The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus c9.s1.2

c9.s1.2

Nerve-cords and fibres—Cranial and spinal nerves, and the connected sympathetic nerves.—With the writers on the Yoga, all the *Śirâs*, and such of the *Dhamanîs* as are not vehicles of vital current, metabolic fluid, lymph, chyle or blood, are cranial nerves, and proceed from the heart through the spinal cord to the cranium. These cranial nerves include pairs for the larynx and the tongue, for the understanding and use of speech, for the raising and lowering of the eyelids, for weeping, for the sensations of the special senses, etc.—a confused and unintelligent reproduction of Suśruta's classification. But the enumeration of the spinal nerves with the connected sympathetic chain and ganglia, is a distinct improvement on the old anatomists. The following plan attempts to give a rough idea of the relative position of the principal nerves of the sympathetic-spinal system.