The nerves of the cerebro-spinal system preside over animal life and have to do with voluntary acts, while those from the sympathetic system regulate organic life and are quite independent of the will. Both sensory and motor nerves extend all over the body, accompanying the arteries in a general way. The sensory nerves end on the surface in plexuses, in end bulbs situated in the papillæ of the skin, or in tactile corpuscles, these last occurring more especially where there is no hair. The motor nerves end peripherally in plexuses or by end plates. The central terminations of the motor nerves and the terminations of sensory nerves in special organs, except where they end in a cell, are not well understood.

Like muscles, nerves are probably never at rest, for through them the muscles get their tone. When a nerve acts, no heat is produced and there is no change in the nerve afterward, as there is in muscle. Probably nerve impulse is the transmission of physical rather than chemical changes along the fiber, the atoms of the nerve being set in vibration and the vibrations being transmitted along its length. Stimulation is produced by physical injury, by chemical influence, by electricity, by heat, and the message is always referred to the nerve termination. Thus, if the nerve at the elbow, over the “crazy bone,” is touched, a tingling is felt in the fingers rather than at the point of pressure. A person who has had an arm or leg amputated will frequently speak of his fingers or toes on that side being cold, or complain of pain in them, because the scar below the point of amputation tightens around the nerves and pinches them.

It is through the nerves that people get in touch with the outer world and that they judge of size, weight, etc. All careful adjustment of the muscles is under the control of the nervous system.