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On the nerves; giving an account of some experiments on their structure and functions, which lead to a new arrangement of the system

1833; Royal Society; Volume: 2; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1098/rspl.1815.0162

2053-9142

Charles Bell,

History of Medicine Studies

In this paper the author proposes to limit his inquiry to the nerves of respiration, comprehending under that term all the nerves which serve to combine the muscles employed in the act of breathing and of speaking; and after showing that the simplicity or com­plexity of the nerves are as the functions or organizations of the parts which they supply, and that, however numerous and complex they appear in some parts of the body, they may nevertheless be divided into two distinct classes, by ascertaining what parts are ne­cessary to life and motion, and what are superadded as requisite to higher and more complex enjoyments and actions; the former class comprehending the nerves of the spine, the suboccipital or tenth, and the trigeminus or fifth; and the latter the eighth pair, the portio dura of the seventh, the spinal accessory, the phrenic, the exter­nal respiratory, and the lingual; Mr. Bell proceeds to a detailed account of these nerves, showing, by an examination of the nerves of the face, that the two sets differ in structure and sensibility as well as in function, and illustrating his positions by a variety of ex­periments, which, with their results, are given at length in this paper; and after showing the practical applications of which the investigations contained in it are susceptible, he concludes by ob­serving, that a just estimate of their importance can scarcely be formed, till an analogous account of the nerves of the throat, neck, and chest shall be laid before the Society, which will show that in them also there are the same distinctions of structure and functions, and that the nerves of respiration may be distinguished and separated amidst the apparent intricacy of the general system, and that by dividing them, the motions of the several parts, which unite in the act of respiration, may be successively stopped; while their other functions, dependent upon their other nerves, are continued. By pursuing this investigation, the remaining parts of the nervous system are also much simplified, and the apparent confusion arising out of the crossing and re-union of nerves is thus shown to be for the purpose of associating the muscles into different classes, for combining them in subserviency to different organs, and placing them under the guidance of a sensibility more certain in its operation than the will.