and the necessity for it ceases, as does growth at a fixed period; consider in detail the repair of a broken bone. These actions are not mere properties of matter; they demand, and are the result of, a controlling mind.
“The circulation does not go round as most text-books would lead us to believe, as the result merely of the action of a system of elastic tubes, connected with a self-acting force-pump. It is such views as these that degrade physiology and obscure the marvels of the body. The circulation never flows for two minutes in the same manner. In an instant, miles of capillaries are closed or opened up, according to the ever-varying body needs, of which, consciously, we are entirely unaware. The blood supply of each organ is not mechanical, but is carefully regulated from minute to minute in health, exactly according to its needs and activities, and when this ever fails, we at once recognize it as disease, and call it congestion and so forth. The very heart-beat itself is never constant, but varies pro rata with the amount of exercise, activity of vital functions, of conditions of temperature, etc., and even of emotions and other direct mental feelings. The whole reproductive system is obviously under the sway and guidance of more than blind material forces. In short, when thoroughly analyzed, the action and regulation of no system of the body can be satisfactorily explained, without postulating an unconscious mental element, which does, if allowed, satisfactorily explain all the phenomena.”
CHAPTER II
THE SYMPATHETIC SYSTEM
The average person has a general understanding of what is meant by “the nervous system,” but inquiry will show that by this term he usually includes only that part of the nervous system which is known as the “cerebro-spinal system,” or the system of nerves consisting of the brain and spinal cord, and the nerves extending therefrom throughout the body, the offices of which are to control the voluntary movements of the body. The average person is almost entirely ignorant of the existence of the Great Sympathetic System which controls the involuntary movements and processes, such as the processes and functions of nutrition, secretion, reproduction, excretion, the vaso-motor action, etc. In physiology, the term “sympathetic” is used in the sense of: “Reciprocal action of the different parts of the body on each other; an affection of one part of the body in consequence of something taking place in another. Thus when there is a local injury, the whole frame after a time suffers with it. A wound anywhere will tend to create feverishness everywhere; derangement of the stomach will tend to produce headache, liver complaint to produce pain in the shoulder, etc.”
An old authority thus describes the Sympathetic Nerves: “A system of nerves, running from the base of the skull to the coccyx, along both sides of the body, and consisting of a series of ganglia along the spinal column by the side of the vertebræ. With this trunk of the sympathetic there are communicating branches which connect the ganglia, or the intermediate cord, with all the spinal and several of the cranial nerves proceeding to primary branches on the neighboring organs or other ganglia, and finally numerous flexures of nerves running to the viscera. Various fibers from the sympathetic communicate with those of the cerebro-spinal system. The term ‘sympathetic’ has been applied on the supposition that it is the agent in producing sympathy between different parts of the body. It more certainly affects the secretions.” In the New Psychology the Sympathetic Nervous System is recognized as that directly under the control of the Subconscious Mind.
The Cerebro-Spinal Nervous System is concerned with the activities arising from the conscious activities of the mind, including those of the five senses. It controls the muscles by which we speak, walk, move our limbs, and pursue the ordinary activities of outer life. But, while these are very important to the individual, there is another set of activities – inner activities – which are none the less important. The Sympathetic System controls the involuntary muscles by means of which the heart throbs, the arteries pulsate, the air is conveyed to the lungs, the blood moves to and from the heart, the various glands and tubes of the body operate, and the entire work of nutrition, repair, and body-building is performed. While the Cerebro-Spinal System, and the Conscious Mind are able to rest a considerable portion of the twenty-four hours of the day, the Sympathetic System and the Subconscious Mind must needs work every minute of the twenty-four hours, without rest or vacation, during the life of their owner.
Dr. E. H. Pratt, in his valuable “Series of Impersonations” published in the medical magazines several years ago, and since reproduced in book form, makes “The Sympathetic Man” speak as follows: “The entire body can do nothing without me; and my occupation of supplying the inspiration for our entire family is so constant and engaging that I am compelled to attend strictly to business night and day from one end of life to the other, and have no time whatever for observation, education, or amusement outside of my daily tasks. As a rule, I perform my work so noiselessly that the rest of the family are scarcely conscious of my existence, for when I am well everything works all right, each organ plays its part as usual, and the entire machinery of life is operated noiselessly and without friction. When I am not well, however, and am not quite equal to the demands made upon me, I have two ways of making it known to the family. One is by appealing to self-consciousness through the assistance of my cerebro-spinal brother, with whom I am closely associated, thereby causing some disturbance of sensation or locomotion (the most frequent disturbance in this direction being the instituting of some form of pain); or I sometimes take it into my head to say nothing to my cerebro-spinal brother about my affairs, but simply shirk my duties, and my inefficiency becomes manifest only when some one or all of the organs suffer from some function poorly performed.”
The nerve-centres of the Cerebro-Spinal System are grouped closely together, while those of the Sympathetic System are scattered about the body, each organ having its appropriate centre or tiny-brain. The heart, the liver, the kidneys, the spleen, the brain, the intestinal tract, the bladder, the generative organs, have each its own particular nerve-centre of the Sympathetic System – each its tiny-brain – each, however, connected with all the others. And more than this – in addition to the tiny-brains in each of the important vital organs, there are found scattered through the trunk a number of ganglia, or knots of gray nervous matter, arranged longitudinally in two lines extending from just in front of the spinal column from the base of the skull to the end of the spinal column, each vertebra having its appropriate ganglia. In some cases several of these ganglia are grouped together, the number ranging from two to three. Each ganglion is a distinct centre giving off branches in four directions.
There is also one place in which are grouped together several very large ganglia, forming what is known as the Solar Plexus, or Abdominal Brain, which is situated at the upper part of the abdomen, behind the stomach and in front of the aorta and the pillars of the diaphragm, and from which issue nerves extending in all directions. By some authorities the Solar Plexus is regarded as the great centre of the Sympathetic System, and the main seat of the Subconscious Mind. Dr. Byron Robinson bestowed upon this centre the name “The Abdominal Brain,” saying of the use of the term: “I mean to convey the idea that it is endowed with the high powers and phenomena of a great nervous centre; that it can organize, multiply, and diminish forces.”
One of the most interesting and significant features of the ganglia is that of their connection with the nerve centres of the Cerebro-Spinal System, indicating the reciprocal action existing between the two great nervous systems. From each one of the ganglia in the two great lines forming the system, issues a tiny filament which connects with the spinal cord; and at the same time it receives from the spinal cord a tiny filament in return, thus establishing a double line of communication. It is held by some authorities that one of these filaments acts as a sending wire, and the other as a receiving wire between the two systems. Be this as it may, the inter-communication between the two systems is clearly indicated.
It must be remembered that the involuntary muscles which move the heart, as well as the tiny muscles which form the middle-coat of the arteries and the veins, are controlled by the Sympathetic System, and thus the important work of the circulation, which goes on day and night, year in and year out, during life, is directly under the charge of the Sympathetic System and the Subconscious Mind. Also, the involuntary muscles which are concerned
