The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Part 13

His skin perspired; and his eyelids and head drooped so much that it was impossible to catch even a glimpse of his eyes. His lower jaw hung down.

There was no contraction of any facial muscle, and Dr. Ogle is almost certain that the hair did not stand on end, for he observed it narrowly, as it had been dyed for the sake of concealment.

With respect to fear, as exhibited by the various races of man, my informants agree that the signs are the same as with Europeans. They are displayed in an exaggerated degree with the Hindoos and natives of Ceylon. Mr. Geach has seen Malays when terrified turn pale and shake; and Mr. Brough Smyth states that a native Australian "being on one occasion much frightened, showed a complexion as nearly approaching to what we call paleness, as can well be conceived in the case of a very black man." Mr. Dyson Lacy has seen extreme fear shown in an Australian, by a nervous twitching of the hands, feet, and lips; and by the perspiration standing on the skin. Many savages do not repress the signs of fear so much as Europeans; and they often tremble greatly. With the Kafir, Gaika says, in his rather quaint English, the shaking "of the body is much experienced, and the eyes are widely open." With savages, the sphincter muscles are often relaxed, just as may be observed in much frightened dogs, and as I have seen with monkeys when terrified by being caught.

_The erection of the hair_.--Some of the signs of fear deserve a little further consideration. Poets continually speak of the hair standing on end; Brutus says to the ghost of Caesar, "that mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare." And Cardinal Beaufort, after the murder of Gloucester exclaims, "Comb down his hair; look, look, it stands upright." As I did not feel sure whether writers of fiction might not have applied to man what they had often observed in animals, I begged for information from Dr. Crichton Browne with respect to the insane. He states in answer that he has repeatedly seen their hair erected under the influence of sudden and extreme terror. For instance, it is occasionally necessary to inject morphia, under the skin of an insane woman, who dreads the operation extremely, though it causes very little pain; for she believes that poison is being introduced into her system, and that her bones will be softened, and her flesh turned into dust. She becomes deadly pale; her limbs are stiffened by a sort of tetanic spasm, and her hair is partially erected on the front of the head.

Dr. Browne further remarks that the bristling of the hair which is so common in the insane, is not always a.s.sociated with terror. It is perhaps most frequently seen in chronic maniacs, who rave incoherently and have destructive impulses; but it is during their paroxysms of violence that the bristling is most observable. The fact of the hair becoming erect under the influence both of rage and fear agrees perfectly with what we have seen in the lower animals. Dr. Browne adduces several cases in evidence. Thus with a man now in the Asylum, before the recurrence of each maniacal paroxysm, "the hair rises up from his forehead like the mane of a Shetland pony." He has sent me photographs of two women, taken in the intervals between their paroxysms, and he adds with respect to one of these women, "that the state of her hair is a sure and convenient criterion of her mental condition." I have had one of these photographs copied, and the engraving gives, if viewed from a little distance, a faithful representation of the original, with the exception that the hair appears rather too coa.r.s.e and too much curled. The extraordinary condition of the hair in the insane is due, not only to its erection, but to its dryness and harshness, consequent on the subcutaneous glands failing to act. Dr. Bucknill has said[1220] that a lunatic "is a lunatic to his finger's ends;" he might have added, and often to the extremity of each particular hair.

Dr. Browne mentions as an empirical confirmation of the relation which exists in the insane between the state of their hair and minds, that the wife of a medical man, who has charge of a lady suffering from acute melancholia, with a strong fear of death, for herself, her husband and children, reported verbally to him the day before receiving my letter as follows, "I think Mrs. ---- will soon improve, for her hair is getting smooth; and I always notice that our patients get better whenever their hair ceases to be rough and unmanageable."

Dr. Browne attributes the persistently rough condition of the hair in many insane patients, in part to their minds being always somewhat disturbed, and in part to the effects of habit,--that is, to the hair being frequently and strongly erected during their many recurrent paroxysms. In patients in whom the bristling of the hair is extreme, the disease is generally permanent and mortal; but in others, in whom the bristling is moderate, as soon as they recover their health of mind the hair recovers its smoothness.

In a previous chapter we have seen that with animals the hairs are erected by the contraction of minute, unstriped, and involuntary muscles, which run to each separate follicle. In addition to this action, Mr. J. Wood has clearly ascertained by experiment, as he informs me, that with man the hairs on the front of the head which slope forwards, and those on the back which slope backwards, are raised in opposite directions by the contraction of the occipito-frontalis or scalp muscle. So that this muscle seems to aid in the erection of the hairs on the head of man in the same manner as the h.o.m.ologous _panniculus carnosus_ aids, or takes the greater part, in the erection of the spines on the backs of some of the lower animals.

_Contraction of the platysma myoides muscle_.--This muscle is spread over the sides of the neck, extending downwards to a little beneath the collar-bones, and upwards to the lower part of the cheeks. A portion, called the risorius, is represented in the woodcut (M) fig. 2. The contraction of this muscle draws the corners of the mouth and the lower parts of the checks downwards and backwards. It produces at the same time divergent, longitudinal, prominent ridges on the sides of the neck in the young; and, in old thin persons, fine transverse wrinkles. This muscle is sometimes said not to be under the control of the will; but almost every one, if told to draw the corners of his mouth backwards and downwards with great force, brings it into action. I have, however, heard of a man who can voluntarily act on it only on one side of his neck.

Sir C. Bell[1221] and others have stated that this muscle is strongly contracted under the influence of fear; and d.u.c.h.enne insists so strongly on its importance in the expression of this emotion, that he calls it the _muscle of fright_.[1222] He admits, however, that its contraction is quite inexpressive unless a.s.sociated with widely open eyes and mouth. He has given a photograph (copied and reduced in the accompanying woodcut) of the same old man as on former occasions, with his eyebrows strongly raised, his mouth opened, and the platysma contracted, all by means of galvanism. The original photograph was shown to twenty-four persons, and they were separately asked, without any explanation being given, what expression was intended: twenty instantly answered, "intense fright" or "horror"; three said pain, and one extreme discomfort. Dr.

d.u.c.h.enne has given another photograph of the same old man, with the platysma contracted, the eyes and mouth opened, and the eyebrows rendered oblique, by means of galvanism. The expression thus induced is very striking (see Plate VII. fig. 2); the obliquity of the eyebrows adding the appearance of great mental distress. The original was shown to fifteen persons; twelve answered terror or horror, and three agony or great suffering. From these cases, and from an examination of the other photographs given by Dr. d.u.c.h.enne, together with his remarks thereon, I think there can be little doubt that the contraction of the platysma does add greatly to the expression of fear. Nevertheless this muscle ought hardly to be called that of fright, for its contraction is certainly not a necessary concomitant of this state of mind.

A man may exhibit extreme terror in the plainest manner by death-like pallor, by drops of perspiration on his skin, and by utter prostration, with all the muscles of his body, including the platysma, completely relaxed. Although Dr. Browne has often seen this muscle quivering and contracting in the insane, he has not been able to connect its action with any emotional condition in them, though he carefully attended to patients suffering from great fear. Mr. Nicol, on the other hand, has observed three cases in which this muscle appeared to be more or less permanently contracted under the influence of melancholia, a.s.sociated with much dread; but in one of these cases, various other muscles about the neck and head were subject to spasmodic contractions.

Dr. W. Ogle observed for me in one of the London hospitals about twenty patients, just before they were put under the influence of chloroform for operations. They exhibited some trepidation, but no great terror. In only four of the cases was the platysma visibly contracted; and it did not begin to contract until the patients began to cry. The muscle seemed to contract at the moment of each deep-drawn inspiration; so that it is very doubtful whether the contraction depended at all on the emotion of fear. In a fifth case, the patient, who was not chloroformed, was much terrified; and his platysma was more forcibly and persistently contracted than in the other cases. But even here there is room for doubt, for the muscle which appeared to be unusually developed, was seen by Dr. Ogle to contract as the man moved his head from the pillow, after the operation was over.

As I felt much perplexed why, in any case, a superficial muscle on the neck should be especially affected by fear, I applied to my many obliging correspondents for information about the contraction of this muscle under other circ.u.mstances. It would be superfluous to give all the answers which I have received. They show that this muscle acts, often in a variable manner and degree, under many different conditions.

It is violently contracted in hydrophobia, and in a somewhat less degree in lockjaw; sometimes in a marked manner during the insensibility from chloroform. Dr. W. Ogle observed two male patients, suffering from such difficulty in breathing, that the trachea had to be opened, and in both the platysma was strongly contracted. One of these men overheard the conversation of the surgeons surrounding him, and when he was able to speak, declared that he had not been frightened. In some other cases of extreme difficulty of respiration, though not requiring tracheotomy, observed by Drs. Ogle and Langstaff, the platysma was not contracted.

Mr. J. Wood, who has studied with such care the muscles of the human body, as shown by his various publications, has often seen the platysma contracted in vomiting, nausea, and disgust; also in children and adults under the influence of rage,--for instance, in Irishwomen, quarrelling and brawling together with angry gesticulations. This may possibly have been due to their high and angry tones; for I know a lady, an excellent musician, who, in singing certain high notes, always contracts her platysma. So does a young man, as I have observed, in sounding certain notes on the flute. Mr. J. Wood informs me that he has found the platysma best developed in persons with thick necks and broad shoulders; and that in families inheriting these peculiarities, its development is usually a.s.sociated with much voluntary power over the h.o.m.ologous occipito-frontalis muscle, by which the scalp can be moved.

None of the foregoing cases appear to throw any light on the contraction of the platysma from fear; but it is different, I think, with the following cases. The gentleman before referred to, who can voluntarily act on this muscle only on one side of his neck, is positive that it contracts on both sides whenever he is startled. Evidence has already been given showing that this muscle sometimes contracts, perhaps for the sake of opening the mouth widely, when the breathing is rendered difficult by disease, and during the deep inspirations of crying-fits before an operation. Now, whenever a person starts at any sudden sight or sound, he instantaneously draws a deep breath; and thus the contraction of the platysma may possibly have become a.s.sociated with the sense of fear. But there is, I believe, a more efficient relation.

The first sensation of fear, or the imagination of something dreadful, commonly excites a shudder. I have caught myself giving a little involuntary shudder at a painful thought, and I distinctly perceived that my platysma contracted; so it does if I simulate a shudder. I have asked others to act in this manner; and in some the muscle contracted, but not in others. One of my sons, whilst getting out of bed, shuddered from the cold, and, as he happened to have his hand on his neck, he plainly felt that this muscle strongly contracted. He then voluntarily shuddered, as he had done on former occasions, but the platysma was not then affected. Mr. J. Wood has also several times observed this muscle contracting in patients, when stripped for examination, and who were not frightened, but shivered slightly from the cold. Unfortunately I have not been able to ascertain whether, when the whole body shakes, as in the cold stage of an ague fit, the platysma contracts. But as it certainly often contracts during a shudder; and as a shudder or shiver often accompanies the first sensation of fear, we have, I think, a clue to its action in this latter case.[1223] Its contraction, however, is not an invariable concomitant of fear; for it probably never acts under the influence of extreme, prostrating terror.

_Dilatation of the Pupils_.--Gratiolet repeatedly insists[1224] that the pupils are enormously dilated whenever terror is felt. I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of this statement, but have failed to obtain confirmatory evidence, excepting in the one instance before given of an insane woman suffering from great fear. When writers of fiction speak of the eyes being widely dilated, I presume that they refer to the eyelids.

Munro's statement, that with parrots the iris is affected by the pa.s.sions, independently of the amount of light, seems to bear on this question; but Professor Donders informs me, that he has often seen movements in the pupils of these birds which he thinks may be related to their power of accommodation to distance, in nearly the same manner as our own pupils contract when our eyes converge for near vision.

Gratiolet remarks that the dilated pupils appear as if they were gazing into profound darkness. No doubt the fears of man have often been excited in the dark; but hardly so often or so exclusively, as to account for a fixed and a.s.sociated habit having thus arisen. It seems more probable, a.s.suming that Gratiolet's statement is correct, that the brain is directly affected by the powerful emotion of fear and reacts on the pupils; but Professor Donders informs me that this is an extremely complicated subject. I may add, as possibly throwing light on the subject, that Dr. Fyffe, of Netley Hospital, has observed in two patients that the pupils were distinctly dilated during the cold stage of an ague fit. Professor Donders has also often seen dilatation of the pupils in incipient faintness.

_Horror_.--The state of mind expressed by this term implies terror, and is in some, cases almost synonymous with it. Many a man must have felt, before the blessed discovery of chloroform, great horror at the thought of an impending surgical operation. He who dreads, as well as hates a man, will feel, as Milton uses the word, a horror of him. We feel horror if we see any one, for instance a child, exposed to some instant and crushing danger. Almost every one would experience the same feeling in the highest degree in witnessing a man being tortured or going to be tortured. In these cases there is no danger to ourselves; but from the power of the imagination and of sympathy we put ourselves in the position of the sufferer, and feel something akin to fear.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Horror and Agony. Fig. 21]

Sir C. Bell remarks,[1226] that "horror is full of energy; the body is in the utmost tension, not unnerved by fear." It is, therefore, probable that horror would generally be accompanied by the strong contraction of the brows; but as fear is one of the elements, the eyes and mouth would be opened, and the eyebrows would be raised, as far as the antagonistic action of the corrugators permitted this movement. d.u.c.h.enne has given a photograph[1227] (fig. 21) of the same old man as before, with his eyes somewhat staring, the eyebrows partially raised, and at the same time strongly contracted, the mouth opened, and the platysma in action, all effected by the means of galvanism. He considers that the expression thus produced shows extreme terror with horrible pain or torture. A tortured man, as long as his sufferings allowed him to feel any dread for the future, would probably exhibit horror in an extreme degree. I have shown the original of this photograph to twenty-three persons of both s.e.xes and various ages; and thirteen immediately answered horror, great pain, torture, or agony; three answered extreme fright; so that sixteen answered nearly in accordance with d.u.c.h.enne's belief. Six, however, said anger, guided no doubt, by the strongly contracted brows, and overlooking the peculiarly opened mouth. One said disgust. On the whole, the evidence indicates that we have here a fairly good representation of horror and agony. The photograph before referred to (Pl. VII. fig. 2) likewise exhibits horror; but in this the oblique eyebrows indicate great mental distress in place of energy.

Horror is generally accompanied by various gestures, which differ in different individuals. Judging from pictures, the whole body is often turned away or shrinks; or the arms are violently protruded as if to push away some dreadful object. The most frequent gesture, as far as can be inferred from the action of persons who endeavour to express a vividly-imagined scene of horror, is the raising of both shoulders, with the bent arms pressed closely against the sides or chest. These movements are nearly the same with those commonly made when we feel very cold; and they are generally accompanied by a shudder, as well as by a deep expiration or inspiration, according as the chest happens at the time to be expanded or contracted. The sounds thus made are expressed by words like _uh_ or _ugh_.[1228] It is not, however, obvious why, when we feel cold or express a sense of horror, we press our bent arms against our bodies, raise our shoulders, and shudder.

_Conclusion_.--I have now endeavoured to describe the diversified expressions of fear, in its gradations from mere attention to a start of surprise, into extreme terror and horror. Some of the signs may be accounted for through the principles of habit, a.s.sociation, and inheritance,--such as the wide opening of the mouth and eyes, with upraised eyebrows, so as to see as quickly as possible all around us, and to hear distinctly whatever sound may reach our ears. For we have thus habitually prepared ourselves to discover and encounter any danger.

Some of the other signs of fear may likewise be accounted for, at least in part, through these same principles. Men, during numberless generations, have endeavoured to escape from their enemies or danger by headlong flight, or by violently struggling with them; and such great exertions will have caused the heart to beat rapidly, the breathing to be hurried, the chest to heave, and the nostrils to be dilated. As these exertions have often been prolonged to the last extremity, the final result will have been utter prostration, pallor, perspiration, trembling of all the muscles, or their complete relaxation. And now, whenever the emotion of fear is strongly felt, though it may not lead to any exertion, the same results tend to reappear, through the force of inheritance and a.s.sociation.

Nevertheless, it is probable that many or most of the above symptoms of terror, such as the beating of the heart, the trembling of the muscles, cold perspiration, &c., are in large part directly due to the disturbed or interrupted transmission of nerve-force from the cerebro-spinal system to various parts of the body, owing to the mind being so powerfully affected. We may confidently look to this cause, independently of habit and a.s.sociation, in such cases as the modified secretions of the intestinal ca.n.a.l, and the failure of certain glands to act. With respect to the involuntary bristling of the hair, we have good reason to believe that in the case of animals this action, however it may have originated, serves, together with certain voluntary movements, to make them appear terrible to their enemies; and as the same involuntary and voluntary actions are performed by animals nearly related to man, we are led to believe that man has retained through inheritance a relic of them, now become useless. It is certainly a remarkable fact, that the minute unstriped muscles, by which the hairs thinly scattered over man's almost naked body are erected, should have been preserved to the present day; and that they should still contract under the same emotions, namely, terror and rage, which cause the hairs to stand on end in the lower members of the Order to which man belongs.

CHAPTER XIII. -- SELF-ATTENTION--SHAME--SHYNESS--MODESTY: BLUSHING.

Nature of a blush--Inheritance--The parts of the body most affected--Blushing in the various races of man--Accompanying gestures--Confusion of mind--Causes of blushing--Self-attention, the fundamental element--Shyness--Shame, from broken moral laws and conventional rules--Modesty--Theory of blushing--Recapitulation.

BLUSHING is the most peculiar and the most human of all expressions.

Monkeys redden from pa.s.sion, but it would require an overwhelming amount of evidence to make us believe that any animal could blush.

The reddening of the face from a blush is due to the relaxation of the muscular coats of the small arteries, by which the capillaries become filled with blood; and this depends on the proper vaso-motor centre being affected. No doubt if there be at the same time much mental agitation, the general circulation will be affected; but it is not due to the action of the heart that the network of minute vessels covering the face becomes under a sense of shame gorged with blood. We can cause laughing by tickling the skin, weeping or frowning by a blow, trembling from the fear of pain, and so forth; but we cannot cause a blush, as Dr.

Burgess remarks,[1301] by any physical means,--that is by any action on the body. It is the mind which must be affected. Blushing is not only involuntary; but the wish to restrain it, by leading to self-attention actually increases the tendency.

The young blush much more freely than the old, but not during infancy,[1302] which is remarkable, as we know that infants at a very early age redden from pa.s.sion. I have received authentic accounts of two little girls blushing at the ages of between two and three years; and of another sensitive child, a year older, blushing, when reproved for a fault. Many children, at a somewhat more advanced age blush in a strongly marked manner. It appears that the mental powers of infants are not as yet sufficiently developed to allow of their blushing. Hence, also, it is that idiots rarely blush. Dr. Crichton Browne observed for me those under his care, but never saw a genuine blush, though he has seen their faces flash, apparently from joy, when food was placed before them, and from anger. Nevertheless some, if not utterly degraded, are capable of blushing. A microcephalous idiot, for instance, thirteen years old, whose eyes brightened a little when he was pleased or amused, has been described by Dr. Behn,[1303] as blushing and turning to one side, when undressed for medical examination.

Women blush much more than men. It is rare to see an old man, but not nearly so rare to see an old woman blushing. The blind do not escape.

Laura Bridgman, born in this condition, as well as completely deaf, blushes.[1304] The Rev. R. H. Blair, Princ.i.p.al of the Worcester College, informs me that three children born blind, out of seven or eight then in the Asylum, are great blushers. The blind are not at first conscious that they are observed, and it is a most important part of their education, as Mr. Blair informs me, to impress this knowledge on their minds; and the impression thus gained would greatly strengthen the tendency to blush, by increasing the habit of self-attention.

The tendency to blush is inherited. Dr. Burgess gives the case[1305] of a family consisting of a father, mother, and ten children, all of whom, without exception, were p.r.o.ne to blush to a most painful degree. The children were grown up; "and some of them were sent to travel in order to wear away this diseased sensibility, but nothing was of the slightest avail." Even peculiarities in blushing seem to be inherited. Sir James Paget, whilst examining the spine of a girl, was struck at her singular manner of blushing; a big splash of red appeared first on one cheek, and then other splashes, variously scattered over the face and neck.

He subsequently asked the mother whether her daughter always blushed in this peculiar manner; and was answered, "Yes, she takes after me." Sir J. Paget then perceived that by asking this question he had caused the mother to blush; and she exhibited the same peculiarity as her daughter.

In most cases the face, ears and neck are the sole parts which redden; but many persons, whilst blushing intensely, feel that their whole bodies grow hot and tingle; and this shows that the entire surface must be in some manner affected. Blushes are said sometimes to commence on the forehead, but more commonly on the cheeks, afterwards spreading to the ears and neck.[1306] In two Albinos examined by Dr. Burgess, the blushes commenced by a small circ.u.mscribed spot on the cheeks, over the parotidean plexus of nerves, and then increased into a circle; between this blushing circle and the blush on the neck there was an evident line of demarcation; although both arose simultaneously. The retina, which is naturally red in the Albino, invariably increased at the same time in redness.[1307] Every one must have noticed how easily after one blush fresh blushes chase each other over the face. Blushing is preceded by a peculiar sensation in the skin. According to Dr. Burgess the reddening of the skin is generally succeeded by a slight pallor, which shows that the capillary vessels contract after dilating. In some rare cases paleness instead of redness is caused under conditions which would naturally induce a blush. For instance, a young lady told me that in a large and crowded party she caught her hair so firmly on the b.u.t.ton of a pa.s.sing servant, that it took some time before she could be extricated; from her sensations she imagined that she had blushed crimson; but was a.s.sured by a friend that she had turned extremely pale.

I was desirous to learn how far down the body blushes extend; and Sir J.

Paget, who necessarily has frequent opportunities for observation, has kindly attended to this point for me during two or three years. He finds that with women who blush intensely on the face, ears, and nape of neck, the blush does not commonly extend any lower down the body. It is rare to see it as low down as the collar-bones and shoulder-blades; and he has never himself seen a single instance in which it extended below the upper part of the chest. He has also noticed that blushes sometimes die away downwards, not gradually and insensibly, but by irregular ruddy blotches. Dr. Langstaff has likewise observed for me several women whose bodies did not in the least redden while their faces were crimsoned with blushes. With the insane, some of whom appear to be particularly liable to blushing, Dr. J. Crichton Browne has several times seen the blush extend as far down as the collar-bones, and in two instances to the b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He gives me the case of a married woman, aged twenty-seven, who suffered from epilepsy. On the morning after her arrival in the Asylum, Dr. Browne, together with his a.s.sistants, visited her whilst she was in bed. The moment that he approached, she blushed deeply over her cheeks and temples; and the blush spread quickly to her ears. She was much agitated and tremulous. He unfastened the collar of her chemise in order to examine the state of her lungs; and then a brilliant blush rushed over her chest, in an arched line over the upper third of each breast, and extended downwards between the b.r.e.a.s.t.s nearly to the ensiform cartilage of the sternum. This case is interesting, as the blush did not thus extend downwards until it became intense by her attention being drawn to this part of her person. As the examination proceeded she became composed, and the blush disappeared; but on several subsequent occasions the same phenomena were observed.

The foregoing facts show that, as a general rule, with English women, blushing does not extend beneath the neck and upper part of the chest.

Nevertheless Sir J. Paget informs me that he has lately heard of a case, on which he can fully rely, in which a little girl, shocked by what she imagined to be an act of indelicacy, blushed all over her abdomen and the upper parts of her legs. Moreau also[1308] relates, on the authority of a celebrated painter, that the chest, shoulders, arms, and whole body of a girl, who unwillingly consented to serve as a model, reddened when she was first divested of her clothes.

It is a rather curious question why, in most cases the face, ears, and neck alone redden, inasmuch as the whole surface of the body often tingles and grows hot. This seems to depend, chiefly, on the face and adjoining parts of the skin having been habitually exposed to the air, light, and alternations of temperature, by which the small arteries not only have acquired the habit of readily dilating and contracting, but appear to have become unusually developed in comparison with other parts of the surface.[1309] It is probably owing to this same cause, as M.

Moreau and Dr. Burgess have remarked, that the face is so liable to redden under various circ.u.mstances, such as a fever-fit, ordinary heat, violent exertion, anger, a slight blow, &c.; and on the other hand that it is liable to grow pale from cold and fear, and to be discoloured during pregnancy. The face is also particularly liable to be affected by cutaneous complaints, by small-pox, erysipelas, &c. This view is likewise supported by the fact that the men of certain races, who habitually go nearly naked, often blush over their arms and chests and even down to their waists. A lady, who is a great blusher, informs Dr.

Crichton Browne, that when she feels ashamed or is agitated, she blushes over her face, neck, wrists, and hands,--that is, over all the exposed portions of her skin. Nevertheless it may be doubted whether the habitual exposure of the skin of the face and neck, and its consequent power of reaction under stimulants of all kinds, is by itself sufficient to account for the much greater tendency in English women of these parts than of others to blush; for the hands are well supplied with nerves and small vessels, and have been as much exposed to the air as the face or neck, and yet the hands rarely blush. We shall presently see that the attention of the mind having been directed much more frequently and earnestly to the face than to any other part of the body, probably affords a sufficient explanation.

_Blushing in the various races of man_.--The small vessels of the face become filled with blood, from the emotion of shame, in almost all the races of man, though in the very dark races no distinct change of colour can be perceived. Blushing is evident in all the Aryan nations of Europe, and to a certain extent with those of India. But Mr. Erskine has never noticed that the necks of the Hindoos are decidedly affected. With the Lepchas of Sikhim, Mr. Scott has often observed a faint blush on the cheeks, base of the ears, and sides of the neck, accompanied by sunken eyes and lowered head. This has occurred when he has detected them in a falsehood, or has accused them of ingrat.i.tude. The pale, sallow complexions of these men render a blush much more conspicuous than in most of the other natives of India. With the latter, shame, or it may be in part fear, is expressed, according to Mr. Scott, much more plainly by the head being averted or bent down, with the eyes wavering or turned askant, than by any change of colour in the skin.

The Semitic races blush freely, as might have been expected, from their general similitude to the Aryans. Thus with the Jews, it is said in the Book of Jeremiah (chap. vi. 15), "Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush." Mrs. Asa Gray saw an Arab managing his boat clumsily on the Nile, and when laughed at by his companions, "he blushed quite to the back of his neck." Lady Duff Gordon remarks that a young Arab blushed on coming into her presence.[1310]

Mr. Swinhoe has seen the Chinese blushing, but he thinks it is rare; yet they have the expression "to redden with shame." Mr. Geach informs me that the Chinese settled in Malacca and the native Malays of the interior both blush. Some of these people go nearly naked, and he particularly attended to the downward extension of the blush. Omitting the cases in which the face alone was seen to blush, Mr. Geach observed that the face, arms, and breast of a Chinaman, aged 24 years, reddened from shame; and with another Chinese, when asked why he had not done his work in better style, the whole body was similarly affected. In two Malays[1311] he saw the face, neck, breast, and arms blushing; and in a third Malay (a Bugis) the blush extended down to the waist.

The Polynesians blush freely. The Rev. Mr. Stack has seen hundreds of instances with the New Zealanders. The following case is worth giving, as it relates to an old man who was unusually dark-coloured and partly tattooed. After having let his land to an Englishman for a small yearly rental, a strong pa.s.sion seized him to buy a gig, which had lately become the fashion with the Maoris. He consequently wished to draw all the rent for four years from his tenant, and consulted Mr. Stack whether he could do so. The man was old, clumsy, poor, and ragged, and the idea of his driving himself about in his carriage for display amused Mr.

Stack so much that he could not help bursting out into a laugh; and then "the old man blushed up to the roots of his hair." Forster says that "you may easily distinguish a spreading blush" on the cheeks of the fairest women in Tahiti.[1312] The natives also of several of the other archipelagoes in the Pacific have been seen to blush.

Mr. Washington Matthews has often seen a blush on the faces of the young squaws belonging to various wild Indian tribes of North America. At the opposite extremity of the continent in Tierra del Fuego, the natives, according to Mr. Bridges, "blush much, but chiefly in regard to women; but they certainly blush also at their own personal appearance." This latter statement agrees with what I remember of the Fuegian, Jemmy b.u.t.ton, who blushed when he was quizzed about the care which he took in polishing his shoes, and in otherwise adorning himself. With respect to the Aymara Indians on the lofty plateaus of Bolivia, Mr. Forbes says,[1313] that from the colour of their skins it is impossible that their blushes should be as clearly visible as in the white races; still under such circ.u.mstances as would raise a blush in us, "there can always be seen the same expression of modesty or confusion; and even in the dark, a rise of temperature of the skin of the face can be felt, exactly as occurs in the European." With the Indians who inhabit the hot, equable, and damp parts of South America, the skin apparently does not answer to mental excitement so readily as with the natives of the northern and southern parts of the continent, who have long been exposed to great vicissitudes of climate; for Humboldt quotes without a protest the sneer of the Spaniard, "How can those be trusted, who know not how to blush?"[1314] Von Spix and Martius, in speaking of the aborigines of Brazil, a.s.sert that they cannot properly be said to blush; "it was only after long intercourse with the whites, and after receiving some education, that we perceived in the Indians a change of colour expressive of the emotions of their minds."[1315] It is, however, incredible that the power of blushing could have thus originated; but the habit of self-attention, consequent on their education and new course of life, would have much increased any innate tendency to blush.

Several trustworthy observers have a.s.sured me that they have seen on the faces of negroes an appearance resembling a blush, under circ.u.mstances which would have excited one in us, though their skins were of an ebony-black tint. Some describe it as blushing brown, but most say that the blackness becomes more intense. An increased supply of blood in the skin seems in some manner to increase its blackness; thus certain exanthematous diseases cause the affected places in the negro to appear blacker, instead of, as with us, redder.[1316] The skin, perhaps, from being rendered more tense by the filling of the capillaries, would reflect a somewhat different tint to what it did before. That the capillaries of the face in the negro become filled with blood, under the emotion of shame, we may feel confident; because a perfectly characterized albino negress, described by Buffon,[1317] showed a faint tinge of crimson on her cheeks when she exhibited herself naked.

Cicatrices of the skin remain for a long time white in the negro, and Dr. Burgess, who had frequent opportunities of observing a scar of this kind on the face of a negress, distinctly saw that it "invariably became red whenever she was abruptly spoken to, or charged with any trivial offence."[1318] The blush could be seen proceeding from the circ.u.mference of the scar towards the middle, but it did not reach the centre. Mulattoes are often great blushers, blush succeeding blush over their faces. From these facts there can be no doubt that negroes blush, although no redness is visible on the skin.