An explanation of the movements of the iris / by Robert James Lee.

  • Lee, Robert James.
Date:
1867
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An explanation of the movements of the iris / by Robert James Lee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/34 (page 6)
    denied to possess them, and whose functions had excited greater attention than those of the uterus. Now that the verdict of timG has been given in favour of the truth of those observations, and that only a few remain, who either are unable to see their importance, or whose minds are held captive by the chains of long-accustomed opinion, we might enquire by what means previously unknown were these facts brought to light—whether it was the result of ac- cident, of observation, or by the adoption of some hitherto unknown plan of investigation. It may be answered, briefly, that it was an accident which ex- cited attention ; it was true inductive reasoning which directed observation and enquiry; and it was ingenuity in adopting a method never before employed, which succeeded in overcoming the difficulties and accom- plishing the result. When the voluntary system of nerves is regarded, we see that the parts which compose it are arranged in a simple and symmetrical manner. A regular plan is observed in the origin, relation, and distri- bution of the nerves to different parts of the body, and the effects of injury or disease of the nervous system are known by constant and appreciable symp- toms. In the sympathetic system, similar regularity and symmetry of parts is not observed. The reason of this is apparent, when it is seen that the position of the ganglia, which form the important feature of that system, is admirably adapted to that of the organs which they supply with nerves.