General effect of grief on the system—Obliquity of the eyebrows under
suffering—On the cause of the obliquity of the eyebrows—On the
depression of the corners of the mouth.
After the mind has suffered from an acute paroxysm of grief, and the
cause still continues, we fall into a state of low spirits; or we may
be utterly cast down and dejected. Prolonged bodily pain, if not
amounting to an agony, generally leads to the same state of mind. If we
expect to suffer, we are anxious; if we have no hope of relief, we
despair.
Persons suffering from excessive grief often seek relief by violent and
almost frantic movements, as described in a former chapter; but when
their suffering is somewhat mitigated, yet prolonged, they no longer
wish for action, but remain motionless and passive, or may occasionally
rock themselves to and fro. The circulation becomes languid; the face
pale; the muscles flaccid; the eyelids droop; the head hangs on the
contracted chest; the lips, cheeks, and lower jaw all sink downwards
from their own weight. Hence all the features are lengthened; and the
face of a person who hears bad news is said to fall. A party of natives
in Tierra del Fuego endeavoured to explain to us that their friend, the
captain of a sealing vessel, was out of spirits, by pulling down their
cheeks with both hands, so as to make their faces as long as possible.
Mr. Bunnet informs me that the Australian aborigines when out of
spirits have a chop-fallen appearance. After prolonged suffering the
eyes become dull and lack expression, and are often slightly suffused
with tears. The eyebrows not rarely are rendered oblique, which is due
to their inner ends being raised. This produces peculiarly-formed
wrinkles on the forehead, which are very different from those of a
simple frown; though in some cases a frown alone may be present. The
comers of the mouth are drawn downwards, which is so universally
recognized as a sign of being out of spirits, that it is almost
proverbial.
The breathing becomes slow and feeble, and is often interrupted by deep
sighs. As Gratiolet remarks, whenever our attention is long
concentrated on any subject, we forget to breathe, and then relieve
ourselves by a deep inspiration; but the sighs of a sorrowful person,
owing to his slow respiration and languid circulation, are eminently
characteristic.[701] As the grief of a person in this state
occasionally recurs and increases into a paroxysm, spasms affect the
respiratory muscles, and he feels as if something, the so-called
_globus hystericus_, was rising in his throat. These spasmodic
movements are clearly allied to the sobbing of children, and are
remnants of those severer spasms which occur when a person is said to
choke from excessive grief.[702]
_Obliquity of the eyebrows_.—Two points alone in the above description
require further elucidation, and these are very curious ones; namely,
the raising of the inner ends of the eyebrows, and the drawing down of
the corners of the mouth. With respect to the eyebrows, they may
occasionally be seen to assume an oblique position in persons suffering
from deep dejection or anxiety; for instance, I have observed this
movement in a mother whilst speaking about her sick son; and it is
sometimes excited by quite trifling or momentary causes of real or
pretended distress. The eyebrows assume this position owing to the
contraction of certain muscles (namely, the orbiculars, corrugators,
and pyramidals of the nose, which together tend to lower and contract
the eyebrows) being partially cheeked by the more powerful action of
the central fasciæ of the frontal muscle. These latter fasciæ by their
contraction raise the inner ends alone of the eyebrows; and as the
corrugators at the same time draw the eyebrows together, their inner
ends become puckered into a fold or lump. This fold is a highly
characteristic point in the appearance of the eyebrows when rendered
oblique, as may be seen in figs. 2 and 5, Plate II. The eyebrows are at
the same time somewhat roughened, owing to the hairs being made to
project. Dr. J. Crichton Browne has also often noticed in melancholic
patients who keep their eyebrows persistently oblique, “a peculiar
acute arching of the upper eyelid.” A trace of this may be observed by
comparing the right and left eyelids of the young man in the photograph
(fig. 2, Plate II.); for he was not able to act equally on both
eyebrows. This is also shown by the unequal furrows on the two sides of
his forehead. The acute arching of the eyelids depends, I believe, on
the inner end alone of the eyebrows being raised; for when the whole
eyebrow is elevated and arched, the upper eyelid follows in a slight
degree the same movement.
Obliquity of the Eyebrows. Plate II
But the most conspicuous result of the opposed contraction of the
above-named muscles, is exhibited by the peculiar furrows formed on the
forehead. These muscles, when thus in conjoint yet opposed action, may
be called, for the sake of brevity, the grief-muscles. When a person
elevates his eyebrows by the contraction of the whole frontal muscle,
transverse wrinkles extend across the whole breadth of the forehead;
but in the present case the middle fasciae alone are contracted;
consequently, transverse furrows are formed across the middle part
alone of the forehead. The skin over the exterior parts of both
eyebrows is at the same time drawn downwards and smooth, by the
contraction of the outer portions of the orbicular muscles. The
eyebrows are likewise brought together through the simultaneous
contraction of the corrugators;[703] and this latter action generates
vertical furrows, separating the exterior and lowered part of the skin
of the forehead from the central and raised part. The union of these
vertical furrows with the central and transverse furrows (see figs. 2
and 3) produces a mark on the forehead which has been compared to a
horse-shoe; but the furrows more strictly form three sides of a
quadrangle. They are often conspicuous on the foreheads of adult or
nearly adult persons, when their eyebrows are made oblique; but with
young children, owing to their skin not easily wrinkling, they are
rarely seen, or mere traces of them can be detected.
These peculiar furrows are best represented in fig. 3, Plate II., on
the forehead of a young lady who has the power in an unusual degree of
voluntarily acting on the requisite muscles. As she was absorbed in the
attempt, whilst being photographed, her expression was not at all one
of grief; I have therefore given the forehead alone. Fig. 1 on the same
plate, copied from Dr. Duchenne’s work,[704] represents, on a reduced
scale, the face, in its natural state, of a young man who was a good
actor. In fig. 2 he is shown simulating grief, but the two eyebrows, as
before remarked, are not equally acted on. That the expression is true,
may be inferred from the fact that out of fifteen persons, to whom the
original photograph was shown, without any clue to what was intended
being given them, fourteen immediately answered, “despairing sorrow,”
“suffering endurance,” “melancholy,” and so forth. The history of fig.
5 is rather curious: I saw the photograph in a shop-window, and took it
to Mr. Rejlander for the sake of finding out by whom it had been made;
remarking to him how pathetic the expression was. He answered, “I made
it, and it was likely to be pathetic, for the boy in a few minutes
burst out crying.” He then showed me a photograph of the same boy in a
placid state, which I have had (fig. 4) reproduced. In fig. 6, a trace
of obliquity in the eyebrows may be detected; but this figure, as well
as fig. 7, is given to show the depression of the corners of the mouth,
to which subject I shall presently refer.
Few persons, without some practice, can voluntarily act on their
grief-muscles; but after repeated trials a considerable number succeed,
whilst others never can. The degree of obliquity in the eyebrows,
whether assumed voluntarily or unconsciously, differs much in different
persons. With some who apparently have unusually strong pyramidal
muscles, the contraction of the central fasciae of the frontal muscle,
although it may be energetic, as shown by the quadrangular furrows on
the forehead, does not raise the inner ends of the eyebrows, but only
prevents their being so much lowered as they otherwise would have been.
As far as I have been able to observe, the grief-muscles are brought
into action much more frequently by children and women than by men.
They are rarely acted on, at least with grown-up persons, from bodily
pain, but almost exclusively from mental distress. Two persons who,
after some practice, succeeded in acting on their grief-muscles, found
by looking at a mirror that when they made their eyebrows oblique, they
unintentionally at the same time depressed the corners of their mouths;
and this is often the case when the expression is naturally assumed.
The power to bring the grief-muscles freely into play appears to be
hereditary, like almost every other human faculty. A lady belonging to
a family famous for having produced an extraordinary number of great
actors and actresses, and who can herself give this expression “with
singular precision,” told Dr. Crichton Browne that all her family had
possessed the power in a remarkable degree. The same hereditary
tendency is said to have extended, as I likewise hear from Dr. Browne,
to the last descendant of the family, which gave rise to Sir Walter
Scott’s novel of ‘Red Gauntlet;’ but the hero is described as
contracting his forehead into a horseshoe mark from any strong emotion.
I have also seen a young woman whose forehead seemed almost habitually
thus contracted, independently of any emotion being at the time felt.
The grief-muscles are not very frequently brought into play; and as the
action is often momentary, it easily escapes observation. Although the
expression, when observed, is universally and instantly recognized as
that of grief or anxiety, yet not one person out of a thousand who has
never studied the subject, is able to say precisely what change passes
over the sufferer’s face. Hence probably it is that this expression is
not even alluded to, as far as I have noticed, in any work of fiction,
with the exception of ‘Red Gauntlet’ and of one other novel; and the
authoress of the latter, as I am informed, belongs to the famous family
of actors just alluded to; so that her attention may have been
specially called to the subject.
The ancient Greek sculptors were familiar with the expression, as shown
in the statues of the Laocoon and Arretino; but, as Duchenne remarks,
they carried the transverse furrows across the whole breadth of the
forehead, and thus committed a great anatomical mistake: this is
likewise the case in some modern statues. It is, however, more probable
that these wonderfully accurate observers intentionally sacrificed
truth for the sake of beauty, than that they made a mistake; for
rectangular furrows on the forehead would not have had a grand
appearance on the marble. The expression, in its fully developed
condition, is, as far as I can discover, not often represented in
pictures by the old masters, no doubt owing to the same cause; but a
lady who is perfectly familiar with this expression, informs me that in
Fra Angelico’s ‘Descent from the Cross’ in Florence, it is clearly
exhibited in one of the figures on the right-hand; and I could add a
few other instances.
Dr. Crichton Browne, at my request, closely attended to this expression
in the numerous insane patients under his care in the West Riding
Asylum; and he is familiar with Duchenne’s photographs of the action of
the grief-muscles. He informs me that they may constantly be seen in
energetic action in cases of melancholia, and especially of
hypochondria; and that the persistent lines or furrows, due to their
habitual contraction, are characteristic of the physiognomy of the
insane belonging to these two classes. Dr. Browne carefully observed
for me during a considerable period three cases of hypochondria, in
which the grief-muscles were persistently contracted. In one of these,
a widow, aged 51, fancied that she had lost all her viscera, and that
her whole body was empty. She wore an expression of great distress, and
beat her semi-closed hands rhythmically together for hours. The
grief-muscles were permanently contracted, and the upper eyelids
arched. This condition lasted for months; she then recovered, and her
countenance resumed its natural expression. A second case presented
nearly the same peculiarities, with the addition that the comers of the
mouth were depressed.
Mr. Patrick Nicol has also kindly observed for me several cases in the
Sussex Lunatic Asylum, and has communicated to me full details with
respect to three of them; but they need not here be given. From his
observations on melancholic patients, Mr. Nicol concludes that the
inner ends of the eyebrows are almost always more or less raised, with
the wrinkles on the forehead more or less plainly marked. In the case
of one young woman, these wrinkles were observed to be in constant
slight play or movement. In some cases the comers of the mouth are
depressed, but often only in a slight degree. Some amount of difference
in the expression of the several melancholic patients could almost
always be observed. The eyelids generally droop; and the skin near
their outer comers and beneath them is wrinkled. The naso-labial fold,
which runs from the wings of the nostrils to the comers of the mouth,
and which is so conspicuous in blubbering children, is often plainly
marked in these patients.
Although with the insane the grief-muscles often act persistently; yet
in ordinary cases they are sometimes brought unconsciously into
momentary action by ludicrously slight causes. A gentleman rewarded a
young lady by an absurdly small present; she pretended to be offended,
and as she upbraided him, her eyebrows became extremely oblique, with
the forehead properly wrinkled. Another young lady and a youth, both in
the highest spirits, were eagerly talking together with extraordinary
rapidity; and I noticed that, as often as the young lady was beaten,
and could not get out her words fast enough, her eyebrows went
obliquely upwards, and rectangular furrows were formed on her forehead.
She thus each time hoisted a flag of distress; and this she did
half-a-dozen times in the course of a few minutes. I made no remark on
the subject, but on a subsequent occasion I asked her to act on her
grief-muscles; another girl who was present, and who could do so
voluntarily, showing her what was intended. She tried repeatedly, but
utterly failed; yet so slight a cause of distress as not being able to
talk quickly enough, sufficed to bring these muscles over and over
again into energetic action.
The expression of grief, due to the contraction of the grief-muscles,
is by no means confined to Europeans, but appears to be common to all
the races of mankind. I have, at least, received trustworthy accounts
in regard to Hindoos, Dhangars (one of the aboriginal hill-tribes of
India, and therefore belonging to a quite distinct race from the
Hindoos), Malays, Negroes and Australians. With respect to the latter,
two observers answer my query in the affirmative, but enter into no
details. Mr. Taplin, however, appends to my descriptive remarks the
words “this is exact.” With respect to negroes, the lady who told me of
Fra Angelico’s picture, saw a negro towing a boat on the Nile, and as
he encountered an obstruction, she observed his grief-muscles in strong
action, with the middle of the forehead well wrinkled. Mr. Geach
watched a Malay man in Malacca, with the comers of his mouth much
depressed, the eyebrows oblique, with deep short grooves on the
forehead. This expression lasted for a very short time; and Mr. Geach
remarks it “was a strange one, very much like a person about to cry at
some great loss.”
In India Mr. H. Erskine found that the natives were familiar with this
expression; and Mr. J. Scott, of the Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, has
obligingly sent me a full description of two cases. He observed during
some time, himself unseen, a very young Dhangar woman from Nagpore, the
wife of one of the gardeners, nursing her baby who was at the point of
death; and he distinctly saw the eyebrows raised at the inner comers,
the eyelids drooping, the forehead wrinkled in the middle, the mouth
slightly open, with the comers much depressed. He then came from behind
a screen of plants and spoke to the poor woman, who started, burst into
a bitter flood of tears, and besought him to cure her baby. The second
case was that of a Hindustani man, who from illness and poverty was
compelled to sell his favourite goat. After receiving the money, he
repeatedly looked at the money in his hand and then at the goat, as if
doubting whether he would not return it. He went to the goat, which was
tied up ready to be led away, and the animal reared up and licked his
hands. His eyes then wavered from side to side; his “mouth was
partially closed, with the corners very decidedly depressed.” At last
the poor man seemed to make up his mind that he must part with his
goat, and then, as Mr. Scott saw, the eyebrows became slightly oblique,
with the characteristic puckering or swelling at the inner ends, but
the wrinkles on the forehead were not present. The man stood thus for a
minute, then heaving a deep sigh, burst into tears, raised up his two
hands, blessed the goat, turned round, and without looking again, went
away.
_On the cause of the obliquity of the eyebrows under suffering_.—During
several years no expression seemed to me so utterly perplexing as this
which we are here considering. Why should grief or anxiety cause the
central fasciae alone of the frontal muscle together with those round
the eyes, to contract? Here we seem to have a complex movement for the
sole purpose of expressing grief; and yet it is a comparatively rare
expression, and often overlooked. I believe the explanation is not so
difficult as it at first appears. Dr. Duchenne gives a photograph of
the young man before referred to, who, when looking upwards at a
strongly illuminated surface, involuntarily contracted his
grief-muscles in an exaggerated manner. I had entirely forgotten this
photograph, when on a very bright day with the sun behind me, I met,
whilst on horseback, a girl whose eyebrows, as she looked up at me,
became extremely oblique, with the proper furrows on her forehead. I
have observed the same movement under similar circumstances on several
subsequent occasions. On my return home I made three of my children,
without giving them any clue to my object, look as long and as
attentively as they could, at the summit of a tall tree standing
against an extremely bright sky. With all three, the orbicular,
corrugator, and pyramidal muscles were energetically contracted,
through reflex action, from the excitement of the retina, so that their
eyes might be protected from the bright light. But they tried their
utmost to look upwards; and now a curious struggle, with spasmodic
twitchings, could be observed between the whole or only the central
portion of the frontal muscle, and the several muscles which serve to
lower the eyebrows and close the eyelids. The involuntary contraction
of the pyramidal caused the basal part of their noses to be
transversely and deeply wrinkled. In one of the three children, the
whole eyebrows were momentarily raised and lowered by the alternate
contraction of the whole frontal muscle and of the muscles surrounding
the eyes, so that the whole breadth of the forehead was alternately
wrinkled and smoothed. In the other two children the forehead became
wrinkled in the middle part alone, rectangular furrows being thus
produced; and the eyebrows were rendered oblique, with their inner
extremities puckered and swollen,—in the one child in a slight degree,
in the other in a strongly marked manner. This difference in the
obliquity of the eyebrows apparently depended on a difference in their
general mobility, and in the strength of the pyramidal muscles. In both
these cases the eyebrows and forehead were acted on under the influence
of a strong light, in precisely the same manner, in every
characteristic detail, as under the influence of grief or anxiety.
Duchenne states that the pyramidal muscle of the nose is less under the
control of the will than are the other muscles round the eyes. He
remarks that the young man who could so well act on his grief-muscles,
as well as on most of his other facial muscles, could not contract the
pyramidals.[705] This power, however, no doubt differs in different
persons. The pyramidal muscle serves to draw down the skin of the
forehead between the eyebrows, together with their inner extremities.
The central fasciae of the frontal are the antagonists of the
pyramidal; and if the action of the latter is to be specially checked,
these central fasciae must be contracted. So that with persons having
powerful pyramidal muscles, if there is under the influence of a bright
light an unconscious desire to prevent the lowering of the eyebrows,
the central fasciae of the frontal muscle must be brought into play;
and their contraction, if sufficiently strong to overmaster the
pyramidals, together with the contraction of the corrugator and
orbicular muscles, will act in the manner just described on the
eyebrows and forehead.
When children scream or cry out, they contract, as we know, the
orbicular, corrugator, and pyramidal muscles, primarily for the sake of
compressing their eyes, and thus protecting them from being gorged with
blood, and secondarily through habit. I therefore expected to find with
children, that when they endeavoured either to prevent a crying-fit
from coming on, or to stop crying, they would cheek the contraction of
the above-named muscles, in the same manner as when looking upwards at
a bright light; and consequently that the central fasciae of the
frontal muscle would often be brought into play. Accordingly, I began
myself to observe children at such times, and asked others, including
some medical men, to do the same. It is necessary to observe carefully,
as the peculiar opposed action of these muscles is not nearly so plain
in children, owing to their foreheads not easily wrinkling, as in
adults. But I soon found that the grief-muscles were very frequently
brought into distinct action on these occasions. It would be
superfluous to give all the cases which have been observed; and I will
specify only a few. A little girl, a year and a half old, was teased by
some other children, and before bursting into tears her eyebrows became
decidedly oblique. With an older girl the same obliquity was observed,
with the inner ends of the eyebrows plainly puckered; and at the same
time the corners of the mouth were drawn downwards. As soon as she
burst into tears, the features all changed and this peculiar expression
vanished. Again, after a little boy had been vaccinated, which made him
scream and cry violently, the surgeon gave him an orange brought for
the purpose, and this pleased the child much; as he stopped crying all
the characteristic movements were observed, including the formation of
rectangular wrinkles in the middle of the forehead. Lastly, I met on
the road a little girl three or four years old, who had been frightened
by a dog, and when I asked her what was the matter, she stopped
whimpering, and her eyebrows instantly became oblique to an
extraordinary degree.
Here then, as I cannot doubt, we have the key to the problem why the
central fasciae of the frontal muscle and the muscles round the eyes
contract in opposition to each other under the influence of
grief;—whether their contraction be prolonged, as with the melancholic
insane, or momentary, from some trifling cause of distress. We have all
of us, as infants, repeatedly contracted our orbicular, corrugator, and
pyramidal muscles, in order to protect our eyes whilst screaming; our
progenitors before us have done the same during many generations; and
though with advancing years we easily prevent, when feeling distressed,
the utterance of screams, we cannot from long habit always prevent a
slight contraction of the above-named muscles; nor indeed do we observe
their contraction in ourselves, or attempt to stop it, if slight. But
the pyramidal muscles seem to be less under the command of the will
than the other related muscles; and if they be well developed, their
contraction can be checked only by the antagonistic contraction of the
central fasciae of the frontal muscle. The result which necessarily
follows, if these fasciae contract energetically, is the oblique
drawing up of the eyebrows, the puckering of their inner ends, and the
formation of rectangular furrows on the middle of the forehead. As
children and women cry much more freely than men, and as grown-up
persons of both sexes rarely weep except from mental distress, we can
understand why the grief-muscles are more frequently seen in action, as
I believe to be the case, with children and women than with men; and
with adults of both sexes from mental distress alone. In some of the
cases before recorded, as in that of the poor Dhangar woman and of the
Hindustani man, the action of the grief-muscles was quickly followed by
bitter weeping. In all cases of distress, whether great or small, our
brains tend through long habit to send an order to certain muscles to
contract, as if we were still infants on the point of screaming out;
but this order we, by the wondrous power of the will, and through
habit, are able partially to counteract; although this is effected
unconsciously, as far as the means of counteraction are concerned.
_On the depression of the corners of the mouth_.—This action is
effected by the _depressores anguili oris_ (see letter K in figs. 1 and
2). The fibres of this muscle diverge downwards, with the upper
convergent ends attached round the angles of the mouth, and to the
lower lip a little way within the angles.[706] Some of the fibres
appear to be antagonistic to the great zygomatic muscle, and others to
the several muscles running to the outer part of the upper lip. The
contraction of this muscle draws downwards and outwards the corners of
the mouth, including the outer part of the upper lip, and even in a
slight degree the wings of the nostrils. When the mouth is closed and
this muscle acts, the commissure or line of junction of the two lips
forms a curved line with the concavity downwards,[707] and the lips
themselves are generally somewhat protruded, especially the lower one.
The mouth in this state is well represented in the two photographs
(Plate II., figs. 6 and 7) by Mr. Rejlander. The upper boy (fig. 6) had
just stopped crying, after receiving a slap on the face from another
boy; and the right moment was seized for photographing him.
The expression of low spirits, grief or dejection, due to the
contraction of this muscle has been noticed by every one who has
written on the subject. To say that a person “is down in the mouth,” is
synonymous with saying that he is out of spirits. The depression of the
corners may often be seen, as already stated on the authority of Dr.
Crichton Browne and Mr. Nicol, with the melancholic insane, and was
well exhibited in some photographs sent to me by the former gentleman,
of patients with a strong tendency to suicide. It has been observed
with men belonging to various races, namely with Hindoos, the dark
hill-tribes of India, Malays, and, as the Rev. Mr. Hagenauer informs
me, with the aborigines of Australia.
When infants scream they firmly contract the muscles round their eyes,
and this draws up the upper lip; and as they have to keep their mouths
widely open, the depressor muscles running to the corners are likewise
brought into strong action. This generally, but not invariably, causes
a slight angular bend in the lower lip on both sides, near the corners
of the mouth. The result of the upper and lower lip being thus acted on
is that the mouth assumes a squarish outline. The contraction of the
depressor muscle is best seen in infants when not screaming violently,
and especially just before they begin, or when they cease to scream.
Their little faces then acquire an extremely piteous expression, as I
continually observed with my own infants between the ages of about six
weeks and two or three months. Sometimes, when they are struggling
against a crying-fit, the outline of the mouth is curved in so
exaggerated a manner as to be like a horseshoe; and the expression of
misery then becomes a ludicrous caricature.
The explanation of the contraction of this muscle, under the influence
of low spirits or dejection, apparently follows from the same general
principles as in the case of the obliquity of the eyebrows. Dr.
Duchenne informs me that he concludes from his observations, now
prolonged during many years, that this is one of the facial muscles
which is least under the control of the will. This fact may indeed be
inferred from what has just been stated with respect to infants when
doubtfully beginning to cry, or endeavouring to stop crying; for they
then generally command all the other facial muscles more effectually
than they do the depressors of the corners of the mouth. Two excellent
observers who had no theory on the subject, one of them a surgeon,
carefully watched for me some older children and women as with some
opposed struggling they very gradually approached the point of bursting
out into tears; and both observers felt sure that the depressors began
to act before any of the other muscles. Now as the depressors have been
repeatedly brought into strong action during infancy in many
generations, nerve-force will tend to flow, on the principle of long
associated habit, to these muscles as well as to various other facial
muscles, whenever in after life even a slight feeling of distress is
experienced. But as the depressors are somewhat less under the control
of the will than most of the other muscles, we might expect that they
would often slightly contract, whilst the others remained passive. It
is remarkable how small a depression of the corners of the mouth gives
to the countenance an expression of low spirits or dejection, so that
an extremely slight contraction of these muscles would be sufficient to
betray this state of mind.
I may here mention a trifling observation, as it will serve to sum up
our present subject. An old lady with a comfortable but absorbed
expression sat nearly opposite to me in a railway carriage. Whilst I
was looking at her, I saw that her _depressores anguli oris_ became
very slightly, yet decidedly, contracted; but as her countenance
remained as placid as ever, I reflected how meaningless was this
contraction, and how easily one might be deceived. The thought had
hardly occurred to me when I saw that her eyes suddenly became suffused
with tears almost to overflowing, and her whole countenance fell. There
could now be no doubt that some painful recollection, perhaps that of a
long-lost child, was passing through her mind. As soon as her sensorium
was thus affected, certain nerve-cells from long habit instantly
transmitted an order to all the respiratory muscles, and to those round
the mouth, to prepare for a fit of crying. But the order was
countermanded by the will, or rather by a later acquired habit, and all
the muscles were obedient, excepting in a slight degree the
_depressores anguli oris_. The mouth was not even opened; the
respiration was not hurried; and no muscle was affected except those
which draw down the corners of the mouth.
As soon as the mouth of this lady began, involuntarily and
unconsciously on her part, to assume the proper form for a crying-fit,
we may feel almost sure that some nerve-influence would have been
transmitted through the long accustomed channels to the various
respiratory muscles, as well as to those round the eyes, and to the
vaso-motor centre which governs the supply of blood sent to the
lacrymal glands. Of this latter fact we have indeed clear evidence in
her eyes becoming slightly suffused with tears; and we can understand
this, as the lacrymal glands are less under the control of the will
than the facial muscles. No doubt there existed at the same time some
tendency in the muscles round the eyes at contract, as if for the sake
of protecting them from being gorged with blood, but this contraction
was completely overmastered, and her brow remained unruffled. Had the
pyramidal, corrugator, and orbicular muscles been as little obedient to
the will, as they are in many persons, they would have been slightly
acted on; and then the central fasciae of the frontal muscle would have
contracted in antagonism, and her eyebrows would have become oblique,
with rectangular furrows on her forehead. Her countenance would then
have expressed still more plainly than it did a state of dejection, or
rather one of grief.
Through steps such as these we can understand how it is, that as soon
as some melancholy thought passes through the brain, there occurs a
just perceptible drawing down of the corners of the mouth, or a slight
raising up of the inner ends of the eyebrows, or both movements
combined, and immediately afterwards a slight suffusion of tears. A
thrill of nerve-force is transmitted along several habitual channels,
and produces an effect on any point where the will has not acquired
through long habit much power of interference. The above actions may be
considered as rudimental vestiges of the screaming-fits, which are so
frequent and prolonged during infancy. In this case, as well as in many
others, the links are indeed wonderful which connect cause and effect
in giving rise to various expressions on the human countenance; and
they explain to us the meaning of certain movements, which we
involuntarily and unconsciously perform, whenever certain transitory
emotions pass through our minds.