A system of phrenology / by George Combe.

  • Combe, George, 1788-1858.
Date:
1830
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of phrenology / by George Combe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    like these swellings. Ganglions arc laid in a regular suc- cession in the whole length of the body, and, in the verte- bral animals, form a regular series down each side of the spinal marrow; the nerve of communication among them is the great sympathetic nerve. There are other ganglions seated in the head, neck, and cavities of the chest and belly, which are very irregular in their situation and form. The colour of the ganglions differs from that of the nerves ; it is redder, which is owing to the greater number of blood- vessels : They consist of the same matter with the brain. Wherever we trace nerves of motion, we find that, be- fore entering the muscles, they interchange branches, and form an intricate mass of nerves, which is termed a plexus. A plexus is intricate in proportion to the number of muscles to be supplied, and the variety of combinations into which they enter. The filaments of nerves which go to the skin, and have the simple function of sensation, regularly diverge to their destination, without forming a plexus. From the fin of a fish to the arm of a man, the plexus increases in complexity, in proportion to the variety or extent of motions to be performed in the extremity. It is by the interchange of filaments that combination among the muscles is formed. Different columns of nervous matter combine to form the spinal marrow, (AB, p. 61.). Each lateral portion of the spinal marrow consists of three tracks or columns > one for voluntary motion, one for sensation, and one for the act of respiration. So that the spinal marrow comprehends in all six rods, intimately bound together, but distinct in office ; and the capital of this compound column is the medulla oblongata. The anterior column of each lateral division of the spinal marrow is for motion; the posterior column is for sensa- tion ; and the middle one is for respiration. The two for- mer extend up into the brain, and arc dispersed or lost in it; for their functions stand related to the sensorium: but 2