When the animal at last assumes the erect position, doing more intricately and intelligently the bidding of a developing and improving central nervous system, the change of position and the force of gravity bring about a gradual downward, or caudad, tendency of the parts of the somatic segments most remote from the spine and of the nerves which supply them.
The nerves, muscles, and bones of the lower extremities change from almost a right angle to an extremely obtuse angle, less obtuse during infancy and more so in the adult. The forelegs become arms and hang at the sides, extending downward from the part of the spine which controls them. The ribs tend more obliquely downward and outward from the spine and the tendency of all the nerves is downward from their attachment to the spinal cord to their emergence from the intervertebral foramina. In the neck and head alone is this rule varied, the tendency of the nerves and some other structures there being to run from the spine either at right angles or upward.
It seems almost symbolic and indicative of the purpose of creation that the body, which is less strong and vigorous in Man than in the lower animals, should tend more and more obliquely downward from its central axis, while the cranium, containing a highly specialized mass of cells and fibres, the organ of Mind, which marks Man’s supremacy in the animal kingdom and is his crowning glory, is reared above the body it dominates.
In all the form changes which mark the growth of the body the organs are arranged to afford the greatest possible economy of space and convenience for use. This perfect and matchless mechanism adapts itself to the changing habits and environments and to the quality and needs of the Mind which inhabits it.
Necessity for Table of Spino-Organic Connection
To the practitioner who is fully equipped with an instantly available knowledge of all the nerve connections in the body and to whom palpation of a subluxation at once suggests its somatic sphere of influence as a weakened or diseased area, or to whom mention of a disease immediately calls to mind the organ, or segment, which is primarily affected and its nerve connection with the spine, any tabulation of spino-organic connection or of diseases and adjustments, for reference, is unnecessary. But the ordinary practitioner finds it difficult to acquire and retain such an array of information and much more convenient to refer to reliable and easily read tables which will supply at once any such information desired.
No specific adjustment is possible without knowledge of the vertebra which controls the part diseased and toward the healing of which the nerve energy should be directed. Specific adjustment without correct diagnosis is of course impossible. And whenever correct diagnosis has been made it is essential that the mind of the Chiropractor should revert to one certain vertebra which he expects to find subluxated as the primary cause of the disease.
Diagnosis is essential in order to find out what organ is the site of the disease, for all disease is primarily segmental. The location of the disease having been determined, a quick reference to a table showing the spinal connection with that location makes specific adjustment possible. The value of specific, as against general, adjustments will be considered under “Practice.”
Method of Investigation
One who wishes to determine for himself the proper specific adjustment for a certain disease must, in order to be able to attach any weight to his conclusions or to announce them with any hope of credence by the scientific world, proceed very much after the following method, which sets down what may be termed “standard test conditions” for research into the spino-organic connection.