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ARESUME OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM : A resume of the autonomic nervous system will not be out of place at this stage. As slightly antagonistic fibers arises from the sympathetic ganglia (collections of nerve cells) located in the body and from ganglia situated on some of the cranial nerves, it has been considered proper not to extent the term sympathetic to the latter but to call them para-sympathetic and to include both these terms, sympathetic and para-sympathetic, under the common nomenclature of the Autonomic System as suggested by Langley. The word autonomic indicates that these fibres possess a certain power of self-government and are to some extent independent of the central nervous system.
The sympathetic chain is a system of ganglia vertically arranged on both the sides of the spine and called vertebral or lateral ganglia. In connection with lateral ganglia there are other outlying ganglia, placed in front of the vertebral column, from which various sympathetic plexuses take their origin, and these are called prevertebral or collateral ganglia; while there is a third set of ganglia situated in the walls of the organs themselves and called terminal ganglia. All these three sets of ganglia, with strands connecting them together, ultimately gain connection with the spinal nerves and pass through them and the blood vessels for distribution to the skin, blood vessels, glands and abdominal and pelvic viscera. The purpose of sympathetic activity is to prepare the body for quick and violent reaction to its environment, and consists of acceleration of the heart, dilatation of the pupils and sphincters of the anus and bladder, inhibition of the peristaltic movements of the viscera, and of secretions of the salivary and sweat glands.
The bulbar portion of the spinal cord includes the para-sympatheric fibres, lying for the most part in bulbar portion of Vagus and also to a lesser extent, in the third, seventh, ninth and eleventh cranial nerves; and the sacral portion, consists of fibres, leaving the cord in the nerve trunks of the second, third and fourth sacral nerves. Through the Vagus, by far the most important part of the para-sympathetic system, fibres are supplied to the heart, the bronchial tubes, the guller, the stomach, the greater part of the intestines and the pancreas. From the sacral some portions of the large intestine, viz., the descending colon, the rectum and the anus, and the genital organs.
The purpose of the para-sympathetic is to slow the action of the heart, increase the activity of the digestive tract, stimulate salivary and digestive secretions and aid the general anabolic activity of the body. The general effect, therefore, is that of conserving the bodily resources and building up a reserve of energy and energy yielding material, to be called upon and used in times of need by the action of the sympathetic.
It will thus be seen that the action of the sympathetic fibres is directly antagonistic to the fibres of the para-sympathetic. In fact stimulation of one set of these fibres, causes inhibition of the other set. Having followed the description given above one can easily understand that the accelerative or the katabolic function is more or less a part of the sympathetic portion of the autonomic system, and the inhibitory or anabolic function, a part of the para-sympathetic, i.e., mainly of the vagus.