On the relation between the structure, function, distribution and origin of the cranial nerves : together with a theory of the origin of the nervous system of Vertebrata / by W.H. Gaskell.

  • Gaskell, Walter Holbrook, 1847-1914.
Date:
[1890]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the relation between the structure, function, distribution and origin of the cranial nerves : together with a theory of the origin of the nervous system of Vertebrata / by W.H. Gaskell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    paper are supposed to give origin to the splanchnic efferent ne-ves beincr collected together around the central canal, while the centres for the somatic efferent nerves are situated in the outlying anterior horns of grey matter. Further, in order to understand the origin of the cranial nerves it is advisable to consider somewhat more closely the meaning of the different groups of nerve cells situated in what I may now call the splanchnic region of the grey matter, and as unfortunately these different groups of cells have not been traced directly into nerve fibres of definite function the only evidence for their function must of necessity be indirect and consequently somewhat speculative, I do not therefore look upon the following remarks as anything more than suggestions which may help to the elucidation of the difficult problem before us. We have to consider the nerve cells of three different groups, viz.: 1. Cells of Clarke's column. 2. Cells of lateral horn. 3. Solitary cells of base of posterior horn. In my previous paper I pointed out (1) that the cells of Clarke's column were associated with the presence in the anterior roots of bundles of very fine medullated fibres forming the splanchnic ganglion- ated efferent nerves ; (2) that the solitary cells of the base of the posterior horn increased in number to form part of the vagus nucleus, and (3) that the cells of the lateral horn belonged to the same group as those of the nucleus of the facial &c., and formed the motor nerve cells of those splanchnic non-ganglionated nerves which supplied the voluntary muscles derived from the lateral plates of mesoblast,—muscles which correspond closely with A. Schneider's group of visceral muscles. Cells of Clarke's column. We can I think go further than this by means of the process of elimination. Thus, the cells of Clarke's column are found in the cranial, thoracic, and sacral splanchnic regions; consequently thev do not give origin to the vasoconstrictor nerves,—i.e. the katabolic nerves of the muscles of the blood vessels,—which arise only in the thoracic region, and with the vasoconstrictor nerves the katabolic glandular nerves are in all cases closely associated, so that these two categories of nerves may be eliminated from the consideration of Clarke's column. Further, Clarke's column is most developed from the 9th dorsal to the 3rd lumbar nerves, therefore it is associated with the abdominal