214 
MR. T. SNOW BECK ON THE NERVES OF THE UTERUS. 
The gravid uterus I had dissected was that of a woman about thirty-five years of age, 
and of middle stature ; and to obviate as much as possible any objection that might 
be raised on the ground of individual peculiarity, the organ selected for the second 
dissection was that of a woman about the same age and stature as the former. She 
had also borne children. 
The comparison thus made demonstrated the truth of the former supposition, and 
clearly showed that the nerves had undergone no change of size during pregnancy, 
nor of position, except such as resulted from the enlargement of the organ over which 
they were distributed. 
The Great Splanchnic Nerve and Semilunar Ganglion . — The great splanchnic nerve 
is said to be formed by branches which come from the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, 
and sometimes tenth, thoracic ganglia. These branches, after passing forwards and 
downwards, unite at the side of the dorsal vertebrae, and constitute the nerve, which 
after piercing the diaphragm ends in the semilunar ganglion. If the branches said 
to come from these ganglia be examined, it will be seen that this is only their appa- 
rent origin, and that they are branches of the intercostal nerves. The branches of 
communication between the spinal nerves and the thoracic ganglia consist of two 
distinct portions, marked by difference in colour, consistency and distribution. 
One portion, the smaller of the two, is soft, semitransparent, and of a light brown 
colour. It leaves the posterior border of the thoracic ganglion, and joins the spinal 
nerve about one-eighth of an inch anterior to the giving off of the white portion ; a 
gray communicating cord also passes between the thoracic ganglia. This ganglionic 
mass, when first exposed in the recent dissection, was of a deep red-brow T n colour, 
which quickly faded to a light brown by the action of the water in which it was ex- 
amined. The other portion, about one-half larger than the former, is firm, of an 
opake pearly-white colour; it passes to the anterior surface of the ganglion, and 
divides into two portions. One of these portions joins with a similar part, sent down 
from the ganglion next above, and then goes out in a curving direction on the side 
of the dorsal vertebrae to contribute in the formation of the splanchnic nerve. The 
other half of this branch of the intercostal nerve turns down, constituting a part of 
the intercommunicating cord between the ganglia, to the ganglion next below, and 
there joining with a similar portion from the intercostal nerve on a level with this 
ganglion, passes forwards to join the other branches which form the splanchnic 
nerve. Each branch sent to the splanchnic nerve contains branches from at least 
two intercostal nerves, viz. from the nerve on the level with its apparent origin, and 
from the nerve next above it. This arrangement of the nervous fibres is very apparent 
in the recent dissection, from the marked distinction which exists in colour and con- 
sistency between the gray and white portions of the so-called trunk of the sympathetic. 
The splanchnic nerve formed by the branches of the intercostal nerves is a single 
round cord, which increases in size on the addition of each branch. About an inch 
below the junction of the last branch it separates into two parts, and upon one of these 
