On the descending spinal pathways subserving the sweating of the plantar sweat glands in rats.

By Chikamasa Ninagawa (蜷川 親 正) From the Department of Physiology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki (Received for publication, July 20, 1955) It is not long since the evidences of secretion in the plantar sweat glands of rats were given. Ring and Randall1) were the first to study histologically the plantar sweat glands in rats. Further, they found that the sweating was causable by the prolonged continuous stimulation of the sciatic nerve of the corre sponding side. They failed, however, to induce sweating by raising the body temperature. Nakagawa2) reported that in the plantar surface of non-anesthetized albino rats a spontaneous sweating was always observed , which was completely abolished by ether anesthesia or by the section of the sciatic nerve on the same side. It is the purpose of the present investigation to elucidate the spinal pathways subserving this spontaneous sweating of the plantar sweat glands in rats.