# What is the spinal nerves?

The nervi spinales is called the spinal nerves. Gray’s Anatomy (1918) describes it as follows: The spinal nerves spring from the medulla spinalis, and are transmitted through the intervertebral foramina.

## What it means

- The spinal nerves spring from the medulla spinalis, and are transmitted through the intervertebral foramina. They number thirty-one pairs, which are grouped as follows: Cervical, 8; Thoracic, 12; Lumbar, 5; Sacral, 5; Coccygeal, 1. The first cervical nerve emerges from the vertebral canal between the occipital bone and the atlas, and is therefore called the suboccipital nerve; the eighth issues between the seventh cervical and first thoracic vertebræ. Nerve Roots.
- —Each nerve is attached to the medulla spinalis by two roots, an anterior or ventral, and a posterior or dorsal, the latter being characterized by the presence of a ganglion, the spinal ganglion.

## Sources

- [Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body (1918)](https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/anatomy-of-the-human-body/6-the-spinal-nerves/)

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