Surprise, astonishment—Elevation of the eyebrows—Opening the
mouth—Protrusion of the lips—Gestures accompanying
surprise—Admiration—Fear—Terror—Erection of the hair—Contraction of the
platysma muscle—Dilatation of the pupils—Horror—Conclusion.
Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into
astonishment; and this into stupefied amazement. The latter frame of
mind is closely akin to terror. Attention is shown by the eyebrows
being slightly raised; and as this state increases into surprise, they
are raised to a much greater extent, with the eyes and mouth widely
open. The raising of the eyebrows is necessary in order that the eyes
should be opened quickly and widely; and this movement produces
transverse wrinkles across the forehead. The degree to which the eyes
and mouth are opened corresponds with the degree of surprise felt; but
these movements must be coordinated; for a widely opened mouth with
eyebrows only slightly raised results in a meaningless grimace, as Dr.
Duchenne has shown in one of his photographs.[1201] On the other hand,
a person may often be seen to pretend surprise by merely raising his
eyebrows.
Dr. Duchenne has given a photograph of an old man with his eyebrows
well elevated and arched by the galvanization of the frontal muscle;
and with his mouth voluntarily opened. This figure expresses surprise
with much truth. I showed it to twenty-four persons without a word of
explanation, and one alone did not at all understand what was intended.
A second person answered terror, which is not far wrong; some of the
others, however, added to the words surprise or astonishment, the
epithets horrified, woful, painful, or disgusted.
The eyes and mouth being widely open is an expression universally
recognized as one of surprise or astonishment. Thus Shakespeare says,
“I saw a smith stand with open mouth swallowing a tailor’s news.”
(‘King John,’ act iv. scene ii.) And again, “They seemed almost, with
staring on one another, to tear the cases of their eyes; there was
speech in the dumbness, language in their very gesture; they looked as
they had heard of a world destroyed.” (‘Winter’s Tale,’ act v. scene
ii.)
My informants answer with remarkable uniformity to the same effect,
with respect to the various races of man; the above movements of the
features being often accompanied by certain gestures and sounds,
presently to be described. Twelve observers in different parts of
Australia agree on this head. Mr. Winwood Reade has observed this
expression with the negroes on the Guinea coast. The chief Gaika and
others answer _yes_ to my query with respect to the Kafirs of South
Africa; and so do others emphatically with reference to the
Abyssinians, Ceylonese, Chinese, Fuegians, various tribes of North
America, and New Zealanders. With the latter, Mr. Stack states that the
expression is more plainly shown by certain individuals than by others,
though all endeavour as much as possible to conceal their feelings. The
Dyaks of Borneo are said by the Rajah Brooke to open their eyes widely,
when astonished, often swinging their heads to and fro, and beating
their breasts. Mr. Scott informs me that the workmen in the Botanic
Gardens at Calcutta are strictly ordered not to smoke; but they often
disobey this order, and when suddenly surprised in the act, they first
open their eyes and mouths widely. They then often slightly shrug their
shoulders, as they perceive that discovery is inevitable, or frown and
stamp on the ground from vexation. Soon they recover from their
surprise, and abject fear is exhibited by the relaxation of all their
muscles; their heads seem to sink between their shoulders; their fallen
eyes wander to and fro; and they supplicate forgiveness.
The well-known Australian explorer, Mr. Stuart, has given[1202] a
striking account of stupefied amazement together with terror in a
native who had never before seen a man on horseback. Mr. Stuart
approached unseen and called to him from a little distance. “He turned
round and saw me. What he imagined I was I do not know; but a finer
picture of fear and astonishment I never saw. He stood incapable of
moving a limb, riveted to the spot, mouth open and eyes staring.... He
remained motionless until our black got within a few yards of him, when
suddenly throwing down his waddies, he jumped into a mulga bush as high
as he could get.” He could not speak, and answered not a word to the
inquiries made by the black, but, trembling from head to foot, “waved
with his hand for us to be off.”
That the eyebrows are raised by an innate or instinctive impulse may be
inferred from the fact that Laura Bridgman invariably acts thus when
astonished, as I have been assured by the lady who has lately had
charge of her. As surprise is excited by something unexpected or
unknown, we naturally desire, when startled, to perceive the cause as
quickly as possible; and we consequently open our eyes fully, so that
the field of vision may be increased, and the eyeballs moved easily in
any direction. But this hardly accounts for the eyebrows being so
greatly raised as is the case, and for the wild staring of the open
eyes. The explanation lies, I believe, in the impossibility of opening
the eyes with great rapidity by merely raising the upper lids. To
effect this the eyebrows must be lifted energetically. Any one who will
try to open his eyes as quickly as possible before a mirror will find
that he acts thus; and the energetic lifting up of the eyebrows opens
the eyes so widely that they stare, the white being exposed all round
the iris. Moreover, the elevation of the eyebrows is an advantage in
looking upwards; for as long as they are lowered they impede our vision
in this direction. Sir C. Bell gives[1203] a curious little proof of
the part which the eyebrows play in opening the eyelids. In a stupidly
drunken man all the muscles are relaxed, and the eyelids consequently
droop, in the same manner as when we are falling asleep. To counteract
this tendency the drunkard raises his eyebrows; and this gives to him a
puzzled, foolish look, as is well represented in one of Hogarth’s
drawings. The habit of raising the eyebrows having once been gained in
order to see as quickly as possible all around us, the movement would
follow from the force of association whenever astonishment was felt
from any cause, even from a sudden sound or an idea.
With adult persons, when the eyebrows are raised, the whole forehead
becomes much wrinkled in transverse lines; but with children this
occurs only to a slight degree. The wrinkles run in lines concentric
with each eyebrow, and are partially confluent in the middle. They are
highly characteristic of the expression of surprise or astonishment.
Each eyebrow, when raised, becomes also, as Duchenne remarks,[1204]
more arched than it was before.
The cause of the mouth being opened when astonishment is felt, is a
much more complex affair; and several causes apparently concur in
leading to this movement. It has often been supposed[1205] that the
sense of hearing is thus rendered more acute; but I have watched
persons listening intently to a slight noise, the nature and source of
which they knew perfectly, and they did not open their mouths.
Therefore I at one time imagined that the open mouth might aid in
distinguishing the direction whence a sound proceeded, by giving
another channel for its entrance into the ear through the eustachian
tube, But Dr. W. Ogle[1206] has been so kind as to search the best
recent authorities on the functions of the eustachian tube, and he
informs me that it is almost conclusively proved that it remains closed
except during the act of deglutition; and that in persons in whom the
tube remains abnormally open, the sense of hearing, as far as external
sounds are concerned, is by no means improved; on the contrary, it is
impaired by the respiratory sounds being rendered more distinct. If a
watch be placed within the mouth, but not allowed to touch the sides,
the ticking is heard much less plainly than when held outside. In
persons in whom from disease or a cold the eustachian tube is
permanently or temporarily closed, the sense of hearing is injured; but
this may be accounted for by mucus accumulating within the tube, and
the consequent exclusion of air. We may therefore infer that the mouth
is not kept open under the sense of astonishment for the sake of
hearing sounds more distinctly; notwithstanding that most deaf people
keep their mouths open.
Every sudden emotion, including astonishment, quickens the action of
the heart, and with it the respiration. Now we can breathe, as
Gratiolet remarks[1207] and as appears to me to be the case, much more
quietly through the open mouth than through the nostrils. Therefore,
when we wish to listen intently to any sound, we either stop breathing,
or breathe as quietly as possible, by opening our mouths, at the same
time keeping our bodies motionless. One of my sons was awakened in the
night by a noise under circumstances which naturally led to great care,
and after a few minutes he perceived that his mouth was widely open. He
then became conscious that he had opened it for the sake of breathing
as quietly as possible. This view receives support from the reversed
case which occurs with dogs. A dog when panting after exercise, or on a
hot day, breathes loudly; but if his attention be suddenly aroused, he
instantly pricks his ears to listen, shuts his mouth, and breathes
quietly, as he is enabled to do, through his nostrils.
When the attention is concentrated for a length of time with fixed
earnestness on any object or subject, all the organs of the body are
forgotten and neglected;[1208] and as the nervous energy of each
individual is limited in amount, little is transmitted to any part of
the system, excepting that which is at the time brought into energetic
action. Therefore many of the muscles tend to become relaxed, and the
jaw drops from its own weight. This will account for the dropping of
the jaw and open mouth of a man stupefied with amazement, and perhaps
when less strongly affected. I have noticed this appearance, as I find
recorded in my notes, in very young children when they were only
moderately surprised.
There is still another and highly effective cause, leading to the mouth
being opened, when we are astonished, and more especially when we are
suddenly startled. We can draw a full and deep inspiration much more
easily through the widely open mouth than through the nostrils. Now
when we start at any sudden sound or sight, almost all the muscles of
the body are involuntarily and momentarily thrown into strong action,
for the sake of guarding ourselves against or jumping away from the
danger, which we habitually associate with anything unexpected. But we
always unconsciously prepare ourselves for any great exertion, as
formerly explained, by first taking a deep and full inspiration, and we
consequently open our mouths. If no exertion follows, and we still
remain astonished, we cease for a time to breathe, or breathe as
quietly as possible, in order that every sound may be distinctly heard.
Or again, if our attention continues long and earnestly absorbed, all
our muscles become relaxed, and the jaw, which was at first suddenly
opened, remains dropped. Thus several causes concur towards this same
movement, whenever surprise, astonishment, or amazement is felt.
Although when thus affected, our mouths are generally opened, yet the
lips are often a little protruded. This fact reminds us of the same
movement, though in a much more strongly marked degree, in the
chimpanzee and orang when astonished. As a strong expiration naturally
follows the deep inspiration which accompanies the first sense of
startled surprise, and as the lips are often protruded, the various
sounds which are then commonly uttered can apparently be accounted for.
But sometimes a strong expiration alone is heard; thus Laura Bridgman,
when amazed, rounds and protrudes her lips, opens them, and breathes
strongly.[1209] One of the commonest sounds is a deep _Oh_; and this
would naturally follow, as explained by Helmholtz, from the mouth being
moderately opened and the lips protruded. On a quiet night some rockets
were fired from the ‘Beagle,’ in a little creek at Tahiti, to amuse the
natives; and as each rocket, was let off there was absolute silence,
but this was invariably followed by a deep groaning _Oh_, resounding
all round the bay. Mr. Washington Matthews says that the North American
Indians express astonishment by a groan; and the negroes on the West
Coast of Africa, according to Mr. Winwood Reade, protrude their lips,
and make a sound like _heigh, heigh_. If the mouth is not much opened,
whilst the lips are considerably protruded, a blowing, hissing, or
whistling noise is produced. Mr. R. Brough Smith informs me that an
Australian from the interior was taken to the theatre to see an acrobat
rapidly turning head over heels: “he was greatly astonished, and
protruded his lips, making a noise with his mouth as if blowing out a
match.” According to Mr. Bulmer the Australians, when surprised, utter
the exclamation _korki_, “and to do this the mouth is drawn out as if
going to whistle.” We Europeans often whistle as a sign of surprise;
thus, in a recent novel[1210] it is said, “here the man expressed his
astonishment and disapprobation by a prolonged whistle.” A Kafir girl,
as Mr. J. Mansel Weale informs me, “on hearing of the high price of an
article, raised her eyebrows and whistled just as a European would.”
Mr. Wedgwood remarks that such sounds are written down as _whew_, and
they serve as interjections for surprise.
According to three other observers, the Australians often evince
astonishment by a clucking noise. Europeans also sometimes express
gentle surprise by a little clicking noise of nearly the same kind. We
have seen that when we are startled, the mouth is suddenly opened; and
if the tongue happens to be then pressed closely against the palate,
its sudden withdrawal will produce a sound of this kind, which might
thus come to express surprise.
Gestures of the Body. Plate VII
Turning to gestures of the body. A surprised person often raises his
opened hands high above his head, or by bending his arms only to the
level of his face. The flat palms are directed towards the person who
causes this feeling, and the straightened fingers are separated. This
gesture is represented by Mr. Rejlander in Plate VII. fig. 1. In the
‘Last Supper,’ by Leonardo da Vinci, two of the Apostles have their
hands half uplifted, clearly expressive of their astonishment. A
trustworthy observer told me that he had lately met his wife under most
unexpected circumstances: “She started, opened her mouth and eyes very
widely, and threw up both her arms above her head.” Several years ago I
was surprised by seeing several of my young children earnestly doing
something together on the ground; but the distance was too great for me
to ask what they were about. Therefore I threw up my open hands with
extended fingers above my head; and as soon as I had done this, I
became conscious of the action. I then waited, without saying a word,
to see if my children had understood this gesture; and as they came
running to me they cried out, “We saw that you were astonished at us.”
I do not know whether this gesture is common to the various races of
man, as I neglected to make inquiries on this head. That it is innate
or natural may be inferred from the fact that Laura Bridgman, when
amazed, “spreads her arms and turns her hands with extended fingers
upwards;”[1211] nor is it likely, considering that the feeling of
surprise is generally a brief one, that she should have learnt this
gesture through her keen sense of touch.
Huschke describes[1212] a somewhat different yet allied gesture, which
he says is exhibited by persons when astonished. They hold themselves
erect, with the features as before described, but with the straightened
arms extended backwards—the stretched fingers being separated from each
other. I have never myself seen this gesture; but Huschke is probably
correct; for a friend asked another man how he would express great
astonishment, and he at once threw himself into this attitude.
These gestures are, I believe, explicable on the principle of
antithesis. We have seen that an indignant man holds his head erect,
squares his shoulders, turns out his elbows, often clenches his fist,
frowns, and closes his mouth; whilst the attitude of a helpless man is
in every one of these details the reverse. Now, a man in an ordinary
frame of mind, doing nothing and thinking of nothing in particular,
usually keeps his two arms suspended laxly by his sides, with his hands
somewhat flexed, and the fingers near together. Therefore, to raise the
arms suddenly, either the whole arms or the fore-arms, to open the
palms flat, and to separate the fingers,—or, again, to straighten the
arms, extending them backwards with separated fingers,—are movements in
complete antithesis to those preserved under an indifferent frame of
mind, and they are, in consequence, unconsciously assumed by an
astonished man. There is, also, often a desire to display surprise in a
conspicuous manner, and the above attitudes are well fitted for this
purpose. It may be asked why should surprise, and only a few other
states of the mind, be exhibited by movements in antithesis to others.
But this principle will not be brought into play in the case of those
emotions, such as terror, great joy, suffering, or rage, which
naturally lead to certain lines of action and produce certain effects
on the body, for the whole system is thus preoccupied; and these
emotions are already thus expressed with the greatest plainness.
There is another little gesture, expressive of astonishment of which I
can offer no explanation; namely, the hand being placed over the mouth
or on some part of the head. This has been observed with so many races
of man, that it must have some natural origin. A wild Australian was
taken into a large room full of official papers, which surprised him
greatly, and he cried out, _cluck, cluck, cluck_, putting the back of
his hand towards his lips. Mrs. Barber says that the Kafirs and Fingoes
express astonishment by a serious look and by placing the right hand
upon the mouth, uttering the word _mawo_, which means ‘wonderful.’ The
Bushmen are said[1213] to put their right hands to their necks, bending
their heads backwards. Mr. Winwood Reade has observed that the negroes
on the West Coast of Africa, when surprised, clap their hands to their
mouths, saying at the same time, “My mouth cleaves to me,” i. e. to my
hands; and he has heard that this is their usual gesture on such
occasions. Captain Speedy informs me that the Abyssinians place their
right hand to the forehead, with the palm outside. Lastly, Mr.
Washington Matthews states that the conventional sign of astonishment
with the wild tribes of the western parts of the United States “is made
by placing the half-closed hand over the mouth; in doing this, the head
is often bent forwards, and words or low groans are sometimes uttered.”
Catlin[1214] makes the same remark about the hand being pressed over
the mouth by the Mandans and other Indian tribes.
_Admiration_.—Little need be said on this head. Admiration apparently
consists of surprise associated with some pleasure and a sense of
approval. When vividly felt, the eyes are opened and the eyebrows
raised; the eyes become bright, instead of remaining blank, as under
simple astonishment; and the mouth, instead of gaping open, expands
into a smile.
_Fear, Terror_.—The word ‘fear’ seems to be derived from what is sudden
and dangerous;[1215] and that of terror from the trembling of the vocal
organs and body. I use the word ‘terror’ for extreme fear; but some
writers think it ought to be confined to cases in which the imagination
is more particularly concerned. Fear is often preceded by astonishment,
and is so far akin to it, that both lead to the senses of sight and
hearing being instantly aroused. In both cases the eyes and mouth are
widely opened, and the eyebrows raised. The frightened man at first
stands like a statue motionless and breathless, or crouches down as if
instinctively to escape observation.
The heart beats quickly and violently, so that it palpitates or knocks
against the ribs; but it is very doubtful whether it then works more
efficiently than usual, so as to send a greater supply of blood to all
parts of the body; for the skin instantly becomes pale, as during
incipient faintness. This paleness of the surface, however, is probably
in large part, or exclusively, due to the vasomotor centre being
affected in such a manner as to cause the contraction of the small
arteries of the skin. That the skin is much affected under the sense of
great fear, we see in the marvellous and inexplicable manner in which
perspiration immediately exudes from it. This exudation is all the more
remarkable, as the surface is then cold, and hence the term a cold
sweat; whereas, the sudorific glands are properly excited into action
when the surface is heated. The hairs also on the skin stand erect; and
the superficial muscles shiver. In connection with the disturbed action
of the heart, the breathing is hurried. The salivary glands act
imperfectly; the mouth becomes dry,[1216] and is often opened and shut.
I have also noticed that under slight fear there is a strong tendency
to yawn. One of the best-marked symptoms is the trembling of all the
muscles of the body; and this is often first seen in the lips. From
this cause, and from the dryness of the mouth, the voice becomes husky
or indistinct, or may altogether fail. “Obstupui, steteruntque comae,
et vox faucibus haesit.”
Of vague fear there is a well-known and grand description in Job:—“In
thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. It
stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was
before my eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, Shall
mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his
Maker?” (Job iv. 13)
As fear increases into an agony of terror, we behold, as under all
violent emotions, diversified results. The heart beats wildly, or may
fail to act and faintness ensue; there is a death-like pallor; the
breathing is laboured; the wings of the nostrils are wildly dilated;
“there is a gasping and convulsive motion of the lips, a tremor on the
hollow cheek, a gulping and catching of the throat;”[1217] the
uncovered and protruding eyeballs are fixed on the object of terror; or
they may roll restlessly from side to side, _huc illuc volvens oculos
totumque pererrat_.[1218] The pupils are said to be enormously dilated.
All the muscles of the body may become rigid, or may be thrown into
convulsive movements. The hands are alternately clenched and opened,
often with a twitching movement. The arms may be protruded, as if to
avert some dreadful danger, or may be thrown wildly over the head. The
Rev. Mr. Hagenauer has seen this latter action in a terrified
Australian. In other cases there is a sudden and uncontrollable
tendency to headlong flight; and so strong is this, that the boldest
soldiers may be seized with a sudden panic.
As fear rises to an extreme pitch, the dreadful scream of terror is
heard. Great beads of sweat stand on the skin. All the muscles of the
body are relaxed. Utter prostration soon follows, and the mental powers
fail. The intestines are affected. The sphincter muscles cease to act,
and no longer retain the contents of the body.
Photograph of an Insane Woman. Fig. 19
Dr. J. Crichton Browne has given me so striking an account of intense
fear in an insane woman, aged thirty-five, that the description though
painful ought not to be omitted. When a paroxysm seizes her, she
screams out, “This is hell!” “There is a black woman!” “I can’t get
out!”—and other such exclamations. When thus screaming, her movements
are those of alternate tension and tremor. For one instant she clenches
her hands, holds her arms out before her in a stiff semi-flexed
position; then suddenly bends her body forwards, sways rapidly to and
fro, draws her fingers through her hair, clutches at her neck, and
tries to tear off her clothes. The sterno-cleido-mastoid muscles (which
serve to bend the head on the chest) stand out prominently, as if
swollen, and the skin in front of them is much wrinkled. Her hair,
which is cut short at the back of her head, and is smooth when she is
calm, now stands on end; that in front being dishevelled by the
movements of her hands. The countenance expresses great mental agony.
The skin is flushed over the face and neck, down to the clavicles, and
the veins of the forehead and neck stand out like thick cords. The
lower lip drops, and is somewhat everted. The mouth is kept half open,
with the lower jaw projecting. The cheeks are hollow and deeply
furrowed in curved lines running from the wings of the nostrils to the
corners of the mouth. The nostrils themselves are raised and extended.
The eyes are widely opened, and beneath them the skin appears swollen;
the pupils are large. The forehead is wrinkled transversely in many
folds, and at the inner extremities of the eyebrows it is strongly
furrowed in diverging lines, produced by the powerful and persistent
contraction of the corrugators.
Terror. Fig. 20
Mr. Bell has also described[1219] an agony of terror and of despair,
which he witnessed in a murderer, whilst carried to the place of
execution in Turin. “On each side of the car the officiating priests
were seated; and in the centre sat the criminal himself. It was
impossible to witness the condition of this unhappy wretch without
terror; and yet, as if impelled by some strange infatuation, it was
equally impossible not to gaze upon an object so wild, so full of
horror. He seemed about thirty-five years of age; of large and muscular
form; his countenance marked by strong and savage features; half naked,
pale as death, agonized with terror, every limb strained in anguish,
his hands clenched convulsively, the sweat breaking out on his bent and
contracted brow, he kissed incessantly the figure of our Saviour,
painted on the flag which was suspended before him; but with an agony
of wildness and despair, of which nothing ever exhibited on the stage
can give the slightest conception.”
I will add only one other case, illustrative of a man utterly
prostrated by terror. An atrocious murderer of two persons was brought
into a hospital, under the mistaken impression that he had poisoned
himself; and Dr. W. Ogle carefully watched him the next morning, while
he was being handcuffed and taken away by the police. His pallor was
extreme, and his prostration so great that he was hardly able to dress
himself. 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 associated 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 coarse 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 homologous
_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 Duchenne 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 associated 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. Duchenne 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. Duchenne,
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, associated
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 circumstances. 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 associated with much voluntary power over the
homologous 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 associated 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 passions, 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 associated habit having thus arisen. It seems
more probable, assuming 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.[1225]
_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.
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.
Duchenne 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 sexes 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 Duchenne’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, association, 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 association.
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 association, in such cases as the modified
secretions of the intestinal canal, 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.