SURGERY OF THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
CLINICAL LECTURE AT KANSAS CITY SESSION
- JAMES C. WHITE, M.D.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
The concept that the autonomic nervous system is concerned purely with motor innervation of the smooth muscle of the viscera dates back to the last half of the nineteenth century and the work of Claude Bernard,1 Gaskell2 and Langley.3 In recent years the antagonistic action of the craniosacral and the sympatho-adrenal systems has been intensively investigated by the physiologists and Cannon4 gave it the appropriate name of homeostasis. Through this efficient and entirely automatic mechanism, the body adapts itself to the constantly fluctuating stresses and emotions of life. Without it, as Cannon has shown, life is still possible in a perfectly protected environment. But all forms of active endeavor and conflict with unfavorable reality are no longer possible.
It has been known for many years that the action of this system of nerves is not under the control of the will but is under the control of the emotions. More
Footnotes
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Read in the General Scientific Meetings at the Eighty-Seventh Annual Session of the American Medical Association, Kansas City, Mo., May 12, 1936.
