Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/84

 of the anterior cerebrals by a posterior communicating artery. The two anterior cerebrals also are joined by an anterior communicating artery, thus completing the circle. The circle thus formed at the base of the brain is called the circle of Willis and provides for a good supply of blood in event of an accident to any vessel. The blood is returned to the general circulation through the cerebral veins and sinuses formed by the separation of the dura mater into two layers.

The cerebellum is about one-seventh the size of the cerebrum and weighs about 5 ounces. It lies in the lower occipital fossæ of the skull and is oblong in shape and divided into two lateral hemispheres by a transverse fissure. It is made up of both white and gray matter, of which the former predominates, the gray being external as in the cerebrum. The cells are about the same as in the cortex and its surface is traversed by queer furrows. Of its function little is known but it probably plays a most important part in the coördination of the nervous and muscular acts by which the movements of the body are carried on.

At the back of the cerebrum and below the cerebellum is the pons Varolii, which forms a connecting link with the medulla oblongata or bulging part of the cord. It is made up essentially of white matter or nerve fibers, though there is a small amount of gray matter in which are found the nuclei of some of the cranial nerves.

In the medulla oblongata, which is about 1 inch long and extends from the pons Varolii to the upper border of the atlas or first cervical vertebra, the gray matter is not necessarily external to the white but is found in patches in the white. The gray matter here corresponds more or less to that of the spinal cord and the white matter is continuous with that of the cord. From the medulla arise the fifth to twelfth cranial nerves and the vasomotor nerves. The cardiac nerve has its center here and here too are the centers of respiration, phonation,