Preliminary account of an inquiry into the functions of the visceral nerves, with special reference to the so-called "inhibitory system" / by Joseph Lister .. ; in a letter to Dr. Sharpey, Sec. R.S. received August 13, 1858, communicated by Dr. Sharpey.
- Joseph Lister
- Date:
- 1858
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Preliminary account of an inquiry into the functions of the visceral nerves, with special reference to the so-called "inhibitory system" / by Joseph Lister .. ; in a letter to Dr. Sharpey, Sec. R.S. received August 13, 1858, communicated by Dr. Sharpey. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![the source of irritation is withdrawn. Thus I have seen redness wliich had existed for about three days in the human skin in con- sequence of tight stitches connecting the hps of a wound, give ]jlace at once to pallor on their removal. Had the arterial dilatation in this case been the result of nervous exhaustion continued durmg so long a period, such speedy recovery could hardly, one would think, have taken place. These and other considerations, to which the already excessive length of this letter forbids me to allude, induce me to think it safest in the present state of science to regard as a fundamental truth not yet explained, that one and the same afferent nerve may, according as it is operating mildly or energetically, either exalt or depress the functions of the nervous centre on which it acts. It is, 1 believe, upon this that all inhibitory influence depends, and I suspect that the principle will be found to admit of a very general applica- tion in physiology, I am, &c., Joseph Lister,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21478843_0016.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
