This system consists of the Brain, the Spinal Cord and the Nerves issuing from these structures.

THE BRAIN

Fig. VI-A, a

This figure shows the contours of the brain; the 3rd and 4th ventricles (cavities) in the median line, with the oval window leading into the lateral ventricle of the right hemisphere, and the pituitary and the pineal bodies. The black areas represent the ventricles, which are continued downward as the central canal of the spinal cord.

The ventricles, the spaces between the convolutions of the brain, and the space immediately surrounding the body of the brain are for the passage of life and breath currents, of which next to nothing is known to the West.

Note how the 3rd ventricle reaches into the stem (infundibulum) and the rear part of the pituitary body; this rear part is the seat of the doer-in-the-body; the front part is the seat of the breath-form, which controls the involuntary functions of the body.

THE SPINAL CORD and Its Relation to the Spinal Column

The spinal cord proper reaches from the base of the brain to about the junction of the 12th dorsal and the 1st lumbar vertebrae; its prolongation downward is called the terminal filament, which is anchored below to the coccyx. The spinal cord has a central canal, the prolongation downward of the ventricles of the brain; below, in the embryo, this canal reaches to the end of the terminal filament, but in the adult it usually becomes clogged up within the filament and disappears more or less, in the run of human beings.

The spinal column is divided into five sections: the cervical, dorsal, and lumbar vertebrae, and the sacrum and coccyx. Bony processes and the shape of the vertebrae create openings on both sides through which pass spinal nerves to the neck, trunk, and upper and lower extremities, (Fig. VI-A, b).