
appearances are exhibited in the brain or heart, leads us to 
consider more attentively the only part of the system through 
which life can be directly extinguished. In angina pectoris, we 
witness the agony of suffering in this system when the patient 
survives ; and when he dies suddenly, we can imagine it to 
proceed from an influence extending over these nerves, and 
interrupting the vital operations. We have seen that a branch 
of this system may suddenly cease to operate on the corres- 
ponding muscles, and that in this way the side of the face 
may be deprived of all participation in the act of respiration, 
and all expression be lost. What would result from a more 
universal defect in the actions of this class of nerves, but 
sudden death ? 
Could we expect that the diseases of lethargy and somno- 
lency, should be distinctly divided from apoplexies, while the 
organs on which the distinction of symptoms principally de- 
pend, were imperfectly understood ? 
The stomach, supplied with the great central nerve of this 
system, exhibits the most powerful influence on these ex- 
tended nerves ; a blow on the stomach “ doubles up” the 
bruiser, and occasions that gasping and crowing which suf- 
ficiently indicates the course bf the injury ; a little more se- 
vere, and the blow is instantly fatal. 
The position of the asthmatic, shows how this system is 
