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 with the activities of the liver, the kidneys and the spleen, are under the same direct control.

Dr. E. H. Pratt, in the “Series of Impersonations” above referred to, makes the “Subconscious Man” tell the following wonderful truth, which we suggest each reader read carefully and fix in his mind: “My brother the Sympathetic Man has told you that I am the animating spirit of his construction; and as he is the great body builder, having furnished the emotions under which our entire family has been put into form, you can understand by what right I pose before you as the human form of forms. All the rest of the family are because I am. Even my Conscious brother, who claims superiority to his fellow-shapes because he bosses them around a little and makes use of them, is a subject of my own creation.... I am the life of the Sympathetic Man, whose existence as a human shape has already sufficiently been well established, and as there is no part of him which is not alive, the conclusion is very evident that his shape and mine are identical. There is no part of the sympathetic system which is not animated by my own principle of vitality. Indeed, he is but a cup of life, though I can assure you that his cup is full, and he would not be good for much if it was not. So, if you are able to conceive the shape of the Sympathetic Man, you can regard this form as identical with my own. This is really a very modest claim on my part, and does not quite do justice to myself, for in reality the Sympathetic Man does not contain all there is of me by any means, for I am not only in him, but all around him, and he is not by any means capable of containing my full self.”

When it is seen that the vital activities of the physical body are ruled, governed and controlled by the Sympathetic System, animated by the Subconscious Mind, and that the latter is amenable to Suggestion from the Conscious Mind and from outside, we may begin to get a glimmer of the great light which illuminates the principle of Mental Healing. If the Subconscious Mind, the builder, is influenced by Suggestion to neglect his work, or to build wrongly, it is likewise possible for him to heed proper Suggestion and to repair his mistakes and to rebuild properly. This principle being grasped, the rest will seem to be merely an understanding of the best methods of reaching the Subconscious Mind by Suggestion or Auto-Suggestion. We may now begin to understand the truth of the old axiom: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”—physically. And as Thought is based largely upon Belief, can we not see the dynamic force of Faith? Is there not a real psychological basis for so-called “miracles?” Is not the wonder-working of the cults now understandable?