Chapter XII — SURPRISE—ASTONISHMENT—FEAR—HORROR

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.