When an ordinary individual thinks he suddenly sees a “ghost” he turns
pale, his hair stands on end, and he “trembles from head to foot.”
Often he breaks out into a cold perspiration, and may even faint!
All these symptoms are well known; there is only one which many persons
would refuse to believe--putting it down to a subjective hallucination.
That is the hair standing on end! This is actually the case, however,
at such times; for, attached to each hair is a tiny muscle which
shortens under the influence of this emotion, and as it shortens, it
pulls the hair upright just as a beam might be pulled upright by a
rope--thus causing it actually to “stand on end.”
The face turns pale, under the stress of fear, because the blood
vessels under the skin are suddenly emptied of blood--due to nervous
control of the so-called “vaso-motor” system. This blood is emptied
into the great blood vessels in the interior of the body, which rapidly
expand to receive it. A new distribution of the blood takes place, in
which the surface of the body is left without it, while the interior of
the body is filled instead.
This does not only happen in the case of fear, for sudden anger may
also make the face blanche. Furthermore, the face alone is not bereft
of blood in this manner; the whole surface of the body is affected, so
that it becomes pale and anaemic, for the time being. When this sudden
withdrawal of blood extends to the brain the subject becomes faint,
and may even lose consciousness. Facial pallor, therefore, is just the
reverse of blushing, and curiously enough, may be due to the same
emotions--and succeed each other in waves.