Functional Components of the Greater Superficial Petrosal Nerve

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Abstract
The normal greater superficial petrosal nerve of the cat averages 2193 axons and of these 1625 are myelinated and 568 are without myelin sheaths. A single intact nerve of the dog held 3487 nerve fibers, which were divided into 2299 myelinated and 1188 unmyelinated axons. An avg. of 597 sensory nerve fibers remains in the greater superficial petrosal nerve of the cat after its motor axons have been eliminated. Of this avg. number of sensory nerve fibers, 461 are myelinated and 136 are unmyelinated. The deefferented petrosal nerve of one dog contained 960 sensory axons and 664 of these were myelinated while 296 were without myelin sheaths. It is estimated that the greater superficial petrosal nerve of the cat has an avg. of approx. 1596 motor nerve fibers and these are divided into 1164 myelinated and 432 unmyelinated nerve fibers. The greater superficial petrosal nerve of the dog contained 2527 motor axons and 1635 of these were myelinated and 892 were unmyelinated. It is evident, therefore, that the majority of the axons of the greater superficial petrosal nerve are motor nerve fibers, there being an avg. of 2 plus motor fibers for each sensory axon.

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