The screaming and weeping of infants—Forms of features—Age at which
weeping commences—The effects of habitual restraint on
weeping—Sobbing—Cause of the contraction of the muscles round the eyes
during screaming—Cause of the secretion of tears.
In this and the following chapters the expressions exhibited by Man
under various states of the mind will be described and explained, as
far as lies in my power. My observations will be arranged according to
the order which I have found the most convenient; and this will
generally lead to opposite emotions and sensations succeeding each
other.
_Suffering of the body and mind: weeping_.—I have already described in
sufficient detail, in the third chapter, the signs of extreme pain, as
shown by screams or groans, with the writhing of the whole body and the
teeth clenched or ground together. These signs are often accompanied or
followed by profuse sweating, pallor, trembling, utter prostration, or
faintness. No suffering is greater than that from extreme fear or
horror, but here a distinct emotion comes into play, and will be
elsewhere considered. Prolonged suffering, especially of the mind,
passes into low spirits, grief, dejection, and despair, and these
states will be the subject of the following chapter. Here I shall
almost confine myself to weeping or crying, more especially in
children.
Infants, when suffering even slight pain, moderate hunger, or
discomfort, utter violent and prolonged screams. Whilst thus screaming
their eyes are firmly closed, so that the skin round them is wrinkled,
and the forehead contracted into a frown. The mouth is widely opened
with the lips retracted in a peculiar manner, which causes it to assume
a squarish form; the gums or teeth being more or less exposed. The
breath is inhaled almost spasmodically. It is easy to observe infants
whilst screaming; but I have found photographs made by the
instantaneous process the best means for observation, as allowing more
deliberation. I have collected twelve, most of them made purposely for
me; and they all exhibit the same general characteristics. I have,
therefore, had six of them[601] (Plate I.) reproduced by the heliotype
process.
Screaming Infants. Plate I.
The firm closing of the eyelids and consequent compression of the
eyeball,—and this is a most important element in various
expressions,—serves to protect the eyes from becoming too much gorged
with blood, as will presently be explained in detail. With respect to
the order in which the several muscles contract in firmly compressing
the eyes, I am indebted to Dr. Langstaff, of Southampton, for some
observations, which I have since repeated. The best plan for observing
the order is to make a person first raise his eyebrows, and this
produces transverse wrinkles across the forehead; and then very
gradually to contract all the muscles round the elves with as much
force as possible. The reader who is unacquainted with the anatomy of
the face, ought to refer to p. 24, and look at the woodcuts 1 to 3. The
corrugators of the brow (_corrugator supercilii_) seem to be the first
muscles to contract; and these draw the eyebrows downwards and inwards
towards the base of the nose, causing vertical furrows, that is a
frown, to appear between the eyebrows; at the same time they cause the
disappearance of the transverse wrinkles across the forehead. The
orbicular muscles contract almost simultaneously with the corrugators,
and produce wrinkles all round the eyes; they appear, however, to be
enabled to contract with greater force, as soon as the contraction of
the corrugators has given them some support. Lastly, the pyramidal
muscles of the nose contract; and these draw the eyebrows and the skin
of the forehead still lower down, producing short transverse wrinkles
across the base of the nose.[602] For the sake of brevity these muscles
will generally be spoken of as the orbiculars, or as those surrounding
the eyes.
When these muscles are strongly contracted, those running to the upper
lip[603] likewise contract and raise the upper lip. This might have
been expected from the manner in which at least one of them, the
_malaris_, is connected with the orbiculars. Any one who will gradually
contract the muscles round his eyes, will feel, as he increases the
force, that his upper lip and the wings of his nose (which are partly
acted on by one of the same muscles) are almost always a little drawn
up. If he keeps his mouth firmly shut whilst contracting the muscles
round the eyes, and then suddenly relaxes his lips, he will feel that
the pressure on his eyes immediately increases. So again when a person
on a bright, glaring day wishes to look at a distant object, but is
compelled partially to close his eyelids, the upper lip may almost
always be observed to be somewhat raised. The mouths of some very
short-sighted persons, who are forced habitually to reduce the aperture
of their eyes, wear from this same reason a grinning expression.
The raising of the upper lip draws upwards the flesh of the upper parts
of the cheeks, and produces a strongly marked fold on each cheek,—the
naso-labial fold,—which runs from near the wings of the nostrils to the
corners of the mouth and below them. This fold or furrow may be seen in
all the photographs, and is very characteristic of the expression of a
crying child; though a nearly similar fold is produced in the act of
laughing or smiling.[604]
As the upper lip is much drawn up during the act of screaming, in the
manner just explained, the depressor muscles of the angles of the mouth
(see K in woodcuts 1 and 2) are strongly contracted in order to keep
the mouth widely open, so that a full volume of sound may be poured
forth. The action of these opposed muscles, above and below, tends to
give to the mouth an oblong, almost squarish outline, as may be seen in
the accompanying photographs. An excellent observer,[605] in describing
a baby crying whilst being fed, says, “it made its mouth like a square,
and let the porridge run out at all four corners.” I believe, but we
shall return to this point in a future chapter, that the depressor
muscles of the angles of the mouth are less under the separate control
of the will than the adjoining muscles; so that if a young child is
only doubtfully inclined to cry, this muscle is generally the first to
contract, and is the last to cease contracting. When older children
commence crying, the muscles which run to the upper lip are often the
first to contract; and this may perhaps be due to older children not
having so strong a tendency to scream loudly, and consequently to keep
their mouths widely open; so that the above-named depressor muscles are
not brought into such strong action.
With one of my own infants, from his eighth day and for some time
afterwards, I often observed that the first sign of a screaming-fit,
when it could be observed coming on gradually, was a little frown,
owing to the contraction of the corrugators of the brows; the
capillaries of the naked head and face becoming at the same time
reddened with blood. As soon as the screaming-fit actually began, all
the muscles round the eyes were strongly contracted, and the mouth
widely opened in the manner above described; so that at this early
period the features assumed the same form as at a more advanced age.
Dr. Piderit[606] lays great stress on the contraction of certain
muscles which draw down the nose and narrow the nostrils, as eminently
characteristic of a crying expression. The _depressores anguli oris_,
as we have just seen, are usually contracted at the same time, and they
indirectly tend, according to Dr. Duchenne, to act in this same manner
on the nose. With children having bad colds a similar pinched
appearance of the nose may be noticed, which is at least partly due, as
remarked to me by Dr. Langstaff, to their constant snuffling, and the
consequent pressure of the atmosphere on the two sides. The purpose of
this contraction of the nostrils by children having bad colds, or
whilst crying, seems to be to check the downward flow of the mucus and
tears, and to prevent these fluids spreading over the upper lip.
After a prolonged and severe screaming-fit, the scalp, face, and eyes
are reddened, owing to the return of the blood from the head having
been impeded by the violent expiratory efforts; but the redness of the
stimulated eyes is chiefly due to the copious effusion of tears. The
various muscles of the face which have been strongly contracted, still
twitch a little, and the upper lip is still slightly drawn up or
everted,[607] with the corners of the mouth still a little drawn
downwards. I have myself felt, and have observed in other grown-up
persons, that when tears are restrained with difficulty, as in reading
a pathetic story, it is almost impossible to prevent the various
muscles. which with young children are brought into strong action
during their screaming-fits, from slightly twitching or trembling.
Infants whilst young do not shed tears or weep, as is well known to
nurses and medical men. This circumstance is not exclusively due to the
lacrymal glands being as yet incapable of secreting tears. I first
noticed this fact from having accidentally brushed with the cuff of my
coat the open eye of one of my infants, when seventy-seven days old,
causing this eye to water freely; and though the child screamed
violently, the other eye remained dry, or was only slightly suffused
with tears. A similar slight effusion occurred ten days previously in
both eyes during a screaming-fit. The tears did not run over the
eyelids and roll down the cheeks of this child, whilst screaming badly,
when 122 days old. This first happened 17 days later, at the age of 139
days. A few other children have been observed for me, and the period of
free weeping appears to be very variable. In one case, the eyes became
slightly suffused at the age of only 20 days; in another, at 62 days.
With two other children, the tears did NOT run down the face at the
ages of 84 and 110 days; but in a third child they did run down at the
age of 104 days. In one instance, as I was positively assured, tears
ran down at the unusually early age of 42 days. It would appear as if
the lacrymal glands required some practice in the individual before
they are easily excited into action, in somewhat the same manner as
various inherited consensual movements and tastes require some exercise
before they are fixed and perfected. This is all the more likely with a
habit like weeping, which must have been acquired since the period when
man branched off from the common progenitor of the genus Homo and of
the non-weeping anthropomorphous apes.
The fact of tears not being shed at a very early age from pain or any
mental emotion is remarkable, as, later in life, no expression is more
general or more strongly marked than weeping. When the habit has once
been acquired by an infant, it expresses in the clearest manner
suffering of all kinds, both bodily pain and mental distress, even
though accompanied by other emotions, such as fear or rage. The
character of the crying, however, changes at a very early age, as I
noticed in my own infants,—the passionate cry differing from that of
grief. A lady informs me that her child, nine months old, when in a
passion screams loudly, but does not weep; tears, however, are shed
when she is punished by her chair being turned with its back to the
table. This difference may perhaps be attributed to weeping being
restrained, as we shall immediately see, at a more advanced age, under
most circumstances excepting grief; and to the influence of such
restraint being transmitted to an earlier period of life, than that at
which it was first practised.
With adults, especially of the male sex, weeping soon ceases to be
caused by, or to express, bodily pain. This may be accounted for by its
being thought weak and unmanly by men, both of civilized and barbarous
races, to exhibit bodily pain by any outward sign. With this exception,
savages weep copiously from very slight causes, of which fact Sir J.
Lubbock[608] has collected instances. A New Zealand chief “cried like a
child because the sailors spoilt his favourite cloak by powdering it
with flour.” I saw in Tierra del Fuego a native who had lately lost a
brother, and who alternately cried with hysterical violence, and
laughed heartily at anything which amused him. With the civilized
nations of Europe there is also much difference in the frequency of
weeping. Englishmen rarely cry, except under the pressure of the
acutest grief; whereas in some parts of the Continent the men shed
tears much more readily and freely.
The insane notoriously give way to all their emotions with little or no
restraint; and I am informed by Dr. J. Crichton Browne, that nothing is
more characteristic of simple melancholia, even in the male sex, than a
tendency to weep on the slightest occasions, or from no cause. They
also weep disproportionately on the occurrence of any real cause of
grief. The length of time during which some patients weep is
astonishing, as well as the amount of tears which they shed. One
melancholic girl wept for a whole day, and afterwards confessed to Dr.
Browne, that it was because she remembered that she had once shaved off
her eyebrows to promote their growth. Many patients in the asylum sit
for a long time rocking themselves backwards and forwards; “and if
spoken to, they stop their movements, purse up their eyes, depress the
corners of the mouth, and burst out crying.” In some of these cases,
the being spoken to or kindly greeted appears to suggest some fanciful
and sorrowful notion; but in other cases an effort of any kind excites
weeping, independently of any sorrowful idea. Patients suffering from
acute mania likewise have paroxysms of violent crying or blubbering, in
the midst of their incoherent ravings. We must not, however, lay too
much stress on the copious shedding of tears by the insane, as being
due to the lack of all restraint; for certain brain-diseases, as
hemiplegia, brain-wasting, and senile decay, have a special tendency to
induce weeping. Weeping is common in the insane, even after a complete
state of fatuity has been reached and the power of speech lost. Persons
born idiotic likewise weep;[609] but it is said that this is not the
case with cretins.
Weeping seems to be the primary and natural expression, as we see in
children, of suffering of any kind, whether bodily pain short of
extreme agony, or mental distress. But the foregoing facts and common
experience show us that a frequently repeated effort to restrain
weeping, in association with certain states of the mind, does much in
checking the habit. On the other hand, it appears that the power of
weeping can be increased through habit; thus the Rev. R. Taylor,[610]
who long resided in New Zealand, asserts that the women can voluntarily
shed tears in abundance; they meet for this purpose to mourn for the
dead, and they take pride in crying “in the most affecting manner.”
A single effort of repression brought to bear on the lacrymal glands
does little, and indeed seems often to lead to an opposite result. An
old and experienced physician told me that he had always found that the
only means to check the occasional bitter weeping of ladies who
consulted him, and who themselves wished to desist, was earnestly to
beg them not to try, and to assure them that nothing would relieve them
so much as prolonged and copious crying.
The screaming of infants consists of prolonged expirations, with short
and rapid, almost spasmodic inspirations, followed at a somewhat more
advanced age by sobbing. According to Gratiolet,[611] the glottis is
chiefly affected during the act of sobbing. This sound is heard “at the
moment when the inspiration conquers the resistance of the glottis, and
the air rushes into the chest.” But the whole act of respiration is
likewise spasmodic and violent. The shoulders are at the same time
generally raised, as by this movement respiration is rendered easier.
With one of my infants, when seventy-seven days old, the inspirations
were so rapid and strong that they approached in character to sobbing;
when 138 days old I first noticed distinct sobbing, which subsequently
followed every bad crying-fit. The respiratory movements are partly
voluntary and partly involuntary, and I apprehend that sobbing is at
least in part due to children having some power to command after early
infancy their vocal organs and to stop their screams, but from having
less power over their respiratory muscles, these continue for a time to
act in an involuntary or spasmodic manner, after having been brought
into violent action. Sobbing seems to be peculiar to the human species;
for the keepers in the Zoological Gardens assure me that they have
never heard a sob from any kind of monkey; though monkeys often scream
loudly whilst being chased and caught, and then pant for a long time.
We thus see that there is a close analogy between sobbing and the free
shedding of tears; for with children, sobbing does not commence during
early infancy, but afterwards comes on rather suddenly and then follows
every bad crying-fit, until the habit is checked with advancing years.
_On the cause of the contraction of the muscles round the eyes during
screaming_.—We have seen that infants and young children, whilst
screaming, invariably close their eyes firmly, by the contraction of
the surrounding muscles, so that the skin becomes wrinkled all around.
With older children, and even with adults, whenever there is violent
and unrestrained crying, a tendency to the contraction of these same
muscles may be observed; though this is often checked in order not to
interfere with vision.
Sir C. Bell explains[612] this action in the following manner:—“During
every violent act of expiration, whether in hearty laughter, weeping,
coughing, or sneezing, the eyeball is firmly compressed by the fibres
of the orbicularis; and this is a provision for supporting and
defending the vascular system of the interior of the eye from a
retrograde impulse communicated to the blood in the veins at that time.
When we contract the chest and expel the air, there is a retardation of
the blood in the veins of the neck and head; and in the more powerful
acts of expulsion, the blood not only distends the vessels, but is even
regurgitated into the minute branches. Were the eye not properly
compressed at that time, and a resistance given to the shock,
irreparable injury might be inflicted on the delicate textures of the
interior of the eye.” He further adds, “If we separate the eyelids of a
child to examine the eye, while it cries and struggles with passion, by
taking off the natural support to the vascular system of the eye, and
means of guarding it against the rush of blood then occurring, the
conjunctiva becomes suddenly filled with blood, and the eyelids
everted.”
Not only are the muscles round the eyes strongly contracted, as Sir C.
Bell states and as I have often observed, during screaming, loud
laughter, coughing, and sneezing, but during several other analogous
actions. A man contracts these muscles when he violently blows his
nose. I asked one of my boys to shout as loudly as he possibly could,
and as soon as he began, he firmly contracted his orbicular muscles; I
observed this repeatedly, and on asking him why he had every time so
firmly closed his eyes, I found that he was quite unaware of the fact:
he had acted instinctively or unconsciously.
It is not necessary, in order to lead to the contraction of these
muscles, that air should actually be expelled from the chest; it
suffices that the muscles of the chest and abdomen should contract with
great force, whilst by the closure of the glottis no air escapes. In
violent vomiting or retching the diaphragm is made to descend by the
chest being filled with air; it is then held in this position by the
closure of the glottis, “as well as by the contraction of its own
fibres.”[613] The abdominal muscles now contract strongly upon the
stomach, its proper muscles likewise contracting, and the contents are
thus ejected. During each effort of vomiting “the head becomes greatly
congested, so that the features are red and swollen, and the large
veins of the face and temples visibly dilated.” At the same time, as I
know from observation, the muscles round the eyes are strongly
contracted. This is likewise the case when the abdominal muscles act
downwards with unusual force in expelling the contents of the
intestinal canal.
The greatest exertion of the muscles of the body, if those of the chest
are not brought into strong action in expelling or compressing the air
within the lungs, does not lead to the contraction of the muscles round
the eyes. I have observed my sons using great force in gymnastic
exercises, as in repeatedly raising their suspended bodies by their
arms alone, and in lifting heavy weights from the ground, but there was
hardly any trace of contraction in the muscles round the eyes.
As the contraction of these muscles for the protection of the eyes
during violent expiration is indirectly, as we shall hereafter see, a
fundamental element in several of our most important expressions, I was
extremely anxious to ascertain how far Sir C. Bell’s view could be
substantiated. Professor Donders, of Utrecht,[614] well known as one of
the highest authorities in Europe on vision and on the structure of the
eye, has most kindly undertaken for me this investigation with the aid
of the many ingenious mechanisms of modern science, and has published
the results.[615] He shows that during violent expiration the external,
the intra-ocular, and the retro-ocular vessels of the eye are all
affected in two ways, namely by the increased pressure of the blood in
the arteries, and by the return of the blood in the veins being
impeded. It is, therefore, certain that both the arteries and the veins
of the eye are more or less distended during violent expiration. The
evidence in detail may be found in Professor Donders’ valuable memoir.
We see the effects on the veins of the head, in their prominence, and
in the purple colour of the face of a man who coughs violently from
being half choked. I may mention, on the same authority, that the whole
eye certainly advances a little during each violent expiration. This is
due to the dilatation of the retro-ocular vessels, and might have been
expected from the intimate connection of the eye and brain; the brain
being known to rise and fall with each respiration, when a portion of
the skull has been removed; and as may be seen along the unclosed
sutures of infants’ heads. This also, I presume, is the reason that the
eyes of a strangled man appear as if they were starting from their
sockets.
With respect to the protection of the eye during violent expiratory
efforts by the pressure of the eyelids, Professor Donders concludes
from his various observations that this action certainly limits or
entirely removes the dilatation of the vessels.[616] At such times, he
adds, we not unfrequently see the hand involuntarily laid upon the
eyelids, as if the better to support and defend the eyeball.
Nevertheless much evidence cannot at present be advanced to prove that
the eye actually suffers injury from the want of support during violent
expiration; but there is some. It is “a fact that forcible expiratory
efforts in violent coughing or vomiting, and especially in sneezing,
sometimes give rise to ruptures of the little (external) vessels” of
the eye.[617] With respect to the internal vessels, Dr. Gunning has
lately recorded a case of exophthalmos in consequence of
whooping-cough, which in his opinion depended on the rupture of the
deeper vessels; and another analogous case has been recorded. But a
mere sense of discomfort would probably suffice to lead to the
associated habit of protecting the eyeball by the contraction of the
surrounding muscles. Even the expectation or chance of injury would
probably be sufficient, in the same manner as an object moving too near
the eye induces involuntary winking of the eyelids. We may, therefore,
safely conclude from Sir C. Bell’s observations, and more especially
from the more careful investigations by Professor Donders, that the
firm closure of the eyelids during the screaming of children is an
action full of meaning and of real service.
We have already seen that the contraction of the orbicular muscles
leads to the drawing up of the upper lip, and consequently, if the
mouth is kept widely open, to the drawing down of the corners by the
contraction of the depressor muscles. The formation of the naso-labial
fold on the cheeks likewise follows from the drawing up of the upper
lip. Thus all the chief expressive movements of the face during crying
apparently result from the contraction of the muscles round the eyes.
We shall also find that the shedding of tears depends on, or at least
stands in some connection with, the contraction of these same muscles.
In some of the foregoing cases, especially in those of sneezing and
coughing, it is possible that the contraction of the orbicular muscles
may serve in addition to protect the eyes from too severe a jar or
vibration. I think so, because dogs and cats, in crunching hard bones,
always close their eyelids, and at least sometimes in sneezing; though
dogs do not do so whilst barking loudly. Mr. Sutton carefully observed
for me a young orang and chimpanzee, and he found that both always
closed their eyes in sneezing and coughing, but not whilst screaming
violently. I gave a small pinch of snuff to a monkey of the American
division, namely, a Cebus, and it closed its eyelids whilst sneezing;
but not on a subsequent occasion whilst uttering loud cries.
_Cause of the secretion of tears_.—It is an important fact which must
be considered in any theory of the secretion of tears from the mind
being affected, that whenever the muscles round the eyes are strongly
and involuntarily contracted in order to compress the blood-vessels and
thus to protect the eyes, tears are secreted, often in sufficient
abundance to roll down the cheeks. This occurs under the most opposite
emotions, and under no emotion at all. The sole exception, and this is
only a partial one, to the existence of a relation between the
involuntary and strong contraction of these muscles and the secretion
of tears is that of young infants, who, whilst screaming violently with
their eyelids firmly closed, do not commonly weep until they have
attained the age of from two to three or four months. Their eyes,
however, become suffused with tears at a much earlier age. It would
appear, as already remarked, that the lacrymal glands do not, from the
want of practice or some other cause, come to full functional activity
at a very early period of life. With children at a somewhat later age,
crying out or wailing from any distress is so regularly accompanied by
the shedding of tears, that weeping and crying are synonymous
terms.[618]
Under the opposite emotion of great joy or amusement, as long as
laughter is moderate there is hardly any contraction of the muscles
round the eyes, so that there is no frowning; but when peals of loud
laughter are uttered, with rapid and violent spasmodic expirations,
tears stream down the face. I have more than once noticed the face of a
person, after a paroxysm of violent laughter, and I could see that the
orbicular muscles and those running to the upper lip were still
partially contracted, which together with the tear-stained cheeks gave
to the upper half of the face an expression not to be distinguished
from that of a child still blubbering from grief. The fact of tears
streaming down the face during violent laughter is common to all the
races of mankind, as we shall see in a future chapter.
In violent coughing especially when a person is half-choked, the face
becomes purple, the veins distended, the orbicular muscles strongly
contracted, and tears run down the cheeks. Even after a fit of ordinary
coughing, almost every one has to wipe his eyes. In violent vomiting or
retching, as I have myself experienced and seen in others, the
orbicular muscles are strongly contracted, and tears sometimes flow
freely down the cheeks. It has been suggested to me that this may be
due to irritating matter being injected into the nostrils, and causing
by reflex action the secretion of tears. Accordingly I asked one of my
informants, a surgeon, to attend to the effects of retching when
nothing was thrown up from the stomach; and, by an odd coincidence, he
himself suffered the next morning from an attack of retching, and three
days subsequently observed a lady under a similar attack; and he is
certain that in neither case an atom of matter was ejected from the
stomach; yet the orbicular muscles were strongly contracted, and tears
freely secreted. I can also speak positively to the energetic
contraction of these same muscles round the eyes, and to the coincident
free secretion of tears, when the abdominal muscles act with unusual
force in a downward direction on the intestinal canal.
Yawning commences with a deep inspiration, followed by a long and
forcible expiration; and at the same time almost all the muscles of the
body are strongly contracted, including those round the eyes. During
this act tears are often secreted, and I have seen them even rolling
down the cheeks.
I have frequently observed that when persons scratch some point which
itches intolerably, they forcibly close their eyelids; but they do not,
as I believe, first draw a deep breath and then expel it with force;
and I have never noticed that the eyes then become filled with tears;
but I am not prepared to assert that this does not occur. The forcible
closure of the eyelids is, perhaps, merely a part of that general
action by which almost all the muscles of the body are at the same time
rendered rigid. It is quite different from the gentle closure of the
eyes which often accompanies, as Gratiolet remarks,[619] the smelling a
delicious odour, or the tasting a delicious morsel, and which probably
originates in the desire to shut out any disturbing impression through
the eyes.
Professor Donders writes to me to the following effect: “I have
observed some cases of a very curious affection when, after a slight
rub (_attouchement_), for example, from the friction of a coat, which
caused neither a wound nor a contusion, spasms of the orbicular muscles
occurred, with a very profuse flow of tears, lasting about one hour.
Subsequently, sometimes after an interval of several weeks, violent
spasms of the same muscles re-occurred, accompanied by the secretion of
tears, together with primary or secondary redness of the eye.” Mr.
Bowman informs me that he has occasionally observed closely analogous
cases, and that, in some of these, there was no redness or inflammation
of the eyes.
I was anxious to ascertain whether there existed in any of the lower
animals a similar relation between the contraction of the orbicular
muscles during violent expiration and the secretion of tears; but there
are very few animals which contract these muscles in a prolonged
manner, or which shed tears. _The Macacus maurus_, which formerly wept
so copiously in the Zoological Gardens, would have been a fine case for
observation; but the two monkeys now there, and which are believed to
belong to the same species, do not weep. Nevertheless they were
carefully observed by Mr. Bartlett and myself, whilst screaming loudly,
and they seemed to contract these muscles; but they moved about their
cages so rapidly, that it was difficult to observe with certainty. No
other monkey, as far as I have been able to ascertain, contracts its
orbicular muscles whilst screaming.
The Indian elephant is known sometimes to weep. Sir E. Tennent, in
describing these which he saw captured and bound in Ceylon, says, some
“lay motionless on the ground, with no other indication of suffering
than the tears which suffused their eyes and flowed incessantly.”
Speaking of another elephant he says, “When overpowered and made fast,
his grief was most affecting; his violence sank to utter prostration,
and he lay on the ground, uttering choking cries, with tears trickling
down his cheeks.”[620] In the Zoological Gardens the keeper of the
Indian elephants positively asserts that he has several times seen
tears rolling down the face of the old female, when distressed by the
removal of the young one. Hence I was extremely anxious to ascertain,
as an extension of the relation between the contraction of the
orbicular muscles and the shedding of tears in man, whether elephants
when screaming or trumpeting loudly contract these muscles. At Mr.
Bartlett’s desire the keeper ordered the old and the young elephant to
trumpet; and we repeatedly saw in both animals that, just as the
trumpeting began, the orbicular muscles, especially the lower ones,
were distinctly contracted. On a subsequent occasion the keeper made
the old elephant trumpet much more loudly, and invariably both the
upper and lower orbicular muscles were strongly contracted, and now in
an equal degree. It is a singular fact that the African elephant,
which, however, is so different from the Indian species that it is
placed by some naturalists in a distinct sub-genus, when made on two
occasions to trumpet loudly, exhibited no trace of the contraction of
the orbicular muscles.
From the several foregoing cases with respect to Man, there can, I
think, be no doubt that the contraction of the muscles round the eyes,
during violent expiration or when the expanded chest is forcibly
compressed, is, in some manner, intimately connected with the secretion
of tears. This holds good under widely different emotions, and
independently of any emotion. It is not, of course, meant that tears
cannot be secreted without the contraction of these muscles; for it is
notorious that they are often freely shed with the eyelids not closed,
and with the brows unwrinkled. The contraction must be both involuntary
and prolonged, as during a choking fit, or energetic, as during a
sneeze. The mere involuntary winking of the eyelids, though often
repeated, does not bring tears into the eyes. Nor does the voluntary
and prolonged contraction of the several surrounding muscles suffice.
As the lacrymal glands of children are easily excited, I persuaded my
own and several other children of different ages to contract these
muscles repeatedly with their utmost force, and to continue doing so as
long as they possibly could; but this produced hardly any effect. There
was sometimes a little moisture in the eyes, but not more than
apparently could be accounted for by the squeezing out of the already
secreted tears within the glands.
The nature of the relation between the involuntary and energetic
contraction of the muscles round the eyes, and the secretion of tears,
cannot be positively ascertained, but a probable view may be suggested.
The primary function of the secretion of tears, together with some
mucus, is to lubricate the surface of the eye; and a secondary one, as
some believe, is to keep the nostrils damp, so that the inhaled air may
be moist,[621] and likewise to favour the power of smelling. But
another, and at least equally important function of tears, is to wash
out particles of dust or other minute objects which may get into the
eyes. That this is of great importance is clear from the cases in which
the cornea has been rendered opaque through inflammation, caused by
particles of dust not being removed, in consequence of the eye and
eyelid becoming immovable.[622] The secretion of tears from the
irritation of any foreign body in the eye is a reflex action;—that is,
the body irritates a peripheral nerve which sends an impression to
certain sensory nerve-cells; these transmit an influence to other
cells, and these again to the lacrymal glands. The influence
transmitted to these glands causes, as there is good reason to believe,
the relaxation of the muscular coats of the smaller arteries; this
allows more blood to permeate the glandular tissue, and this induces a
free secretion of tears. When the small arteries of the face, including
those of the retina, are relaxed under very different circumstances,
namely, during an intense blush, the lacrymal glands are sometimes
affected in a like manner, for the eyes become suffused with tears.
It is difficult to conjecture how many reflex actions have originated,
but, in relation to the present case of the affection of the lacrymal
glands through irritation of the surface of the eye, it may be worth
remarking that, as soon as some primordial form became semi-terrestrial
in its habits, and was liable to get particles of dust into its eyes,
if these were not washed out they would cause much irritation; and on
the principle of the radiation of nerve-force to adjoining nerve-cells,
the lacrymal glands would be stimulated to secretion. As this would
often recur, and as nerve-force readily passes along accustomed
channels, a slight irritation would ultimately suffice to cause a free
secretion of tears.
As soon as by this, or by some other means, a reflex action of this
nature had been established and rendered easy, other stimulants applied
to the surface of the eye—such as a cold wind, slow inflammatory
action, or a blow on the eyelids—would cause a copious secretion of
tears, as we know to be the case. The glands are also excited into
action through the irritation of adjoining parts. Thus when the
nostrils are irritated by pungent vapours, though the eyelids may be
kept firmly closed, tears are copiously secreted; and this likewise
follows from a blow on the nose, for instance from a boxing-glove. A
stinging switch on the face produces, as I have seen, the same effect.
In these latter cases the secretion of tears is an incidental result,
and of no direct service. As all these parts of the face, including the
lacrymal glands, are supplied with branches of the same nerve, namely,
the fifth, it is in some degree intelligible that the effects of the
excitement of any one branch should spread to the nerve-cells or roots
of the other branches.
The internal parts of the eye likewise act, under certain conditions,
in a reflex manner on the lacrymal glands. The following statements
have been kindly communicated to me by Mr. Bowman; but the subject is a
very intricate one, as all the parts of the eye are so intimately
related together, and are so sensitive to various stimulants. A strong
light acting on the retina, when in a normal condition, has very little
tendency to cause lacrymation; but with unhealthy children having
small, old-standing ulcers on the cornea, the retina becomes
excessively sensitive to light, and exposure even to common daylight
causes forcible and sustained closure of the lids, and a profuse flow
of tears. When persons who ought to begin the use of convex glasses
habitually strain the waning power of accommodation, an undue secretion
of tears very often follows, and the retina is liable to become unduly
sensitive to light. In general, morbid affections of the surface of the
eye, and of the ciliary structures concerned in the accommodative act,
are prone to be accompanied with excessive secretion of tears. Hardness
of the eyeball, not rising to inflammation, but implying a want of
balance between the fluids poured out and again taken up by the
intra-ocular vessels, is not usually attended with any lacrymation.
When the balance is on the other side, and the eye becomes too soft,
there is a greater tendency to lacrymation. Finally, there are numerous
morbid states and structural alterations of the eyes, and even terrible
inflammations, which may be attended with little or no secretion of
tears.
It also deserves notice, as indirectly bearing on our subject, that the
eye and adjoining parts are subject to an extraordinary number of
reflex and associated movements, sensations, and actions, besides those
relating to the lacrymal glands. When a bright light strikes the retina
of one eye alone, the iris contracts, but the iris of the other eye
moves after a measurable interval of time. The iris likewise moves in
accommodation to near or distant vision, and when the two eyes are made
to converge.[623] Every one knows how irresistibly the eyebrows are
drawn down under an intensely bright light. The eyelids also
involuntarily wink when an object is moved near the eyes, or a sound is
suddenly heard. The well-known case of a bright light causing some
persons to sneeze is even more curious; for nerve-force here radiates
from certain nerve-cells in connection with the retina, to the sensory
nerve-cells of the nose, causing it to tickle; and from these, to the
cells which command the various respiratory muscles (the orbiculars
included) which expel the air in so peculiar a manner that it rushes
through the nostrils alone.
To return to our point: why are tears secreted during a screaming-fit
or other violent expiratory efforts? As a slight blow on the eyelids
causes a copious secretion of tears, it is at least possible that the
spasmodic contraction of the eyelids, by pressing strongly on the
eyeball, should in a similar manner cause some secretion. This seems
possible, although the voluntary contraction of the same muscles does
not produce any such effect. We know that a man cannot voluntarily
sneeze or cough with nearly the same force as he does automatically;
and so it is with the contraction of the orbicular muscles: Sir C. Bell
experimented on them, and found that by suddenly and forcibly closing
the eyelids in the dark, sparks of light are seen, like those caused by
tapping the eyelids with the fingers; “but in sneezing the compression
is both more rapid and more forcible, and the sparks are more
brilliant.” That these sparks are due to the contraction of the eyelids
is clear, because if they “are held open during the act of sneezing, no
sensation of light will be experienced.” In the peculiar cases referred
to by Professor Donders and Mr. Bowman, we have seen that some weeks
after the eye has been very slightly injured, spasmodic contractions of
the eyelids ensue, and these are accompanied by a profuse flow of
tears. In the act of yawning, the tears are apparently due solely to
the spasmodic contraction of the muscles round the eyes.
Notwithstanding these latter cases, it seems hardly credible that the
pressure of the eyelids on the surface of the eye, although effected
spasmodically and therefore with much greater force than can be done
voluntarily, should be sufficient to cause by reflex action the
secretion of tears in the many cases in which this occurs during
violent expiratory efforts.
Another cause may come conjointly into play. We have seen that the
internal parts of the eye, under certain conditions act in a reflex
manner on the lacrymal glands. We know that during violent expiratory
efforts the pressure of the arterial blood within the vessels of the
eye is increased, and that the return of the venous blood is impeded.
It seems, therefore, not improbable that the distension of the ocular
vessels, thus induced, might act by reflection on the lacrymal
glands—the effects due to the spasmodic pressure of the eyelids on the
surface of the eye being thus increased.
In considering how far this view is probable, we should bear in mind
that the eyes of infants have been acted on in this double manner
during numberless generations, whenever they have screamed; and on the
principle of nerve-force readily passing along accustomed channels,
even a moderate compression of the eyeballs and a moderate distension
of the ocular vessels would ultimately come, through habit, to act on
the glands. We have an analogous case in the orbicular muscles being
almost always contracted in some slight degree, even during a gentle
crying-fit, when there can be no distension of the vessels and no
uncomfortable sensation excited within the eyes.
Moreover, when complex actions or movements have long been performed in
strict association together, and these are from any cause at first
voluntarily and afterwards habitually checked, then if the proper
exciting conditions occur, any part of the action or movement which is
least under the control of the will, will often still be involuntarily
performed. The secretion by a gland is remarkably free from the
influence of the will; therefore, when with the advancing age of the
individual, or with the advancing culture of the race, the habit of
crying out or screaming is restrained, and there is consequently no
distension of the blood-vessels of the eye, it may nevertheless well
happen that tears should still be secreted. We may see, as lately
remarked, the muscles round the eyes of a person who reads a pathetic
story, twitching or trembling in so slight a degree as hardly to be
detected. In this case there has been no screaming and no distension of
the blood-vessels, yet through habit certain nerve-cells send a small
amount of nerve-force to the cells commanding the muscles round the
eyes; and they likewise send some to the cells commanding the lacrymal
glands, for the eyes often become at the same time just moistened with
tears. If the twitching of the muscles round the eyes and the secretion
of tears had been completely prevented, nevertheless it is almost
certain that there would have been some tendency to transmit
nerve-force in these same directions; and as the lacrymal glands are
remarkably free from the control of the will, they would be eminently
liable still to act, thus betraying, though there were no other outward
signs, the pathetic thoughts which were passing through the person’s
mind.
As a further illustration of the view here advanced, I may remark that
if, during an early period of life, when habits of all kinds are
readily established, our infants, when pleased, had been accustomed to
utter loud peals of laughter (during which the vessels of their eyes
are distended) as often and as continuously as they have yielded when
distressed to screaming-fits, then it is probable that in after life
tears would have been as copiously and as regularly secreted under the
one state of mind as under the other. Gentle laughter, or a smile, or
even a pleasing thought, would have sufficed to cause a moderate
secretion of tears. There does indeed exist an evident tendency in this
direction, as will be seen in a future chapter, when we treat of the
tender feelings. With the Sandwich Islanders, according to
Freycinet,[624] tears are actually recognized as a sign of happiness;
but we should require better evidence on this head than that of a
passing voyager. So again if our infants, during many generations, and
each of them during several years, had almost daily suffered from
prolonged choking-fits, during which the vessels of the eye are
distended and tears copiously secreted, then it is probable, such is
the force of associated habit, that during after life the mere thought
of a choke, without any distress of mind, would have sufficed to bring
tears into our eyes.
To sum up this chapter, weeping is probably the result of some such
chain of events as follows. Children, when wanting food or suffering in
any way, cry out loudly, like the young of most other animals, partly
as a call to their parents for aid, and partly from any great exertion
serving relief. Prolonged screaming inevitably leads to the gorging of
the blood-vessels of the eye; and this will have led, at first
consciously and at last habitually, to the contraction of the muscles
round the eyes in order to protect them. At the same time the spasmodic
pressure on the surface of the eye, and the distension of the vessels
within the eye, without necessarily entailing any conscious sensation,
will have affected, through reflex action, the lacrymal glands.
Finally, through the three principles of nerve-force readily passing
along accustomed channels—of association, which is so widely extended
in its power—and of certain actions, being more under the control of
the will than others—it has come to pass that suffering readily causes
the secretion of tears, without being necessarily accompanied by any
other action.
Although in accordance with this view we must look at weeping as an
incidental result, as purposeless as the secretion of tears from a blow
outside the eye, or as a sneeze from the retina being affected by a
bright light, yet this does not present any difficulty in our
understanding how the secretion of tears serves as a relief to
suffering. And by as much as the weeping is more violent or hysterical,
by so much will the relief be greater,—on the same principle that the
writhing of the whole body, the grinding of the teeth, and the uttering
of piercing shrieks, all give relief under an agony of pain.