Note 280 — Chapter IX

In the presence of this continuous outgrowth of the brain from which spring the separate nerve stems of the vagus, may perhaps be found a reconciliation of the apparently conflicting statements of Götte and myself with reference to the vagus nerve. Götte regards the vagus as a single nerve, from its originating as an undivided rudiment; but it is clear from my researches that, for Elasmobranchii at least, this method of arguing will not hold good, since it would lead to the conclusion that all the spinal nerves were branches of one single nerve, since they too spring as processes from a continuous outgrowth from the brain!