Central nervous system, historical anatomical artwork. This is an anterior (front) view of the brain and upper part of the spinal cord. At the base of the brain is the striated (striped) pons, and below this the medulla. These two structures make up the brainstem, which leads into the spinal cord. Below the brainstem the nerves emerging from the spinal cord can be seen. There are eight cervical nerves in the neck area, and below these are thoracic nerves. This illustration is taken from the 19th century French textbook The Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery by J. M. Bourgery and N. H. Jacob.