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LACE, as, EE SINR SSRS ms D a ‘od, ie ed Tear Riek EE Mee oS car Res y Er 4 BEEN LENE eee ee oe aN Neto lece $ SSS ay SASS Oe Saree 3! BAIN, | Hookseller, L,HAYMARKET. å " oy eet a cementite (Sessions Sees. aukai ia THE PHYSIOLOGY OR MECHANISM OF BLUSHING; ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE INFLUENCE OF MENTAL EMOTION ON THE CAPILLARY CIRCULATION ; GENERAL VIEW OF THE SYMPATHIES, THE ORGANIC RELATIONS OF THOSE STRUCTURES WITH WHICH THEY SEEM TO BE CONNECTED. BY THOMAS H. BURGESS, M. D. GRADUATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH ; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF LONDON, AND OF THE SOCIETE MEDICALE D’OBSERVATION OF PARIS. Only cover the human face, and the curtain is instantly dropped over this mirror of the soul; hence the people of all nations leave it bare—Bichdt. LONDON: «JOHN CHURCHILL, PRINCES STREET, SOHO. eee 1839. Lid @00Y WALYDA1 | Z ! ss et E? ee In the functions of the simplest animals there is scarce any change from those of plants; and it is asserted that the class Infusoria, which has been placed by Muller at the ultimate limits of animal _ * Thought seems to us somewhat strange ; but SENSATION is no less wonderful: a Divine power equally shows itself in the Sensation of the meanest insect, as in Newton’s brain; and an eminent philosopher says, that sensation includes all our facul- ties—Vozraie. 5 D 18 SENSIBILITY OF THE LOWER ANIMALS. existence, possesses even a less complicated struc- ture than the perfect plants; but, nevertheless, it enjoys sensation in a higher degree than the former. Advancing through the various classes of the Bursariz, Polypi, Echinodermata, the highest order of Zoophytes, and considerably higher through the Articulate, Crustaceæ, &c.; we find the faculty of sensation to be ripening itself in each, according to the order in which they have been enumerated. In the class of birds, the first division of animated nature in which genuine inflammation has been proved to exist, we find it highly developed ; and lastly, in the Mammalia, at the head of which man is placed, in whom we find this function, or (more properly speaking) this feeling, attended with con- sciousness and perception, existing in the highest degree of refinement and perfection. It is a law in physiology, that the sensibility and contractility of living and organized bodies are the primary causes of all the phenomena which such bodies exhibit. The subject of the present Essay comes within this law, for without sensibility and perception, blushing (in the moral sense of the word) could not be produced. I have already traced sensation from its first appearance in the simple vegetable to its complete development in the human being ; and as sensibility is, according to the above law, one of the principal causes of the phenomenon I am about to consider, SENSIBILITY OF MAN. 19 I shall make a few observations on this function in- dividually, before entering into the particulars of our interesting subject. SENSIBILITY OF MAN. Nil est in intellectu, quod non prius fuerit in sensu.—ARisTorLx. Sensibility may be defined to be that peculiar action of the brain by which we receive impressions, either internal or external. The impression produced on any organ by the action of an external body con- stitutes sensation. This sensation being transmitted by nerves to the brain, is perceived, that is, felt by this organ. The sensation then becomes perception, and this first modification implies, as must be evi- dent, the existence of a central organ, to which im- pressions produced on the senses are conveyed. Independent of those sensations that are carried from the organs of sense to the brain, there are others internal, that seem to be transmitted to it by a kind of sympathetic reaction, and these internal sensations are the origin of our moral faculties, according to M. Richerand and other physiologists. In childhood and youth they are vivid, and easily excited ; in manhood we find them still buoyant, whan in elias a 20 SENSIBILITY OF MAN. but more under the control of the will; thence, through life, they gradually decline, until they be- come finally confused or extinct in the fatuity of old age. Since the time of Locke, it is allowed that our ideas come to us through the senses, and are not innate, as was formerly supposed. They are engen- dered by an association, as it were, of an external stimulus, and the mind; for instance, the emotions of pleasure or pain are connected with some external object, which, impinging upon the sensorium or thinking part of the brain, generate the ideas. Thus itis, if we receive pleasing or joyful tidings, our sen- sibility is roused, ideas are generated, and we feel an universal glow over the body. But, on the other hand, if the intelligence be painful, and the feelings intense, we feel oppressed ; the heart, according to a popular expression, sinks within us, or weeping is produced by an emotion of sympathy. This sense is modified by various causes, such as age, sex, temperament, the season, climate, habit, and individual disposition, and in civilized society we generally observe it in two perfectly distinct forms, true and false. In some persons it is very obtuse, in others it is very elevated, but the deside- ratum, or that necessary for the social state of exist- ence, would be a medium between both these extremes. By true sensibility, I mean that state of feeling SENSIBILITY OF MAN. 2] Which draws a distinction between right and wrong, and is not liable to all impressions indiscrimi- nately. It is this- form of sensibility which im- Presses us with a moral consciousness of what is _ Tight, and that gives us‘strength of mind sufficient in the common occurrences of life, be they agreeable or otherwise, fully to perform our duty, without being thwarted by any mawkish sentiments, but at the Same time evincing moral feeling when that feeling is properly called forth. _ False sensibility is by far the most common of the two—it may be defined as a peculiar irritability of that part of the sensorium which receives the im- pression of our ideas—which is liable to be disturbed or excited by the slightest efforts of the imagination, and is as frequently affected by fanciful or imagin- ary as by real causes. | This morbid state, for such we must call it, as well as our vices and our virtues, is sometimes the effect of organisation, and sometimes the effect of education, or the want of it; but in all cases, the evil may be modified if not changed for the good, by timely well-directed moral training. What is more common than to see a young per- Son, or one who has not been in the habit of mixing In society, on entering a room appear abashed and Confused, without the slightest cause whatsoever. Indeed, there are some individuals whom if you 22 SENSIBILITY OF MAN. only meet or chance to address, immediately be- come suffused— Rubens instar rose ; and if they reply to you in turn, you find their an- swers are monosyllabic, vague, and incoherent. Now, let us see whence does this arise. It is evidently from an unnatural or disordered state of the moral sensibility; but, as many circum- stances may combine to encrease this derangement, as is observed in every-day life, I shall mention the following, as being in a general view the most leading: First, A mind naturally sensitive, if not guided or directed by rational means in youth, will invariably become easily excited if not irritable in after-years. Second, By harsh and improper cor- rection for trivial errors, the mind of a young per- son, not endowed with false sensibility, may be rendered so, when introduced into society, from a constant fear of its own incapability or a dread of being convicted of some deficiency in the routine of manners, conversation, mode of expression, &c, Third, A mind educated by that sentimentalism or refinement which is the effect of novel reading, for, in this instance, the imagination generally leads the reason prisoner. This is an example of that acquired sensibility which unfits us for the duties of life, and is the individual’s own fault, not that of the parent or guardian. As a general rule, SENSIBILITY OF MAN. 23 children and females are the most subject to this abnormal state of feeling, which it would appear | emanates from the peculiar delicacy of their moral ! and physical organization ; but this does not exempt individuals of the opposite sex from being similarly affected ; on the contrary, we find numerous ex- amples of young men equally sensitive, timid, and abashed in society ; and how often do you see them blush deeply, if they are only asked a common- place question? This diseased sensibility frequently clings to the individual through life, and must be a drawback to a certain degree; such persons are constantly haunted with an idea of their own in- capability, which in general may be attributed to the bad effects of early education. CHAPTER, III. BLUSHING AN EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. In Scripture history, in the books of Ezra and Ne- hemiah, both of whom were cotemporaries with Herodotus and Thucydides, the most ancient pro- fane writers on record, we find Blushing referred to as an illustration of shame. Is it not most probable that it was with this in- tention the Creator of man endowed him with this peculiar faculty of exhibiting his internal emotions, or more properly speaking, of the internal emotions exhibiting themselves, for no individual blushes voluntarily ; it would, therefore, appear ‘to serve as a check on the conscience, and prevent the moral faculties from being infringed upon, or deviating from their allotted path— = If there’s a power above us, (And that there is, all Nature cries aloud Through all her works,) he must delight in virtue ; And that which he delights in must be happy.” There are many whom corporeal punishment would not restrain from doing wrong; still the BLUSHING AN EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. 25 dread of remorse, of shame, or of being made blush hereafter for past conduct, will serve as a moral re- straint; in many cases it will control the individual from Violating the laws of morality, and thus affords us a beautiful instance of the design, wisdom, and goodness of Providence. In one of the works just mentioned, Ezra, in the Consciousness of his guilt, exclaims, “ O my God! I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my head to thee, my God : for our iniquities are great over our head, and our trespasses is grown up into heaven.” In the only other instance in which the word is made use of in Scripture, as far as I am aware, it is in- tended to convey the same idea as the former, that is, to express shame. The passage alluded is taken from the “ Jews’ judgment,” in the book of Jeremiah, and runs thus :—“ Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush : therefore shall they fall amongst them that fall.” But, unfortunately, civilization ‘or refinement Seems to have perverted the original intent, if my hypothesis be correct; fornow it is dificult to judge whether the blush be from an impulse of shame, or merely from a sensibility that is over-wrought ; and if my judgment does not err, it is much more fre- quently the effect of the latter than the former. As I proceed with my investigation into the his- tory and peculiarities of the various tribes of the E 26 BLUSHING AN EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. human species, I shall find abundance of evidence in favour of this assertion. We shall find that man, as he progresses from the savage state, in which he obeys or follows the dictates of nature, to that of civilization, wherein he observes the rules of art, advances pari passu in the vices of its refinement. Who ever heard of an American savage blushing from morbid sensibility? and yet is he on this account the less liable to the impulse of shame or disgrace, according to his own views or interpreta- tions of such feelings? No! the change of colour in him is a genuine example of moral instinct —it is the result of a consciousness of guilt, and as such leads us to.infer, that it was with this intent the blush ` was originally designed by our Maker. This will appear at variance with one of Paley’s doctrines, in which it is stated, that “ there exists no instinctive moral sense, or if it does, it is not to be distinguished from habit.”* Throughout this Essay I have endeavoured to show, that moral instinct, perfectly distinct from habit, does exist in man; and upon such a supposition I have founded some of my arguments. * See Paley’s Moral and Political Philosophy. CHAPTER IV. DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN RACE. Biumensacn has divided the human species into five varieties, as follows: the Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, American, and Malay; and as I shall have occasion, while following out the History of Blushing, to allude to the peculiarities of some of these varieties, I shall, for form’s sake, adopt his classification. Blumenbach regards the Caucasian as the pri- mitive race, and in this variety he includes the Europeans (the natives of Lapland and Finland ex- cepted). The inhabitants of Western Africa, the Georgians, Circassians, Armenians, inhabitants of the Caucasus ; also the Turks, Persians; Arabians, the inhabitants of Northern Asia, &c. This division of mankind he characterises as hav- ing a white skin, with a fair rosy tint, inclining to brown, red cheeks, hair black, brown, red, fair, &c. ; irides dark in those with brown skin ; light (blue, Srey, or greenish) in the fair or rosy complexioned ; Moral feelings and intellectual powers most ener- 98 NEGRO’S PECULIARITY. getic, and susceptible of the highest degree of - development. As the Mongolian, Armenian, and Malay va- rieties may be considered occupying an interme- diate space between the Negro and European, it seems unnecessary to give their characteristics just now. For our present purpose, it will be sufficient to contrast the peculiarities of the Ethiopian with those of the European. : NEGRO S PECULIARITY. The greater part of the natives of Africa belong to this variety. The skin and eyes are black, the hair black and woolly, the skull compressed, with a low, narrow, and slanting forehead, the jaws pro- jecting, prominent eyes, broad flat nose, and thick lips. ‘These are a few of the striking peculiarities of the African’s organization, which led Voltaire to suppose that they were a distinct species from all the rest, and induced Rousseau and his followers to describe the Negro and monkey as both belonging to the same species. That the development of the intellectual faculties depends materially on the development and organi- zation of the brain, is a fact admitted by all. We NEGROS PECULIARITY. 29 need not therefore wonder why the Negro, the Hot- tentot, the Calmuc, and Carib, with their low, Shelving foreheads, narrow temples, and large occi- put, should be so much inferior in mental endow- ments to the European, whose organization we know to be by far more perfect. But that many of this tribe possess a natural goodness of heart, sense of honour, and warmth of disposition, is well known. “ The inferiority of the dark to the white races (says Mr. Lawrence) is much more general and strongly marked in the powers of knowledge and reflection, the intellectual faculties, using that ex- pression in its most comprehensive sense, than in moral feelings and dispositions. Many of the for- mer, although little civilized, display an openness of heart, a friendly and generous disposition, an obser- vance of the point of honour, according to their own notions, from which nations more advanced in knowledge might often take a lesson with advantage.” Nothing is more erroneous than the common no- tion, that all Africans have one and the same cha- racter. Want of animation does not characterize them, and faces are often met with which express the various emotions of the mind with great energy, according ‘to the experience of Dr. Winterbottom and others. Indeed; we learn from the natural history of man, that every variety of his species in the known world 30 NEGRO'S PECULIARITY. » have their moments of joy, of sorrow, of hope, fear, pride, shame, &c., to a greater or less degree, The most barbarous of the human tribe, as well as the most polished and civilized, seem to be en- dowed, more or less, with the third of those vital functions peculiar to man, that is, the function of sensation or feeling, “ which, operating on the en- cep: Jiewons system, causes the blemente of passions.” Thus, we find the dark Ethiopian moved or ex- cited by those feelings, which are likewise common to the pallid Albino. The fiery-red spotted Indian displays the different shades of passion in an equal degree with his timid brethren, who lurk by the banks of the Missouri and Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico; and the internal feelings attendant on such emotions, even in the most savage, are not unfrequently evinced by variation of colour in the cheek, lighter or deeper as it may happen, and as we shall presently see. It is only, says Humboldt, in white men that the instantaneous penetration of the dermoidal sys- tem by the blood can take place; that slight change of the colour of the skin, which adds so powerful an expression to the emotion of the soul. “ And how can those be trusted who know not how to blush ? says the European, in his inveterate hatred to the Negro and the Indian.” Both of these statements are much more plausible than correct; because the NEGROS PECULIARITY. 31 increased redness peculiar to blushing is not ob- Served in the negro’s face, which nature seems to have screened by a dark veil—therefore, it has been taken for granted that he is incapable of blushing. That such is not the case, we may infer from the following facts : First, That the dermoidal system beneath the colouring matter in the African’s cheek is permeated by thousands of capillary blood-ves- sels, and that it is not inferior in its organization to that of the white, as we can prove by anatomical demonstration. Second, That it is more in the in- tellectual powers, as has been already stated, than in the moral faculties, that this variety of the human Species is inferior to the European. Third, and Most positive, That the Rete Mucosum, which is the seat of colour, is not re-produced after a breach of surface, and that the cicatrix in Blacks ig therefore white. This is the generally received opinion. i I have frequently’ observed a Negress, a servant in a gentleman’s family, who had one.of-these scars on the cheek, ‘which invariably became red when- ever she was abruptly spoken to, or charged with any trivial offence.” The redness proceeded from the circumference towards a perfectly defined margin, beyond which not a single red line passed. This fact was care- fully observed, and seems interesting in a double 32 NEGRO S PECULIARITY. point of view, first, as tending to prove that the organization of a cicatrix proceeds from the circum- ference towards the centre, not from below upwards, as we may infer from the radiation of the blood, which did not pass through the centre, its organiza- tion not being+as yet complete; and secondly, as affording convincing evidence that an African is not incapable of blushing, but that he, as well as the white, can give external evidence of the emotions of his mind, though in a less palpable manner than the latter. Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Chevalier, in their lec- tures delivered at the London College of Surgeons, in illustration of some of the preparations of John Hunters Museum, denied that the cicatrix in the Negro remains white ; their assertion is right in one sense of the word, as time, by allowing the parts to become re-organized, produces a dark shade of colour, but never so dark as the original. I have never observed it darker than the areola seen round the nipple of a woman who has born children, and I have seen it of a yellowish white for years after it was perfectly formed. : When a true born Negro blushes, his cheeks be- come darker still than natural, and this may be ac- counted for in the following manner :— When the blood rises as far as the Rete Muco- sum, (which is naturally black in this variety,) in place of the redness becoming apparent, as it does NEGRO’S PECULIARITY. 33 in the white, now from the dark veil placed before it, and through which it cannot pass, it only tends to render the surface of a deeper hue than before, for which purpose no colours are more adapted than black with a red ground, and M. Biett observes; | “ that the red tint which characterizes the exanthe- Matous diseases” in the Caucasian variety “ never exists in the Negro, in this case—on the contrary, the black tint is more evident than before.” I have seen the phenomenon of blushing occur in several of the Hybrid species, to the same degree nearly as in the European. : i One individual in particular, a Mulatto, the off Spring of a Negro and a white, whom I have fre- quently seen in this city, blushed as intensely as any European ; she was apparently about twenty years of age, and the phenomenon was usually produced without any assignable cause whatever, It was interesting to observe the peculiar cast it gave her countenance, for as long as you spoke to her, blush followed blush in quick succession, chas- ing cach other along the cheek, and one was no Sooner faded than another begun. Thus giving Convincing proof of the high-wrought sensibility of her feeling or imagination, and fully confuting the assertion of Humboldt, regarding the incapability of the “dark races” to give external evidence by blushing, of their deep internal feelings. The differences between black and white men in F 34 NEGRO’S PECULIARITY. the texture of the Rete Mucosum or seat of colour, are distinctly noted by Blumenbach. He states, that “ the native reddish-white of the cutis, the in- ner layer of the skin, shines through the transpa- rent outer coverings in the white races, while in the dark the cutaneous pigment is seated in the Rete Mucosum; the epidermis, although pale, manifestly partaking of the same tint.” This fully corrobor- ates what I have said, as to the Negro becoming blacker when blushing than natural; for it seems very evident that when the intense red colour of the blood spreads itself beneath this dark pigment, pe- culiar to the African, it must render the shade deeper than it was originally. There are many examples of the brown and yel- low varieties belonging to the Mongolian, American, and Malay divisions, of the genus homo, in whom blushing has been noticed. Thus Forster states, | that in the Otaheitan women, of a brownish cast, | you may easily distinguish a spreading blush. And | Dampier observes of the Tunquinese, who are of a tawny Indian hue, that you may perceive a blush or change of colour in many of their faces, on any sudden surprise or passion. We have, also, instances recorded by Blumen- bach and Winterbottom, of Mulattoes having red hair, freckled skin, and being capable of varying the colour of their cheek when excited. ALBINO’S PECULIARITY. The peculiarities of the Albinos, that singular de- Scription of the human race, are particularly worthy of our observation. These strange beings, though often born of Negro parents, are their very antipodes, if I may use the term, with regard to the colour of the skin, hair, eyes, &c. Their skin possesses an un- natural white shade or tint, their hair is milk-white, and the eyes are red or grey. Blumenbach describes the iris as of a pale rose colour, and the pupil intensely red, exactly simi- lar to those of ferrets and white rabbits. And Voltaire briefly states their peculiarities in the fol- lowing words: “ Leur blancheur n’est pas la nôtre ; rien d'incarnat, nul mélange de blanc et de brun, c'est une couleur de linge, ou plutôt de cire blan- chie; leurs cheveux, leurs sourcils, sont de la plus belle et de la plus douce soie; leurs yeux ne resem- blent en rien à ceux des autres hommes, mais ils approchent beaucoup des yeux de perdrix.”— Essai sur les Meurs, Introduction. The characters of the Albino, says Mr. Lawrence, in his interesting Lectures on Man, arise from a deficiency of the colouring principle, common to the skin, hair, and eyés of all other men. Thus | the former has the hue which its cellular and vas- cular contexture produces; the hair is reduced to its SS SETTER Tag 2 tebe dl DEAD A ti aa BS Maoin à | oer diea en ene ree ashen beg ” = | \i Ñ 36 ALBINO S PECULIARITY, simple organic groundwork; and in the eyes, which are entirely destitute of pigmentum, the colour of the iris depends on the fine vessels which are so nu- merous in its composition, and that of the pupil on the still greater number of capillaries, which al- most entirely form the choroid membrane. The state of the eyes is the principal source of inconvenience. The absence of the black pigment, which has the important office of absorbing superfluous portions of light, renders the eye preternaturally sensible of this stimulus. Even the glare of open day affects this organ painfully, hence the eyelids are closed; but they have superior power of vision in twilight, dusk, or imperfect darkness. There are several examples recorded of European children having all the characteristic marks of the African Albino. When this occurs in the Caucasian division, it is generally looked upon as a disease, and is fancifully called Albino Skin—whereas, in reality, the European does not differ in any of his peculiarities from the African Albino; and we have sufficient evidence to show that this Lusus Nature is not exclusively confined to the Ethiopian variety ; for individuals possessing the same leuccethiopic pe- culiarity and constitution, have been met with in various parts of the globe, from the North Pole to the Torrid Zone. They have been frequently seen by Dubois and Captain Cook, on the islands and shores of the Pacific, and amongst the Hindoo ALBINO S PECULIARITY. 87 races. There are, also, several European examples recorded by De Sausseure, Buzzi, Helvetius, Mau- pertius, and Dr. Traill. The same delicacy of constitution that distin- Suishes the African is likewise common to the English Albino, as we may perceive from the fol- lowing interesting account given by Dr. Traill, of one of the three he met with. “The oldest of these Albinos is nine years of age; of a delicate constitution; slender, but well formed both in person and in features; his appetite has always been bad; he frequently complains of a dull pain in his forehead; his skin is exceedingly fair; his hair flaxen and soft; his cheeks have very little of the rose in them; the iris and pupil of his eyes are of a bright red colour, reflecting in some situations an opaline tinge; he cannot endure the light of the sun; when desired to look up, his eyelids are in constant motion, and he is incapable of fixing his eye steadily on any object, as is observed in those labouring under some kinds of slight ophthalmia, but in him is unaccompanied by tears. His mother Says, that his tears never flow in the coldest wea- ther; but when vexed or his feelings are hurt, they are shed abundantly. He goes to school, but ge- Nerally retires to the darkest part of it to read his lesson; his disposition is very gentle, and he is not deficient in intellect.” It is singular that all the European Albinos re- 38 ALBINO ’S PECULIARITY. corded by these writers were of the male sex; and what is still more strange, the female offspring of the same families were entirely destitute of the Albino peculiarities of their brothers. However, I have seen an Albiness, in an obscure village of this country, born of white parents, having all the striking characteristics of her tropical brother- hood, and extremely sensitive; she appeared to be naturally timid and bashful, and her face became suffused with blood whenever her companions teazed or ridiculed her. Some writers, Blumenbach, Winterbottom, &e., have endeavoured to prove that this class labour under a disease which they refer to the Cachexiz, and consider it akin to leprosy. But, as far as my experience goes, I consider, with Mr. Lawrence, that these views are completely incorrect. “ All their functions are executed as in other persons. They are born of healthy parents, occur among the robust and hardy members of savage tribes; and a similar deviation takes place in many wild animals —the rabbit, ferret, mouse, horse, &c.”’ The fact of Albinos being prone to blush, has not been mentioned by any of their historians; but I have observed it in other instances, besides that just related, and particularly in two indivi- duals, a male and female, who were exhibited in Paris several years ago; they possessed all the common characteristics of their tribe, if it may be ALBINO’'S PECULIARITY. 39 80 called, and I never witnessed a more interesting example of the manner in which the blush rises and overspreads the cheek than these individuals present- ed. Their sensibility was easily excited, and so deep ~ felt was their emotion, when in any degree moved, that not only the cheeks, but the ears and neck, par- ticularly around the Thyroid gland, became affected. The breast and irides also seemed to participate in the general sympathy. Thenatural dead whiteness of the skin enabled the observer to detect the slightest alteration in colour on the cheek from its original hue, and we could observe the blush rise to the sur- face in a small defined or circumscribed spot, not over the malar bone, like the purple hectic flush, but Over the parotidean plexus of nerves, which con- tribute so materially to the expression of passion in the human face. Thence it proceeded, diverging in radii to the cir- cumference, until it formed almost a perfect circle. There was an evident line of demarcation between the blush of the cheek and that of the neck and breast. Ina word, one was not a continuation of the other, for the blood-red colour in both regions being the effect of the same impulse, was generated and rose to the surface simultaneously. This does not appear to be the common progress of blushing ; it is more frequently observed spread- ing from the circumference towards the centre, and not the reverse, as just stated, or rising equally over 40 ALBINO 'S PECULIARITY. every part of the cheek at the same moment. In this case, the surface round the Thyroid gland pre- sented the same aspect precisely as the cheek. -The ears appeared perfectly florid, and the irides natu- rally red in the Albino ; in the present instance that redness invariably increased while blushing. These individuals appeared to be unusually sensi- tive, for in the course of twenty minutes they , blushed deeply several times. The slightest attempt to examine their peculiarities invariably excited this phenomenon. It was extremely interesting to observe the various and alternating casts of expression which the rise and fall of colour produced in the countenances of these Albinos. At one.time the cheek presented the appearance of a sheet of blood rising or spread upon a field of snow, and the next moment it assumed its original sickly white, or bloodless colour, as if it had never been permeated by any red vessels whatever. \ I was informed by their keeper that they were not | Europeans, but Africans by birth, and had been at | this time several years in Europe. | Will these facts not go some way in proving my assertion that the dark races have the power of ex- hibiting their feelings by blushing as well as the white. There is only a negative proof against this assertion, 2. €., the red colour being invisible in the former, and notin the latter. But as we have suffi- cient proof of a white Negro (Albino) being ca- THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. 41 pable of blushing as intensely as any European, it S but fair to argue that a Gold Coast ebon-coloured African has the very same power. 1 Ina subsequent part of this Essay, when treating of the tissues engaged in blushing, as the skin, capillary blood-vessels, cerebral and sympathetic nerves, &e., I may resume my inquiry into the pecu- liarities of this anomalous class of beings. In the Mean time I shall endeavour to trace out the history of the phenomenon as far as the Caucasian variety of man is concerned, for in this division we are told that itis most highly developed ; in short, that blush- ing is an exclusive privilege belonging to it—an in- ference which, as we have seen, is not perfectly inductive. SS ane a gg eae ee ee AE THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. Blumenbach is inclined to believe that the primi- tive form of the human race was that which belongs to the Caucasian variety, of which the most beauti- ful specimens are now exhibited by the Georgians, ircassians, Turks, Greeks, and some Europeans. The greatest mental powers have been bestowed on this variety, and they have discovered nearly all the arts and sciences; indeed, almost all our literature and knowledge has been derived from the same duarter. These nations have the most intelligent and expressive countenances, and the most beautiful G 42 THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. bodily proportions. They occupy the middle re- gions of the globe, while its extremities are -filled by others.* As we advance in civilization we find the human mind gradually progressing in the development of its moral and intellectual acquirements, and that at each step we advance, those faculties common to us with the brute, gradually disappear, and give place to the higher callings of the mind. The instinct common to us in our early days of existence with the lower animals, and also pre- dominant in man in the savage state, is replaced by Reason. Civilization develops this faculty which so exalts our species, which enables our con- science to discriminate between vice and virtue, which constantly urges us to obey its dictates; and what impulse can be more noble than that emanat- ing from the dictates of reason ? The phenomenon I am endeavouring to illustrate is evidently an attendant upon Reason, and accord- ing as the latter is cultivated, so the former becomes developed. In savage life instinct is more vigorous than rea- son ; hence we cannot expect to find our subject so frequently illustrated in this tribe as in civilized beings, but as no one will deny that the savage pos- sesses reason, therefore there is no evidence of his being incapable of blushing. This faculty, which elevates us above the rest of organic nature, lies dor- * Lawrence’s Lectures on Man. THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. 43 Mant or is wholly uncultivated in savage man, and Where this is the case, its attributes, as a natural con- Sequence, must remain undeveloped or unobserved.* The Circassian women, who are so celebrated for their beauty, and so sought after by the keepers of the Seraglios of Persia and Turkey, although not Perfectly civilized, are occasionally seen to blush deeply, according to Lady M. Wortley Montague’s account. It is even considered an acquisition by the Sultan, as giving proof of their not being ultra barbarous, and those females who are thus capable of exhibiting their internal emotions, invariably bring a higher price than their less susceptible Sisterhood. In these people reason is to a certain degree culti- vated—it predominates over instinct—conscience follows, and blushing is the natural result of both. Advancing still nearer towards the centre of civilization, we perceive the mind and its faculties becoming highly developed. Reason now triumph- antly exerts its influence over these faculties—the * If there be any species of human beings not gifted with reason, it is, most assuredly, the wretched inhabitants of Carin- thia and the Valais, known by the name of Cretins, in whom their exists the lowest degree of mental debasement. They ap- Pear to have no other enjoyment than eating and sleeping; the SWinish propensities are highly developed in them ; and their in- Sensibility is often so great that they will not even obey the calls of nature, There is little difference between these people and idiots, 44 THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. intellectual endowments are exercised and refined, for the well being of social existence, and itis by this concentration of mental power, that civilized man feels his own superiority over the rest of creation. But as we advance in reaping the advantages and virtues of civilization, we are not wholly exempt from the vices of its refinement; it is an overstraining of this refinement which oftentimes makes a vice of a virtue by perverting the original intent of nature. In civilized society we find a variety of mental and bodily ailments which are unknown in savage life. Let us inquire whence does this arise? Is it the effect of climate, manners, mode of living, or is it an inherent quality of civilization itself? Why, the fact per se is sufficient to prove that the rules of art, the mainspring of civilization, cannot be indiscriminately obeyed without exert- ing a deleterious influence over the corporeal func- tions and intellectual faculties of man. For in- stance, we seldom hear of an Indian squaw dying in child-bed, or of her savage husband becoming mad about religion, politics, or any sudden reverse of fortune. No, these are a few of the taxes which we pay to civilization for the very numerous and invaluable gifts conferred upon us by means of the cultivation of the higher faculties. It is a law in nature, that according as the mental or animal faculties are exercised, so are they developed, and that the offspring of indivi- THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. 45 duals inherit more or less of the predominant qualities of their parents. In the civilized state the Powers of the mind are chiefly cultivated, to the Comparative extinction of the animal propensities, and according to the above law, the mind of a Philosopher’s child must be essentially different from the mind of one of savage, or even peasant pa- Tentage. It is true, that the same intuitive instinct which the lower animals also possess, is common to. both during the period of their long infancy ; but the difference lies in the still dormant faculties or propensities which both have inherited from their respective parents. To the parent of the one be- longs vigour, and strength of body, that exerts to a certain degree a salutary influence over the mind, but to these must be added the full indulgence of unchecked animal passions, which must neces- sarily control that influence, and prevent it from having its due effect. To the parent of the other belong all those sen- Sations and feelings which intellectual refinement is capable of producing. Now, these faculties, as yet in embryo, mainly depend upon early educa- tion, both as to quantity and quality, for the cha- Tacter of their future development. The mind of the savage has little to lose from neglect on this score, as in his case it is the physical powers that are principally to be exercised in after life, and consequently from his cradle upwards every care is taken to inure him to all manner of hardships. 46 THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. But it is very different with that of the civi- lized being. From the prospect of the status he is to hold in life, and the part he will have to perform in it in manhood, it is necessary that his mind, from the first dawning until it is capable of judging for itself, should be cultivated and trained in that path which may lead the nobler faculties to the highest state of intellectual development. His temperament and disposition are for the most part derived from one or other of his parents, whether sanguineous and bold, nervous and sensitive, or me- lancholic and timid. His sensorium is, by inheri- tance, extremely susceptible of mental impressions, and as early impressions are the most lasting, these which take deepest root in the mind, it becomes incumbent on the parent to exert his judgment and discrimination in the admission of all such to so sacred a sanctuary. From the earliest infancy of a child, you can perceive the bent of his disposition, and whatever that may be, it will show itself by various indescrib- able ways. Ifit be quick and sensitive, you may easily observe the susceptibility of the mind, and the keenness with which certain impressions are felt ; if you watch this child as he grows on towards manhood, you will perceive this sense of feeling gradually ripening itself, and if uneducated or unchecked by moral training in its early state, it becomes to a certain degree a mental disease, for in what other light can we look upon that state of THE LIGHT-COLOURED RACES. 47 morbid sensibility which we daily meet with in Social intercourse. It is this state which ren- ders him timid of his own powers or capability, that prevents him from exercising properly those faculties with which nature may have endowed him, and of the possession of which he is perfectly Conscious—still from a moral debility, and inward dread of failure, these intellectual powers, possessed by every rational being to a certain degree, are nipt in the bud, they bloom and die, as it were, in the same moment. When such persons grow up and mingle in Society, they soon perceive the baneful effects of their acute sensibility, they then endeavour to con- quer it, when it has taken too firm a hold, and if their attempts are damped by failure, which not un- frequently happens, from that very dread of their own weakness just mentioned, they fall into the opposite extremes, as those of recklessness and libertinism. It is this morbid state of feeling we see so fre- quently excite the uncalled-for blush, and which we must attribute to an irritability of the sen- sorium arising from an over refinement, and want of early moral education. In society there are a variety of causes that may excite a blush, as acute sensibility, shame, &c., for which reason it may be as well to classify them, and treat of each in the order of its arrangement. CHAPTER V. DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF THE BLUSH. For the sake of simplicity I shall here adopt the arrangement observed in the-Chapter on Sensibility, and merely divide the subject into two distinct species, True and False. Under the head of the True Blush we may place all those changes or va- riations in colour which take place on the cheek, having some good and substantial moral cause for their production, as an infringement upon the feel- ings by the recollection of some past malheur or disgrace, the convictions of conscience, &e. Under the head of the second or False Blush may be placed all those which have no other assignable cause for their production than that of an extreme state of morbid sensibility, over which reason and the moral powers seem to have no control whatever; for as I have already stated, no individual blushes of his own free will, as he knows it must place him, to a certain degree, in a painful position. I shall now make a few observations on the first division of blushing. TRUE BLUSH. In a former Chapter I have endeavoured to demonstrate an evidence of design in Providence, in the subject under consideration. I have there Stated that the probable intent of the Creator, in | endowing man with this peculiar property, was, that | the soul might have sovereign power of displaying in the cheek, that part of the human body which is uncovered by all nations, the various internal emo- tions of the moral feelings whenever they are in- fringed upon either by accident or design, and that this precaution had the salutary effect of enabling our fellow-beings to know whenever we transgressed | | or violated those rules which should be held sacred, \ as being the bonds that unite man and man in the || civilized state of social existence. Moreover, that A our being conscious of this involuntary power which the soul possesses over the agents of our volition, might serve as a moral check upon the inclination, and to a certain degree prevent us from deviating from the prescribed rules of morality. In this light, we must certainly admit the utility, and even the necessity of blushing in society, that is, of the true blush, which I am now considering ; for when an individual consciously infringes upon the prescribed laws of society, he deserves to make at least a moral atonement for his culpable trans- gression. TRUE BLUSH. Let us take a familiar example, in illustration of what has been defined the true blush. Suppose an individual, myself for instance, to have stolen or borrowed from other authors that which was their property, and by so doing, am enabled to acquire merit under false pretences, after some time my plagiarism is detected, I am then accused, by some kind critic, of my delinquency, and stripped of my borrowed plumes, still my inclination endea- vours to conceal that which it is my duty to ac- knowledge. There is a rebellion excited by this infringement upon the laws of equity, between the will and the moral faculties, and if I am not dead to all sense of honour and shame, conscience tri- umphs, it rebukes me for my transgression, and as an atonement for the offence, Z blush deeply, in the presence of my accusers. By this means the soul and conscience reflect upon the cheek theimpression which has been made on them, and thus give convincing evi- dence, externally, of their own deep-felt emotion. Here I transgress, although perfectly conscious of doing wrong, and even of the probability of being afterwards detected, and consequently of the shame or disgrace which must follow. It is not morbid sensibility that produces the blush in this case; on the contrary, there is an evident and salutary cause for its appearance. The following is another example of the blush of TRUE BLUSH. oil conscience, as observed in a female in the state of “ somnambulism.” I happened to be present at one of Baron Du Potet’s exhibitions of Animal Magnetism, when there was a young lady manipulated on by M. le Baron, and after some five or ten minutes had elapsed from the commencement of the operation, this interest- ing young woman apparently resigned herself into the arms of Morpheus. We were informed by the Baron that she was now in a deep slumber, and dead to all external impressions. Some of the spec- tators appearing sceptical as to the truth of this as- Sertion, the Baron, in order to convince them of its accuracy, pinched the girl’s arm, and pricked it with pins in several places, to which she certainly ap- peared quite insensible ; but it was remarked that a fly creeping on the cheek caused all the muscles of that side of the face to move. The Baron was then requested to give an explanation of this “ mes- meric trance;” to which he replied, that the “science” was not far enough advanced as yet, to enable him to give a satisfactory explanation of the manner in which this wonderful effect was produced. The girl still lying in the same state of apparent Slumber, a discussion arose amongst the spectators, when one gentleman observed rather sharply, “ that he had no doubt but the young lady herself could give a very satisfactory explanation of the mystery, if she wished.” An intense blush, in which not only 52 TRUE BLUSH. the face, but the neck, chest, and ears of the mag- netised lady were engaged, immediately succeeded this remark; it was a satisfactory answer to the gentleman’s charge of deception on the girl’s part, and needs no further comment. It is another striking illustration of the soul and conscience being ever on the watch to side with truth and justice against the deceitfulness of the human heart. There is another variety of the true blush pro- duced by causes very different from those of the foregoing, and which I may call the blush of feeling. A few months since, I happened to be conversing with a professional gentleman about the different layers of the human skin, and the peculiarities in this respect of the Negro, Albino, and European. He in- vited me to his residence to see some lithograph drawings of the same, which he said were pretty good. I accordingly went, and he produced three very beautiful sets of drawings, exhibiting the dif- ferent layers of the skin. I asked by whom were they executed; he replied that the first two sets were drawn by a very interesting lecturer on sur- gery, and his son, several years ago, both of whom were now dead. I observed that he omitted men- tioning the artist of the third set, which was cer- tainly the best of the three, and jokingly said, “ these were done by yourself, I presume, Mr.——” “Oh no,” he replied, with a forced smile, “ they were done by my son, who, poor fellow, is also dead.” TRUE BLUSH. 53 A deep and burning blush followed these words, Which came and went several times before his emotion seemed to subside. This gentleman was upwards of sixty years of age, and although time had done his external work effectually by whitening the hair and furrowing the cheek ; still the internal feelings seemed as keen and susceptible as if endowed with all the buoy- ancy of youth. Here the irrepressible blush revealed the hidden anguish of the bereaved parent, and clearly de- Monstrates the impossibility of the will ever being able to overcome or control the genuine emotions of the Soul. | There is an intimate relationship between this form of blushing and lachrymation, or the shedding of tears, produced by sorrow. Both are the emo- tions of sympathy arising from very nearly the same Cause, and according to the popular notion, give Internal relief by lightening the burthen which Oppresses the heart. _ If the stimulus which produced the blush in the Case just related, was continued—the memory still holding the image, in vivid colours, before the Sensorium, a train of ideas would be engendered, Tecalling the past more vividly, and retaining its impression in the imagination. The mind becomes worked upon—there is a confliction amongst its feelings—the blush deepens, and finally the tears 54 TRUE BLUSH. are produced in more or less abundance, according to the intensity of the mental paroxysm. I shall add one more illustration of the blush of feeling, as evinced by a French lady far advanced in years. She was a woman of keen sensibility, and highly cultivated mind ; but from reverse of fortune was compelled to descend from her former station in life, to live in obscurity and not unfrequently in want. I heard her relate the history of her career one evening before a few friends. She at- tempted to assume a sort of hardened indifference to her vicissitudes of fortune; but, notwithstanding the wrinkles of age being stamped upon her brow, and her hair silvered by time, her feeling seemed as acute as it might have been in her earliest years, for ever and anon we could see the flash of the soul’s emotion bursting through her cheek, with its most powerful expression, whenever she touched upon any part of her history tending to form a contrast between her present and past station in the world. The colour rose and fell upon her cheek in exact harmony with the light and pathetic passages of her narra- tive, and with the same intensity as is observable in youth. Perhaps it will be expected that the blush of modesty or bashfulness, so frequently observed in the young people of both sexes, when first brought into society, should come under this head ; but such an arrangement would not be in accordance with FALSE BLUSH. 55 my views. It may, indeed, be very interesting to See a young lady in a drawing room blushing for Some trivial cause, as the blush invariably heightens the charms of beauty; and as it is, in this instance, Considered to be a test of purity and innocence, Many fond parents will, perhaps, coincide with the Sultan’s ideas respecting the fair Circassians, and think it rather an acquisition than otherwise in their daughters; but I am of opinion that a blush is no test whatever of either purity or innocence, for many libertines and prostitutes may be seen to blush as deeply as individuals of the most exalted purity and virtue. FALSE BLUSH. If it was with the intent of giving evidence of those emotions of the mind, produced by shame or an eruption of feeling, that we were endowed by Tovidence with the power of blushing, we must Necessarily consider all other instances in which this phenomenon is produced, as an example of What I define to be the False or Deceptive Blush. In all cases it emanates from that state of morbid Sensibility which I have treated of in a former Chapter of this Essay, and the remarks that have 56 FALSE BLUSH. been there made, will be found likewise applicable to this form of blushing. This part of our subject is fertile in examples ; old and young, male and female, bear ample testi- mony to the accuracy of my statement. It may be observed in all grades and stations of civilized beings, from the first dawning of reason till its extinction in old age; it is hereditary, it pervades entire families; it restrains some, it infuriates others, at being thus made subordinate to the mental feel- ings, and wherever it once takes root, like the Old Man of the Sea, it clings to the individual through life with a resolute and imperishable grasp. In childhood we never blush, for then we are merely animals of instinct, the same as in the fatuity of old age. In the former the reasoning powers have not “as yet developed themselves, in the latter they have passed away. In both conditions we are dead to the moral and intellectual world, and should a glimmering of either of these powers exhibit it- self in the morning of our existence, it must be attributed solely to that docile instinct which js common to us with the lower animals, which renders a dog sagacious, and enables him to judge between right and wrong. What more striking illustration of the foregoing can we have than the fact, that the same exhibition (a human execution) which yields so much pleasure and amusement to a child, will cause the nurse who FALSE BLUSH. o7 bears it in her arms to give evidence of her in- ternal emotion by weeping or fainting away, and perhaps this same child, in a few years afterwards, fannot look upon a similar exhibition without fol- Owing the example of its nurse. This clearly proves my former assertion, that the blush is evi- dently a result of reason, and cannot take place Without its impulse, else why is the congenital idiot incapable of exhibiting this phenomenon? he Can weep, sigh, and laugh, all of which may € represented in the inferior animals, and con- sequently do not require the impulse of reason for their production; but_he has never been seen to blush, his defective organization preventing him from enjoying any other than a vegetative existence. This habit of blushing from morbid sensibility is as common with young men as with young women, and although it is considered a beauty in the latter in- Stance, we cannot view it in any other light than as a disease, when it frequently occurs in men who have arrived at the years of maturity. In this case the bane of it is deeply felt by those who are under its influence, and notwithstanding its poesied beauty, Seems to be looked upon as a drawback in male Society, tending materially to curb the natural Impulse of the individual. There are peculiar constitutions more prone to blush than others, and it will be found as a general I PEI 58 FALSE BLUSH. rule, that individuals of a sanguine temperament are much more subject to this disorder than those of a lymphatic or melancholic constitution. The eloquent Richerand gives the following graphic description of the sanguineous temperament. “If the heart and vessels which carry the red blood through every part, are of predominant activity, the pulse will be sharp, frequent, and regular—the complexion ruddy, the countenance animated, the shape good, the forms softened though distinct, the flesh of tolerable consistence, moderate plump- ness, the hair fair, and inclining to chesnut; the nervous susceptibility will be lively, and attended with rapid susceptibility, that is to say, that being easily affected by the impressions of outward ob- jects, men of this temperament will pass rapidly from one idea to another; conception will be quick, memory prompt, the imagination lively; they will be addicted to the pleasures of the table and of love; will enjoy a health seldom interrupted by disease; and all their diseases, and these slight, modified by the temperament, will have their seat principally in the circulatory system.” “ Inconstancy and levity are, in fact, the chief attributes of men of this temperament ; excessive variety appears to be to them a necessity as much as an enjoyment; good, generous, feeling, quick, impassioned, delicate in love, but fickle; disgust in them follows close upon enjoyment; meditating desertion in the midst of FALSE BLUSH. 59 the most intoxicating caresses, they make their escape from beauty, at the very moment she thought to have bound them by indissoluble chains. In vain he whom nature has endowed with a san- guine temperament, will think to renounce the pleasures of the senses, to take fixed and lasting likings, to attain, by profound meditation, to the most abstract truths; mastered by his physical dis- Positions, he will be for ever driven back to the pleasures from which he flies, to the inconstancy Which is his lot; more fitted to the brilliant pro- ductions of wit (as Voltaire) than the sublime con- ceptions of genius (as Newton, who was of a lym- Phatic constitution). His blood, which a vast lung impregnates plentifully with atmospherical oxy- Sen, flows freely in very dilatable canals, and this facility in the distribution and course of the humours is, at once, the cause and the image of the happy dispositions of his mind. However, the History of Henry IV., of Louis XIV., of Regnard, and of Mi- rabeau proves that, to the extreme love of pleasure, Sanguine men join, when circumstances require it, Steat elevation of thought and character; and can bring into action the highest talents in every de- partment.” Individuals of a consumptive or scrofulous habit are also particularly prone to blushing. Their Smooth transparent skin, fair hair, and rosy com- Plexion, denotes the delicacy of their organization, 60 FALSE BLUSH. and their great susceptibility of both external and internal impressions. There isa mental character (says Dr. Macartney) belonging to the scrofulous habit, which more strik- ingly indicates the peculiar state of the constitu- tion than all other signs. Scrofulous persons in general exhibit no mental energy, but a gentleness and amiability of disposition, a refinement and judgment in matters of taste, and a purity of moral feeling, which is sometimes so remarkable as to place them, in these points, far beyond the scale, and even beyond the conception, of the mass of mankind. In these the vascular system is weak, the vessels are small, the blood is deficient in quan- tity, and is, I think, imperfectly organized. Dr. Macartney has thus beautifully described the mental character of the scrofulous individual, and this description applies equally to the generality of those persons who become victims to consumption at an early age. The transient flushes to which individuals of this habit are so subject is not owing to a redundancy of blood in the system; on the contrary, it is a striking evidence of the weakness and frailty of the constitution, and its diseased susceptibility of every impression whatever. Persons of red hair and florid skin are extremely subject to this peculiarity, but these should come, properly speaking, under the head of “ Sanguineous Temperament.” FALSE BLUSH. 61 I knew a family (including father and mother) who were particularly liable to blushing, with one Single exception, the second son, aged eighteen, who was labouring under Cyanosis, or the Blue Disease, of which he ultimately died. It was curious to observe this individual when at all agitated, to which he seemed equally susceptible with the rest of the family; his cheeks, instead of becoming red, assumed a deeper or more purple hue than before, so that in reality he evinced his feelings by an alternation of colour on the cheek, although it could not, strictly speaking, be called a blush. Were I permitted to use the term “ blue, or Violet blush,” then I might express my meaning more clearly. However, the fact proves, that the sedative | influence of the carbonised or un-zreated blood did ` not retard this fluid from responding to the mental emotions, and although it is supposed that persons affected with Cyanosis in some respects resemble cold-blooded animals, this shows that they are also capable of evincing internal feeling as well as any other of their fellow-beings. THE DECEPTIVE BLUSH. Lis reference to Medical Jurisprudence. Blushing, or any alteration in the colour of the cheek, from its natural state, should not be indis- cruminately considered as an evidence of guilt. No- thing could be more delusive or erroneous than such a supposition, especially without taking into consideration the general aspect of the features, and the marked difference always observable in them between the blush of conscience, and that of weak- ness or irritability. In a foregoing page, I have shown that there are many individuals who change colour without any apparent cause whatever, it being merely the effect of inordinate sensibility, therefore, were we to judge of its being in such instances the result of an infringement upon the moral or social laws, it would be extremely culpable, and would display-a total ignorance of the laws of human nature. Yet, how frequently do we hear learned counsel at the bar, by strong language, endeavouring to excite the feelings of the accused; should any variation in colour take place, (and how often do the innocent turn pale or become suffused, from the mere dread ‘of the accu- sation,) the eloquent declaimer proceeds, exulting in THE DECEPTIVE BLUSH. 63 the plenitude of his oral power, and the effect it may have produced, to direct the attention of the presiding judge and jury to the varying counte- nance of the excited and agitated prisoner; still vehemently appealing to their judgment, if the fluctuating colour, and trembling aspect of the face, was not an illustration of remorse of conscience, and convincing evidence of the culprit’s guilt. The man who thus takes advantage of the weak- ness of human nature, must be guilty of either of two charges; first, that of being ignorant of the manner by which the mind can be affected, under Certain circumstances, and that some individuals are So constituted as to be more susceptible of impres- sions than others, so that the innocent may often appear the guilty ; and secondly, though conscious of the foregoing, nevertheless, to gain his point, he converts the knowledge of this fact to his own purposes, and endeavours by harrowing up the feelings to intimidate and criminate the innocent. If guilty of the former, it is to be regretted that he who studies human law, and makes that his profession, does not blend with it a knowledge of the laws of his Divine Maker, as evinced in moral and physical man; and if the latter be true, we have another melancholy example of the depravity of human nature, which leads an individual to en- deavour to prove the innocent guilty, merely because he is paid to do so. : 64 HECTIC FLUSH. Such a state of things is not much better than the barbarous custom of former ages, when the supposed murderer was made to touch the body of the deceased in open court, before the gaze of hundreds, and upon the result of this experiment depended the life or death of the prisoner. From the foregoing I conclude, that an alteration of colour upon the cheek, either in public or private society, should not always be regarded as crimi- nating the individual concerned ; in some instances it may do so, but the knowledge that the blush may be as frequently deceptive, from idiosyncrasy, ke. warrants our charitable maxim to acquit the guilty rather than condemn the innocent. THE HECTIC FLUSH AND FLUSH OF RAGE. Their difference from the True Blush, in which the Countenance droops. HECTIC FLUSH. Any individual at all observant can readily re- cognize the peculiar flush of the consumptive—the colour is not diffused over the cheek as in ordinary instances, it is generally confined to a certain spot, and this purple patch situated over the malar bone, HECTIC FLUSH. 65 with the delicately pale halo that surrounds it;nis looked upon by the physician as the harbinger of approaching death. The hectic flush is the result of an effort of or- ganic instinct, and not of mental emotion ; it comes and goes momentarily, without the mind being at all affected ; it is, perhaps, what Cullen might have calledan illustration of the “Vis Medicatrix Naturæ,” and beautifully demonstrates the instinctive pro- perties of organic nature. In these instances the aspect of the features does not become changed ; the countenance retains, with the exception of the Change of colour in the cheek, its natural appear- ance or expression, so different from what takes place in blushing from a sensorial impulse. Every one engaged in the pursuit of medicine must have frequently observed this scintillating hectic flush, presaging death to its unhappy victim, and invariably burning brightest (like the light of an expiring taper) as it draws nearer to its close; and who that has ever seen the consumptive but knows they are. generally the brightest and fairest Specimens of creation. _ If there be one of a family more engaging or . more blessed by nature than the rest, this is the individual that is sure to die. There is a gentleness and refinement in all his actions, in all his sayings, and in all his movements, that wins you to his friendship. You feel proud of the intimacy of K 66 HECTIC FLUSH. one who seems perfect—you gather all that falls from his lips, and treasure it in your bosom—you feel as if you knew the world, but till now knew it on its dark side only—a new existence seems to dawn upon you, emanating from the society of one who appears to be all that is pure and exalted. There is an ease and chastity in his every expres- sion, that magnifies his worth tenfold in your esti- mation. The theories of the degeneration of man- kind fade from your memory, and you agree with the philosopher, “that man thinks in the past a perfection which never did exist.” Day by day passes on ; there is a spirituality in your ideas, that has entered there as if by imbibition, and you feel cleansed from those that were foul and gross in nature. At length you observe a pallidness of countenance in your friend, but this you ascribe to the cast of thought ; it grows on gradually until it assumes a sort of transparency, “splendidior vitro;” the teeth partake of the same hue, the nails incur- vate, and the veins look blue and shadowy. A small circumscribed blush at length rises on the cheek, (the insidious forerunner of death,) and completes this beautiful and melancholy picture. An illustration of his soul is to be seen in the purity and serenity of his countenance—he is perfectly unconscious of his approaching end, and of the heart-rending sorrow his state entails on his friends and relatives, perhaps planning some new excur- FLUSH OF RAGE. 67 sion only a few hours before death itself takes place. The blush, still the same sleeping and waking, pre- sides over him with miser care. The heart-broken mother steals to his bedside while asleep—she sees her beloved son blooming on the verge of death—a death that she knows to be inevitable—she hears him breathe still tranquilly, yet she dare not hope —she looks again upon the child of her bosom— “ As still he lay, and on his thin-worn cheek A purrs HECTIC play’d, like dying day On the snow tops of distant hills ; 5 There is a stillness around, which has a semblance to the hush of death—the unhappy parent seizes a mirror and holds it to the lips of her child—but, alas! the last life-drop has passed on to eternity— all that was mortal having breathed itself away in one soft melancholy sigh. FLUSH OF RAGE. The flush of Rage is as familiar to all asthe blush of shame, and although the variation of colour is nearly the same in both cases, still the feelings by which this change is excited are, as every one knows, directly opposed to each other. In the former the crimson hue of the cheek is the effect of 68 FLUSH OF RAGE. an animal passion ; in the latter itis solely the result of a moral or spiritual impulse. The grand distinc- tion between these phenomena does not consist in any peculiarity of colour, but in the marked difference visible in the expression of the countenance during the paroxysm. - Every one is familiar with the piercing, fire-flash- ing eye of the enraged, in whom each feature is sharpened to acuteness. This has been observed by the earliest writers, and we find some of Homer’s finest characters ‘“‘ flushed with rage,” “their eyes glistening with fire,” and eager for revenge. Thus he compares the eyes of Agamemnon, when enraged, to a flame.* When Achilles was angry because his mistress was taken from him, “his eyes shone terribly;” and when Ajax persuades him to take arms again, he exclaims, “ My heart swells with rage.” f And when he saw his arms brought him by Thetis, ‘‘presently his heart glows with rage, and flames of fire flashed from his eye- balls.” £ The above illustrations of our subject are taken from the immortal poet who has copied so rigidly from nature; and we find our own Homer, the bard of Avon, revelling in the fitful passions of a Richard and a Macbeth. When we contrast with these the drooping or downcast aspect of the entire countenance in the blush of guilt, the features, as it * Fiiad; ibs i: + Ib. lib. 1x. { Ib. lib. x. BLUSH OF SHAME. 69 were, for the moment assuming an indescribable ex- pression of languor, we may readily detect the lead- ing characteristics of both phenomena. In the blush of shame every feature seems in a state of collapse. They gradually sink, one by one, from their natural position. We may first observe the eyebrows, if arched or elevated, sinking to a plane. The upper eyelid and cilia follow, drooping over the eyeball, which now begins to appear dim, and this organ itself is seen turning towards the earth, whi- ther it is impelled by the consciousness of its subju- gation, but more especially to avoid the scrutinizing gaze of the spectator. In this state the individual | remains until the paroxysm has passed away, but , sometimes blush follows blush, if the excitement and susceptibility correspond in intensity. As the feel- ings subside, the features resume their wonted as- pect. That eye which but a moment before “ Downcast drooped in tearless agony,” gradually assumes its natural brilliancy and expres- sion, and the whole countenance, “the mirror of the soul,” is once more calm and composed, after having told “ the tale of its prison-house.” CHAPTER VI. THE IDIOTS PECULIARITY. Tuer congenital idiot is capable of exhibiting all the instinctive passions in a high degree, but as far as I am aware, he never evinces his sensorial feelings by Blushing. Query—Why does this being never blush? is he incapable of the act? In a foregoing Chapter I have endeavoured to show that the phenomenon of blushing is an impulse of the reasoning power; and if this be true, we must necessarily infer, that individuals deprived of this ennobling faculty are wholly incapable of exhibiting the phenomenon in question. Therefore, idiots come under this rule in particular. In the paralyzation of reason, consequent upon inebriation from wine or opium, we have an ex- ample of man in his healthy state exhibiting the characters of an irrational being. During the period of intoxication, his sensorium is dead to all moral impressions—reason is dormant for the time being, IDIOTS PECULIARITY. 71 and he is perfectly insensible to the different feelings of honour, shame, disgrace, &c. ; although, in his sober moments, he may have been keenly alive to these emotions, and if so, will again experience them in their full power, when reason resumes her empire. * Insane persons, being subject to lucid intervals occasionally, and then exhibiting the powers of reason, do not strictly belong to the same class of irrational beings. The loss of reason in the idiot is permanent from the cradle to the grave; in the Maniac it frequently comes and goes as if from whim or caprice. But, it is worthy of observation that individuals having a tendency to insanity are particularly sub- ject to colouring ; indeed, the wild rolling eye and flushing cheek are almost invariably observed amongst the first symptoms of this dreadful disease. The idiot is capable of weeping, laughing, . &e.— he is particularly subject to become enraged—the animal propensities are highly developed’ in him— in short, he is the slave of the instinctive passions; and, therefore, he should be regarded as an animal of the neutral ground, being lower in the scale of creation than rational man, and not much above the brute. _* See Darwin’s Zoonomia, Article—Drunkenness, t Some German writers go so far as to regard all insanity _48 a wrong action of the soul, and speak of the insane as sinners. —Dr. Baty. 72 - IDIOT’S PECULIARITY. Professor Muller, in his profound work on Physio- logy, states his opinion that idiocy depends upon an imperfect formation of the brain, and is not a con- genital disease of the mind. In illustration of this he gives the cases of two congenital idiots residing near Bromberg, in Germany. One of these individuals is seventeen, the other ten years of age. Both enjoying excellent health, are at the same time so stupid that they do not re- member their way back to their home if they leave it but a short distance ; they manifest their volition 3 only in eating and drinking, and in destroying everything which comes into their hands ; they are, however, tractable and harmless in disposition. Even in these remarkable cases (adds Professor Muller) we cannot imagine that any congenital disease of the mind itself existed, any original defect in the mental principle ; in the latent state of this principle in the germ, there was, without doubt, all present which was necessary for the highest perfec- tion, but on account of the imperfect formation of the brain, the development of the higher mental faculties became impossible. The idiot isin general happy, but his happiness emanates wholly from animal or instinctive enjoy- ment; being isolated from his fellow-beings by the deprivation of the moral and intellectual powers, he is totally unconscious of the difference between right and wrong—his life is a long infancy of ANALOGOUS PHENOMENA, ETC. 73 vegetative existence, born and dying in the same state of unconsciousness. The idiot cannot blush; the primum mobile of action, (i.e. conscience, ) in all cases of infringement upon moral rectitude, is dormant in this being. From these and similar facts it is but reasonable to infer that the seat of the impulse which excites the true blush is higher up in the nervous system than that of the Passtons—or, in other words, that this impulse emanates wholly from the cerebrum. ANALOGOUS PHENOMENA IN THE LOWER ANIMALS. If we regard the sudden colouring of the cheek from passion in the same light as other instances of “vital turgescence” produced by different means, we shall find a beautiful illustration of the pheno- menon of flushing in the comb of the turkey and game-cock when inflamed or enraged. In this in- stance, as in man, the sudden flush is evidently the effect of an impulse of the mind; in both cases it gives external evidence of strong internal emotion. In some of our domestic quadrupeds, as the dog, for instance, we are aware that consciousness, or rather an instinctive conscience, exists to a certain degree. L 74 ANALOGOUS PHENOMENA, ETC. This animal knows well the distinction between right and wrong, and is always aware when he has transgressed. Ifa dog be chastised for his offence, he evinces shame in his own peculiar manner. This is alluded to, in “ The Life of Sir Walter Scott,” in the following passage: “ Sir Walter amused himself with the peculiarities of another of his dogs, a little shame-faced terrier, with large glassy eyes, one of the most sensitive little bodies to insult and indig- nity in the world. If ever he whipped him, he said the little fellow would sneak off and hide himself from the light of day in a lumber garret, whence there was no drawing him forth but by the sound of the chopping knife, as if chopping his victuals, when he would steal forth with humiliated aspect and downcast look, but would skulk away again if any one regarded him.” ‘This is not an uncommon occurrence, or confined to any particular species ; it may,on the contrary, be frequently observed. Birds generally evince their passion by the expression of the eye and curling of their plumage. Thus in the parrot, when enraged, the membrana nictitans* may be observed expanding over the globe of the eye, leaving but a small aperture for vision. Although I cannot illustrate this part of my sub- * By means of this ruirp eyelid, according to Cuvisr, the Eagle is enabled to look at the sun. The rris may also be seen contracting in the Parrot when roused by anger. COLOURING OF PLANTS. aS ject by an example derived from the vegetable kingdom, still there are a few interesting points relative to the colouring of plants, which may not be altogether inadmissible in this place. In another part of this Essay, I have alluded to the state of “ turgor vitalis,” or vital turgescence, being suddenly excited in some plants, as exem- plified in the turgid state of the leaf-bud from the sudden ascent of the sap, which may be pro- duced artifically in particular cases. This is often the effect of “ sensibility,” or “ excitability ;” but I fear we cannot explain the sudden change of colour so frequently observed in flowers, on the Same principle. Thus a dingy brownish-purple tulip will suddenly, and without warning, burst forth in the most radiant beauty, its dull disagree- able colours dispersed, a pure and spotless white taking its place in part, and the brightest and deepest streaks of crimson adding richness to its purity. It is singular, that amongst the natural colours of plants, red is very common, and yellow, blue, pale, &c. comparatively rare. The different colours of flowers depends principally upon solar light, and the various degrees of oxygenation of their chromule or colouring matter, unless in some parti- cular instances, where they may be determined by the presence of an acid or an alkali. Were it advisable to extend this notice of the 76 COLOURING OF PLANTS. colouring of flowers further, the kingdom of Flora would afford an ample store of interesting illustra- tions for our purpose; but asa more lengthened en- quiry (however pleasing the subject might be in it- self) into the beauties and mysteries of this division of creation could not, with propriety, be given in these pages, I shall here draw the First Division of my subject to a close. SECTION SECOND. THE ANATOMY OF BLUSHING. CHAPTER I. THE BRAIN, SPINAL MARROW, AND SYMPATHETIC NERVES. In the first part of this Essay I have endeavoured to trace out the history of Blushing, and have there attempted to show that in its healthy state this phe- nomenon emanates from the impulse of moral recti- tude, and in its diseased form is entirely the effect of morbid sensibility. I have traced that sensibility from its first appearance in animate beings to its per- fect development and over-refinement in civilized man. I have theorized on the probable intent of Providence in endowing our kind with this peculiar involuntary power. I have shown that it is a beau- tiful illustration of moral instinct and design, and by inductive reasoning have endeavoured to prove that the Creator, who ordains everything in nature to fulfil his own wise and good purposes, has endowed 78 THE BRAIN, SPINAL MARROW, man with this guardian faculty, for the sole purpose of giving external evidence of his intense feelings, and consciousness of shame. I have traced its ap- pearance in some of the different coloured varieties of the human race, and have seen that it is less fre- quent in savage than in civilized existence. Not agreeing with our forefathers in the existence of a black-blooded race of men, I have demonstrated that the dark Ethiopian is as capable of exhibiting this phenomenon, as the beautiful Circassian or fair European ; and as we advanced in the scale of civi- lization we observed that its appearance became more frequent at every step. I have pointed out its intimate connection with moral philoso- phy, practical education, and medical jurispru- dence, and to these important points the greater portion of the first part of this Essay has been devoted. I have now arrived at the second part of my in- quiries, which | trust will appear still more interest- ing than the first; for as simple and common-place as the act of blushing may appear to the general observer, we shall see that there are a multitude of actions and parts to be performed by our mental and physical faculties before it can be produced. I shall endeavour to demonstrate in this Section, that there are a variety of parts to be engaged; that there is a chain of action to be set up between the sensorium and the heart, the minute blood-vessels AND SYMPATHETIC NERVES. 79 and the nerves, (sympathetic, spinal, and cerebral, ) before the slightest blush can be produced. I shall, likewise, endeavour to point out the wonderful harmony by which all these corporeal and intellec- tual functions are combined and propelled, and made effectual to the production of this single result. The principal structures directly engaged in the production of this phenomenon are: First, The brain, spinal marrow, involuntary nervous system, &c., with which the heart, stomach, and lungs seem to sympathize. Second, The minute arteries and capillary blood-vessels of the cheek, &c. Third, The skin in man, and the erectile tissues in the. lower animals ; but as we shall see hereafter, this latter structure may be engaged in the human being during the act of blushing; and in addition to the foregoing, I may here observe, that the conjunc- tivee of the eyes not unfrequently become injected with red blood, when the mental paroxysm becomes Intense. Having thus premised, let me now endeavour to investigate and unravel these different structures, individually, and in the order of their arrangement; but it is to be understood, that I only intend to treat of each as far as it has any reference or con- nection with the present subject. OF THE BRAIN. Of all animals, man has the most capacious skull in proportion to his face; and as the size of the brain is always in proportion to that of the osseous case which contains it, the brain is also most bulky in man. This difference of size between the cranium and face may be taken as the measure of the human understanding, and of the instinct of the lower animals. The stupidity and ferocity of the latter are greater according as the proportions of these two parts of their skull vary from those of the human head. From the brain the nerves are propagated to the various organs of the senses, and over the body, bestowing sensation, and acting as the agents of the will. It is the receptacle of sensa- tion, and believed to be the instrument of thought, and it was formerly supposed that the soul existed in a small body called the pineal gland, situated near the centre of this organ.* ‘The substance of the brain is delicate and soft, and possesses a degree of elastic resistance. It is protected and supported by the skull and dura mater; its peculiar matter is supported and nourished by the pia mater. It also consists of two very distinct substances, the cineri- tious and medullary matter, and the vessels which * Descartes, OF THE BRAIN. 81 supply it with blood, are branches of the carotid and vertebral arteries. According to M. Magendie the brain is the material organ of thought, which he says is proved by a number of experiments and facts, and that nothing is more complicated or more difficult in anatomy than the study of its organization. Vauquelin has analyzed the brain, and has come to the conclusion that in 100 parts there are 80 of water, 4.53 white fatty matter, 0.7 reddish fatty matter, 7 albumen, 1.12 ozmazome, 1.5 phosphorus, 5.15 acids, salts, and sulphur. In order to disclose the structure of the brain better than had been hitherto done, MM. Gall and Spurzheim began their dissection at its base, and proceeded upwards, contrary to the former mode of examining this organ, which was from above downwards, and have considerably advanced our knowledge respect- ing its functions and structure. We are, likewise, indebted to them for their ingenious system of Phrenology. | These anatomists have endeavoured to prove that there are thirty-five different faculties, all seated on the surface of the brain, and which may be generally known by eminences on the external table of the skull, corresponding to their situation. These thirty- five faculties are divided into two orders. The first includes those which come under the head of the Feelings ; the second merely those of the Under- standing. But this arrangement of the mental M 82 OF THE BRAIN. powers, though ingenious in itself, was of too arbi- trary a nature to admit of its ever being generally adopted. It is, however, now universally admitted that the sensorium or thinking faculty has its seat in the brain, and that the latter organ must be in a healthy state in order that the powers of the mind may be duly and properly exercised. But the seat of the Passions has not been as yet so firmly agreed upon. The ancients supposed that they existed in the vis- cera, in consequence of every vivid sensation of joy or distress, of pleasure or pain, bringing on a feel- ing of anxiety in the precordia. They placed cou- rage in the heart, anger in the liver, joy in the spleen, &e. Bacon and Van Helmont seated them in the stomach, Lecat in the nervous plexuses; other physiologists in the ganglia of the great sympathe- tic, &e. But the majority of modern philosophers have considered the brain as the seat of the pas- sions. Others again deny the accuracy of this assertion, and on this subject Magendie makes the following eloquent comment. Shall we speak of the seat of the passions ? says this eminent phy- siologist. Shall we say, like Bichât, that they re- side in organic life, or like the ancients and certain moderns, that anger resides in the head, courage in the heart, fear in the semilunar ganglion, &e. ? But the passions are internal sensations; they can have no seat. They are the result of the action of Cys OF THE BRAIN. 83 the nervous system, and particularly of that of the brain. They admit then of no explanation. They may be observed, directed, calmed, or extinguished, but not explained. From whatever source the passions may have their origin, it is self-evident that the impulse which ex- cites the blush wholly originates from the sensorium in the brain, for, as we have already observed, this phenomenon is closely allied to reason and under- standing, both of which must co-exist before it can be fully developed. We might draw this line of dis- tinction between blushing and the passions com- monly so called, viz,. if the former be a passion, (as we understand that term,) it is evidently one of reason, in contradistinction to the others, or passions of instinct, such as joy, fear, pleasure, pain, &c. The latter are wholly instinctive ; they may be evinced by the lower animals, but for the production of the former there is conscience, understanding, and rea- son necessary, or in other words, it is solely and ex- clusively a prerogative of the human soul. From what has been stated regarding the sensorium and brain, it may be fairly induced that the latter organ is the primitive seat of the impulse which excites the blush ; that it is in this organ the ideas are ge- nerated—that the image of our real or imaginary transgression of the moral laws is formed, and kept before the soul, until it is fully charged with its im- pression, and rebels, when its involuntary nervous 84 OF THE SPINAL MARROW. allies, the spinal marrow and sympathetic nerves, sympathize with its disturbed functions. OF THE SPINAL MARROW. Until of late years little had been known regard- ing the physiology of this organ, or, indeed, I might add, of the entire nervous system. It is to the brilliant discoveries of Magendie, Sir Charles Bell, Professor Muller, Signor Bellingeri, and Marshall Hall, that we are principally indebted for all our knowledge regarding the structure and functions of these parts; but, to our illustrious countrymen, Sir Charles Bell and Dr. Marshall Hall, belong the chief merit of originality and enquiry. This organ, together with the nerves which it transmits to the various internal and external parts of the body, as we well know, is entirely beyond the control of the will; it is intimately united with the ganglia of the grand sympathetic nerve within the thorax, through the media of its contributary branches, and both of these conjoined form the centre of all the involun- tary movements ‘that take place in our system. Dr. Marshall Hall deduces several strong argu- ments in favour of the medulla oblongata being the seat of the passions. ‘There is good reason to con- OF THE SPINAL MARROW. 85 clude, says this physiologist, that the cerebrum is the seat of the Yun and of all the intellectual faculties. There is equally good reason to believe, that the medulla oblongata is the seat or nervous organ of the manifestation of the appetites and passions. In the idiot, in whom the cerebral lobes are struck with such atrophy and defective development as to annihilate every vestige of intellect, the appetites and passions are frequently not only unimpaired, but unnaturally strong; the appetite for food, sexual excitement, anger, and terror, are manifested in their turns in a remarkable degree. The arm, which is totally paralysed to volition or voluntary motion, in hemiplegia, is strongly agitated by sur- prise and other emotions. The seat of these emo- tions is, therefore, placed lower down in the nervous system than the seat of volition and of the disease ; the influence of volition is intercepted by that disease ; whilst that of passion is manifested in the most dis- tinct manner.” Query—Does any form of the blush take its origin from this seat of the passions, and if one does, may not all the rest be referred to the same source? To the former of these questions 1 reply in the affirmative; as every one must be fami- liar with the appearance of the blush, or rather, of the flush of rage—this is a ¿rue instinctive passion, and though there is no very apparent difference in the redness of the cheeks in this instance from what is observed in the blush of shame, still there 86 OF THE SPINAL MARROW. are many collateral symptoms by which one may easily be distinguished from the other; and the pe- culiar expression of the countenance, as already observed, is in itself sufficient to denote which is which. It is intrinsically the same impulse which produces this flush in man, that also inflames the comb of a turkey cock when swollen with rage. They are both examples of the same animal passion, differently exhibited, and may be produced without the intervention of the cerebral functions. But to the second query, I have to reply in the negative ; for arguing from the preceding data, as well as a variety of other circumstances, which will be fully explained in the concluding part of this Essay, I here state my entire conviction that the seat of the impulse which excites the true blush does not exist in any part of this organ, or in the cerebellum. The spinal marrow supplies all the vital organs with nervous influence—these organs whose func- tions never cease from the hour of birth to that when the last ray of life forsakes them. It supplies the heart with involuntary power, whose functions must be kept up without a moment of intermission, night and day, sleeping and waking. It supplies the stomach, the liver, the kidneys, the bladder, &c., with the same independent nervous influence; all these organs must be kept constantly in action for the maintenance and preservation of life; and. in order to effect this purpose, the spinal and sympa- OF THE SPINAL MARROW. 87 thetic system unite in placing them entirely beyond the caprice of the will. One point of great interest, Says Dr. M. Hall, is that which relates to the effect of sleep on the cerebral and on the true spinal sys- tems. In fact, the former sleeps; the latter never sleeps, The levator palpebree, a voluntary muscle, raises the eyelid in our waking hours; the orbicu- laris, under the influence of the true spinal system, closes the eyelids when the cerebral or voluntary muscle reposes. The connection which this part of the nervous system has with the phenomenon of blushing, consists chiefly in its forming, by impli- cation, a part of that involuntary nervous chain or circle through which the blush exciting spiritus animi is circulated, and which I shall endeavour to ex- plain more fully in the Section on the Mechanism of this phenomenon. For the present, it is suffi- cient to have pointed out that the spinal marrow supplies principally those organs whose constant and unremitting action is necessary for the mainte- nance of life; and all those parts to which it trans- mits its nervous influence are more or less beyond the control of the will. I shall now proceed to in- vestigate the organ of the sympathies, and endea- vour to point out its connection with the former. OF THE SYMPATHETIC NERVES. Extended along the vertebral column, from the base of the skull to the lower part of the sacrum, these great nerves, in some measure parasitic, are said to issue from the branches supplied them by the fifth and sixth pairs arising from each side of the brain ; they live and are nourished, as it were, at the ex- pense of all the nerves of the spinal marrow, from which they receive branches. The numerous ganglia which are distributed along their course, divide them into so many small systems, from which arise the nerves of the organs nearest them. Amid these ganglia, considered by several physiologists as so many little brains, in which is performed the elabo- ration of the fluid which they transmit to the nerves of the organs nearest them, no one is of more importance than the semilunar ganglion, situated behind the organs occupying the epigastric region, and whence those nerves originate, which are distri- buted to the greater part of the viscera of the abdo- men. It isto the region occupied by that ganglion, where the great sympathetic nerves unite, and which may be considered as the centre of the sys- tem, formed by their union, that we refer all our agreeable sensations ; there it is we feel in sadness a constriction which is commonly referred to the heart. Thence in the sad emotions of the soul, OF THE SYMPATHETIC NERVES. 89 Seem to originate those painful irradiations, which trouble and derange the exercise of all our func- tions. The numerous filaments of the great Sympathetic nerve are finer, and are said to be endowed with a more delicate sensibility, in some instances, than those of the brain; and the pain attending an affection of these great nerves is of a very peculiar kind ; it tends directly to the extinc- tion of the vital power—in these instances, the pulse is frequent and hard, but small; the face is covered with a cold sweat, the features are sunk, all the symptoms are alarming, and soon terminate fatally. The use of the great sympathetic nerves is not merely to establish a closer connexion and a greater union between all the organs which perform the functions of assimilation, but likewise to free those parts from the influence of the will; a power of the mind so fickle and so varying, that life would be in constant danger, if we had it in our power to stop or suspend the exercise of functions, with which life is essentially connected. Professor Chaussier states, that the upper filaments of the great sym- pathetic nerves ascend along the internal carotid, and join the spheno-palatine and lenticular gang- lions; and M. Ribes says, he has ascertained by dissection, that several very long and slender fila- ments follow the course of the branches of the in- ternal carotid, and like them are sent to the base N 90 OF THE SYMPATHETIC NERVES. of the brain, beyond which they cannot be traced ; and, of course, all those parts which receive their nerves from this system must be considered as en- tirely beyond the control of the will. There exists in the stomach, says M. Richerand, a union of the cerebral and sympathetic nerves, which explains the manifest dependency in which one of the three supports of life is found with the brain; a dependency so marked, that every strong affection of the soul, every violent agitation of the mind, weakens or even totally suspends the action of digestion in the stomach. We know from ex- perience that, when the nervous system is extremely delicate, a small impression on any of the organs of sense will often produce considerable disturbance in the body. “ In those cases,” says Whytt, “the impression made upon the mind, or sensorium com- mune, by seeing others in a disordered state, raises by means of the nerves such motions or changes in certain parts of the body, as to produce similar af- fections in them; and hence it is, that the sight only of a person vomiting has often excited the same action in others; that yawning is propagated from one person through a whole company, and that convulsive disorders are caught by looking on those affected with them. Now, although we can- not explain how different impressions made on the sensorium commune should occasion, by means of the nerves, those various changes in the body, yet OF THE SYMPATHETIC NERVES. 91 that the nerves are really capable of producing very Sudden changes in the circulation and distribution of the fluids, when the mind is variously affected, we have full proof in that redness of the face which ac- Companies a sense of shame, that increased flux of the saliva which happens to a hungry person upon the sight of grateful food, and that plentiful discharge of tears, which is often produced by piteous objects or tragical stories.” The history of the supposed functions of these nerves is deeply interesting, es- pecially as to their distribution and connection with the complex vagus nerve in the region of the Stomach, all of which I shall have occasion to re- vert to in a succeeding Chapter. CHAPTER II. OF THE HEART AND CAPILLARY BLOOD~VESSELS. Tue capillary circulation has long been a most fer- tile source of dispute among physiologists, espe- cially as to the capability of the heart in propelling the blood, and maintaining its motion through the re- mote arterial branches. Some have alleged, that the impulse of the heart’s action is altogether lost before the blood arrives at these minute vessels; and also state, that its circulation here is carried on by what is called capillary attraction alone; others again maintain, that it is by the property of endosmose, the principle by which the sap ascends in plants, that the blood is propelled through those minute vessels. But that great physiologist, Muller, and several others of the German school, deny in toto the foregoing doctrines, and confidently assert that the action of the heart is sufficient to propel the blood through the capillaries. “ The motions of the heart,” says this author, “ are considerably OF THE HEART. 93 affected by both the exciting and depressing pas- sions. The sensations of many parts are altered ; the secretions, as those of the lachrymal gland and skin, are affected; the action of the capillaries is modified ; hence the skin becomes red, or in other Cases pallid; in short, the passions influence, first, the nerves engaged in the respiratory function, then through the medium of the spinal cord, all the nerves of the trunk and extremities, as well those of animal life as the organic nerves.” And, again, in alluding to the sympathy that exists between the heart and brain, the same writer asks, “ Does not the heart Stand in the same relation to the mental emotions as the lachrymal organs, which are affected by every emotion of the mind when it reaches a certain intensity ?” Are not all these alliances between our vital or- gans sufficient to fill us with wonder and admira- tion of the exquisite harmony and adaptation which the Almighty has observed in the construction of our frames. Is it not pleasing, that we are en- abled to look back and trace ab origine, that beau- tiful chain of action by which “ the heart, and soul, and sense, in concert move ;” and, further, to be enabled to point out an evidence of design in every link of this harmonious piece of mechanism. What other parts of our organic structure are more capa- ble of exciting our wonder, or of filling us with gratitude for the plenitude and richness of the gifts 94 OF THE HEART, of our Creator, than the heart and its blood-vessels. In these organs circulate that fluid which has such a material connection with our existence, which has even been called life itself by some of the ancients, and the soul by others. We have, therefore, arrived at the most interesting part of our enquiries, viz., that which involves the whole arterial system, as concerned in our present subject, and its rela- tionship with the involuntary nervous system, this being evidently the medium through which the exciting stimulus is conveyed from the sensorium. The intent of this Chapter is to endeavour to ex- plain the connection that exists between the heart and brain, and to demonstrate, as clearly as possi- ble, the complicated nervous chain, by which three of the most important of the vital organs, viz., the brain, heart, and stomach, are united, combined, and harmonized into one grand whole. How the slightest derangement in the function of the one is reflected upon, and instantaneously affects the other, producing a general derangement and reaction in not only themselves, but in the entire system— thus affording another argument in favour of the unity of design in creation. The heart, as is well known, preserves its organic vitality for some time even after it has been re- moved from the body ; it may be seen to throb or pulsate on the table several moments after jt is taken from the animal, and when this vitality seems OF THE HEART. 95 to have departed, from the tranquillity of the organ, its pulsation may be again excited, by applying various stimuli to its external surface. Some Physiologists have asserted, that after it lies quiet for many hours, if it be pricked with a needle and made moderately warm, it will again begin to move ; for which reason the ancients supposed there was a latent vital principle in the heart; and Galen has Said, that its motion is innate. From this it would appear, that though the heart be furnished with the common causes of muscular motion, derived from the arteries and nerves, it further contains, within itself, a power of raising motions, which cannot be deduced from anything that we are hitherto ac- quainted with in the structure of the parts. “ Cut off all the vessels from the heart,” says Boyle, “and it will continue its motion;” thus the heart of an eel taken out from the body continued to beat, and though put under a receiver, and the air exhausted, its pulsation did not cease for the space of an hour; the heart of a flounder cut transversely into two parts, retained its motion for a great length of time, though the blood had been squeezed out of it by Pressure, and both sides of it wiped with a cloth. That the observation holds good in the heart of man, appears from the words of Lord Verulam, Who says, in his Essay on Life and Death, ‘ upon the embowelling of a criminal, (the former mode of Punishment for those convicted of high treason,) he 96 OF THE HEART. had seen the heart of a man, after it was thrown into the fire, leap up for several times together; at first to the height of a foot and a-half, and then gradually lower * * *.” Galen concluded, from similar experiments, that the heart does not stand in need of nerves for the discharge of its pro- per functions; that it is a mistake to think that the heart is a muscle, and that it Is in a manner the “ fountain of native heat.” Many other theories similar to these, respecting this wonderful property in the heart, 2. e., its irrita- bility, were advanced and have passed away since the days of this illustrious physiologist; however, it is now universally admitted that the heart’s action is intimately connected with the spinal marrow and involuntary nervous system, and through them with the brain and the whole of the vital organs. We find from anatomical investigation that the heart is abundantly supplied with large and nume- rous nerves from different sources. We find the three cardiac nerves derived from the great sympa- thetic proceeding downwards through the chest until they arrive and unite at that point where the aorta arises from the heart.—Here we see them joined by the eighth pair and recurrent complex nerves, and also by branches of the spinal; all these finally unite in forming immediately behind the heart that net-work of nervous branches known by the name of the cardiac plexus; and in the meshes of this OF THE HEART. 97 plexus, we find several smaller ganglia interwoven and inclosed, the whole forming a beautiful nervous wreath, in which the heart is partially entwined. From this plexus branches proceed in various di- rections ; some pass backwards, encircling the pos- terior coronary artery, forming a plexus around it, and accompanying its branches into the substance of the heart; others pass round the aorta, and the anterior coronary artery, and form a net-work around it, the same as that of the posterior. From this brief sketch of the anatomy of the heart, we may infer that these nerves being in themselves perfectly beyond the control of the will, must necessarily endow that organ which they so largely supply with their own peculiar involun- tary nervous energy. It is true that there are cases on record in which it is stated that the heart’s motion has been arrested at the command of the will, and one of those individuals who possessed this extraordinary power of volition was in the habit of constantly exhibiting himself before the public, un- til at length he fell a victim to his own rashness, for one day, upon a special occasion, having arrested his heart’s action, and continuing the experiment some- what longer than usual, he could not get it to move again when he intended, and immediately expired. Are we to consider such cases as depending on a casual predominancy of the eighth pair of nerves over those more purely involuntary, or shall we re- oO 98 OF THE HEART. gard them as mere anomalies? The latter conclu- sion appears to be the most tenable, for in whatever light we regard such instances, they baffle all our inquiry, and are examples of the mysteries of na- ture, which are infinitely beyond all human investi- gation. We have now seen the chain of nervous connection that exists between the brain and heart, by which the emotions of the one are communi- cated to the other. Offer an affront to a man who is now quite calm and undisturbed, says Van Swietan, and ona sudden, by a change in his thoughts, an universal change shall arise in the whole system ; his heart beats quicker and stronger, his pulse rises higher and fuller, he grows hotter, his face swells, his eyes sparkle, and even a violent fever will sometimes follow that shall end in death. The impression on the sensorium in this instance affects the heart by sympathy, through the medium of the involuntary chain of nerves. These great nerves, after supplying the heart, proceed onwards, as we have already seen, to the region of the stomach, which organ is highly en- dowed with their influence, and here the whole in- voluntary nervous system is concentrated into one focus, under the name of the “Grand Solar Plexus,” from which emanate all those painful sen- sations so well known to the dyspeptic patient. - This nervous ganglion is likewise the seat of all OF THE HEART. 99 the depressing passions, as those of despondency, fear, ke., and in particular of that melancholy and heart-rending feeling commonly called the broken heart. Hence issue the sighs of affliction and despair, the feeling which prompts the suicide to Commit that deed which “ eternity cannot annul,” and is oftentimes the seat of the distemper known by the name of “ religious monomania.” This ganglion consummates that circle which I have spoken of as uniting the brain, and heart, and sto- Mach into one. There is a reciprocal feeling or sympathy existing between these organs, which binds them closely together, and to this harmony of con- nection is owing that wonderful faculty by which the impression made upon the mind or sensorium is almost instantaneously conveyed to the heart, stomach, kidneys, &c., and vice versa. We in common parlance say that “we feel op- pressed from a load at the heart,” whenever affected by disagreeable news, or any reverse. Though the expression is forcible enough, and vulgarly received as correct, still it is far from being so. The feel- ing which we attempt to describe emanates not from the heart; or chest, but from the solar plexus of nerves communicating with the stomach. We sigh to relieve ourselves of the burden which we feel Oppressing us, perfectly unconscious of the sus- pension for the time being of the functions of the Stomach, which keeps up the state of feeling while the derangement lasts. 100 OF THE CAPILLARIES, A slight blow of the fingers externally over this highly sensitive point has frequently produced in- stantaneous death. We have a case recorded of several men who were lifting weights for a wager as feats of strength, and one less powerful than the others, having failed in his attempts several times, one of the party advanced to him as he was about to make another trial, and giving him, as he thought, a gentle blow at the pit of the stomach, said by way of joke, “ Leave the way for a better man; you will never lift it.’ The individual struck instantly fell dead on the spot. At the time his companion struck him he was completely off his guard; the abdomi- nal muscles were evidently quite relaxed, and the impression was conveyed directly to the solar plexus. The ancients would probably have inferred from ` this fact that the cardiac region was the seat of life, and that death was effected by the sudden and un- expected shock, and a total exhaustion or displace- ment of the vital fluid. OF THE CAPILLARIES. As the nerves of the heart and arteries, both large and small, are principally derived from the sympathetic and spinal system, it is but reasonable to infer, that the ultimate ramuscles of the arterial OF THE CAPILLARIES. 101 tube, called the capillary system, which has eluded all research and investigation, is supplied by Nervous filaments derived from the same source. Nerves have been demonstrated by M. Ribes on the minute arteries of the brain; and Dr. Macartney is of opinion that the arteries of the very smallest size receive nerves, on which the peculiar sensibi- lity of these vessels depends, and by means of- which the state of the small arteries is affected by remote and indirect impressions. It is now almost universally admitted that the blood is circulated throughout the arterial sys- tem, as far as the capillaries, by the heart’s action principally ; but the manner in which this fluid is propelled through the “capillary system,” as far as its junction with the veins, is still undecided ; it is a most fertile source of dispute amongst anatomists and physiologists, both of whom promulgate doc- trines and theories on this subject, directly opposed to each other. Amongst such a variety of conflict- ing opinions little can be expected from my humble efforts to elucidate the subject. However, I shall endeavour, briefly, to state both sides of the ques- tion; and as it is materially connected with the theory of blushing, I shall take the liberty of offer- ing those views which appear to me as correct. Here, then, the chief questions which propose themselves for our consideration are—First, By what means is the red colour, which suddenly rises 102 OF THE CAPILLARIES, on the cheek in the act of blushing, produced ? Second, Is it from an impulse of the heart and solar plexus of nerves, sympathizing with the mental emotion, and reflected upon the cheek ? - Or, Thirdly, Is it merely a local affection produced by some inherent property belonging to the small blood-vessels of the face in particular; or, by a cer- tain stimulus conveyed to them by the filaments of the sympathetic nerves, which we have already seen accompanying and supplying the arteries with ner- vous influence, independent of the will? These are the questions which offer themselves for our imme- diate consideration; they involve all the theories of the capillary circulation, than which nothing in phy- siology is more interesting ; and in our enquiries we must recollect, that it is stated, there are two capil- lary circulations, one propelling red and the other white blood ; and that it devolves upon us to ex- plain, whether these vessels of the cheek, in the natural state invisible, contain any fluid at all; or, are they merely “ vaisseaux vides,’ as named by Bichat and others; and how they give admittance to the red blood on special occasions, as seen in the flush of rage, blush of shame, &c. In reply to these queries, I may state—First, That the redness of the cheeks strikingly de- veloped in the act of blushing—the flush of rage and glow of exercise, is produced by the red blood entering and circulating through vessels hitherto OF THE CAPILLARIES. 103 invisible, either from their containing in their natu- ral state a transparent fluid, which cannot be readily distinguished from the superincumbent Skin ; or else, that they are collapsed and contain no fluid previous to the blood entering them on these special occasions. Tn treating of the capillary system, Bichat says, “It is established as an incontestable fact, that in many organs of the animal economy, the general capillary system is, in the ordinary state, traversed partly by blood, and partly by fluids different from it, which appear to be white.” He says again, “ Peut-être aussi y a-t-il habituellement dans ce Système, des vaisseaux vides, et qui sont destiné à recevoir les fluides en certain circonstances.” Now, it appears to be much more probable, that there are some of those minute vessels empty and collapsed, and destined to receive blood or other fluids on cer- tain occasions, than to suppose that they naturally Contain whitish or transparent fluids which give Way, that the blood may occupy their places on certain emergencies; for, were this the case, a question immediately arises, viz.—Where does this Whitish fluid go when required to make way for the blood ? According to natural laws, no two bodies “an occupy the same space at the same time—one Must evidently yield to the other; surely this white fluid cannot be infiltrated into the cells of the cel- lular tissue; and we may reasonably suppose, that there are no new vessels ready to receive it, 104 OF THE CAPILLARIES. Bichat’s comment upon the rapidity with which the blood traverses the capillaries of the face, and those of different parts of the skin, bears me out in this hypothesis; he says, ‘ On conçoit même dif- ficilement la rapidite du passage du sang dans les capillaires de la face, et dans ceux de differentes parties de la peau, si ces vaisseaux contennaient un fluid qui dit-étre deplacé pour ceder sa place au sang.”* And asa proof that the blood, on these emergencies, is propelled into and contained in real vessels, instead of being infiltrated into the surround- ing cellular substance: the same author alludes to the appearance the conjunctive present when slightly inflamed; he adds—“ Souvent en peu de temps elle change son. blanc en un rouge vif, par- ceque le sang remplit des vaisseaux ou auparavant il ne passait pas; vous voyez que le sang accumulé dans cette membrane west point infiltré, mais qu'il est contenu dans des vaisseaux réels.” Boerhaave supposed that in these instances the ca- pillaries became so enlarged as to allow the thicker parts of the blood to enter, and this he called an error loci. In commenting upon this aphorism, Van Swietan makes the following observations :— “ When by the increased motion of the blood the entrances of the arteries of a descending series are enlarged, the grosser particles of the blood will thereby gain admittance into vessels which natu- * Systèmes Capillaires——Encyclop. des Sciences Medicales. OF THE CAPILLARIES. 105 rally ought not to contain them. Thus, when the entrance of an artery (springing from an artery that carries red blood) through which there only ought to flow a serous liguid, is dilated, the red blood shall enter this serous artery. If a man in health runs violently, his face will begin to swell, and STOW red in such places as are not naturally apt to be red; the tunica adnata of the eyes will have its vessels filled with red blood, whereas naturally these vessels have no red blood in them at all.” The following are M. Magendie’s views regard- ing the circulation of this colourless fluid in the Capillary system, and are directly opposed to those of an eminent English writer, as we shall presently See :-— $ “The blood is not the only fluid that moves in the beautiful rete formed by the capillary interlace- ment. There are certain organs and tissues into the capillary system, of which that fluid does not ap- pear to enter at all in the normal state; but if you push an injection into the vessels, it will penetrate into the canals wherein fluids of another description usually circulate, quite as well as into those in which the blood is ordinarily found. Thus, when the material injected is well fitted for the purpose, and cautiously introduced, the serous membranes will become covered with vascular arborisations. Now the vessels you descry on its surface, when thus injected, were not, during life, traversed by P 195 OF THE CAPILLARIES. blood ; white fluids only were contained in them, but as these hold no opaque granules in suspension, their mode of circulation cannot be accurately ob- served during life.* Dr. Macartney, in his recent work on “ Inflam- mation,” explains this phenomenon in the follow- ing manner. The arteries (says Dr. Macartney) which only carry the colourless parts of the blood or the serum, becoming under inflammation so much dilated that they admit the red particles. In the transparent membranes, as the pleura, peritoneum, &e., this is well illustrated, on which the red vessels may be counted, when inflamed. In the transpa- rent cornea the red vessels are very distinct. The vessels of the skin are peculiarly numerous and ex- citable, and therefore when it is inflamed the red- ness has a painted or stained appearance, the vessels being so much crowded together that they are not distinguished from each other. The same is found on the mucous membrane, and in all the parts of the body endowed with much sensibility there is a copious supply of red blood; thus the skin and mu- cous membranes, which are the two great sentient surfaces, receive a great quantity of arterial blood. Before advancing any farther into the doctrines of inflammation, let us inquire what relationship (if any at all) exists between the phenomenon of blush- * Magendie’s Lectures on the Blood,—Lancet, Dec. 22, 1838. OF THE CAPILLARIES. 107 ing and this subject. In the work just quoted, Dr. i Macartney states that “heat and redness are produced in the skin by a merely excited state of circulation, as may be observed in blushing, and in the turgid State of various erectile tissues, as the genital organs, the skin about the turkey-cock’s neck, and many Other similar structures.” But I shall go farther, and endeavour to prove that there is little or no difference between both these phenomena. In an intense blush we have all the symptoms which cha- racterise inflammation. Dr. Macartney has allowed two, viz., “ heat and redness,” to which I shall add the remainder, pain and swelling; although the pain be not acute, still it is deeply felt, for in this instance it has a double origin—it is moral as well as physical, which deepens its sting. Then, in inflammation we have rubor, calor, dolor, et tumor, as its common diagnostic symptoms. In blushing we have the same—so far, so well—but still there is one important internal symptom be- longing to the former, not yet mentioned, viz., the altered secretion set up by the capillaries of the in- flamed part. How are we to dispose of this, in assimilating the two phenomena? We have no instances recorded in which there has been found any depositions, any alteration in structure in the cheek of an individual prone to blush—and we gene- rally observe the face resume its usual appearance a few moments after it has subsided. 108 OF THE CAPILLARIES. The capillaries of the external sentient surface, (the skin) “ with the nerves which doubtless accom- pany them,” are the parts principally engaged in both cases, and if their functions become altered in one, why not in the other? The reason is ob- vious—the inflammation of a part must be continued for some time before any alteration can take place in its structure, even allowing the capillary system to deviate by some peculiar unknown power from its usual function in all cases of inflammation. Were this latter process as transitory and fleeting as that of blushing, we should have but few in- stances of structural deposits, alterations, &c., taking place in the vicinity of inflamed parts ; and, on the other hand, if the blush could be kept up for a given time, reasoning from analogy, we must infer, that structural derangement would eventually take place; thus showing us that no- thing is ordained in the conformation of moral or physical man without some final object—some wise purpose; for, in blushing, were the efflorescence to be continued to any lengthened period, the great object for which it was designed would be altoge- ther thwarted—in the first place, by rendering the phenomenon less striking to the observer in conse- quence of its permanency; and, in the second, by tending to produce a derangement in the functions of the parts—a result which could never have been intended by Providence in this instance—Here the OF THE CAPILLARIES. 109 wisdom and goodness of God is strikingly mani- fested, for, is it not by the sudden and momentary Suffusion that the mind announces its consciousness of having erred—and, is it not from the same cause, viz., the evanescent nature of the blush, that the health of the part is preserved—both proclaiming the phenomenon to be one, not of chance, but of design. Although I do not go so far as to state, that all the effects of inflammation could be pro- duced by this phenomenon if prolonged sufficiently, yet the intimate relation that exists between both is self-evident and apparent. Dr. Marshall Hall denies the existence of in- ` creased or diminished action in the capillaries during inflammation—according to his view, a peculiar alteration takes place on the internal sur- face of these vessels, which causes the globules of the blood to adhere to it, and consequently pro- duces stagnation, which constitutes the essential character of the disease ; and in drawing a distinc- tion between blushing and inflammation, he says, “ It is probably by the fact of stagnation, that in- flammation differs from blushing, from eruptions, and in some degree from erysipelas.” This author also denies the existence of serous vessels which ex- clude entirely the red globules of the blood. “It has been supposed,” says Dr. H., “ by many writers that there is a series of blood-vessels which are so 110 OF THE CAPILLARIES. minute as not to admit the blood globules; they, therefore, carry the serum only This is the case in the tunica conjunctive of the eye, and other membranes destitute of colour. All this is a mere and unfounded hypothesis—there are no such serous, globuleless vessels at all. Take the web of the frog, choose the palest, and what appears to be the most bloodless part of it, and place it under the micro- scope, you will see myriads of capillary vessels, along which the blood, with its globules, flows con- tinuously ; inflame this web, and observe it with the naked eye—it has become red—it now possesses, according to the authors of the hypothesis, vessels which it did not before, and which convey the glo- bules as well as the serum of the blood; look at it under the microscope, and you will find that the real and true change is, that the capillary vessels are somewhat. enlarged and crowded with stagnant blood globules, which, from their augmented num- ber, give the reddened hue to the part. In a word, single globules, flowing along with the serum of the blood, do not impart a redness detectable by the eye; it is accumulated globules, in enlarged or larger vessels, which communicate this colour; it is their accumulation which constitutes the difference in the colour of a part, otherwise pale, white, or transparent, as it becomes affected with inflam- mation.” Such are the conclusions Dr. Marshall Hall has OF THE CAPILLARIES. Ill arrived at, after a long and careful investiga- tion into this interesting subject, and with re- gard to his views respecting the non-existence of “ globuleless vessels,” contrary to the opinions of Boerhaave, Haller, Bichat, &c. I must say, that they appear much more plausible and much more easily reconciled to the known laws of physiology, than those of his predecessors: according to Dr. Hall’s view, we can readily and rationally account for the velocity with which the face becomes crimsoned in the act of blushing, the mechanism is greatly sim- plified, in as much as there are no new vessels re- quired, either to admit the circulating blood into channels through which it naturally ought to flow, or to receive this said whitish fluid, which if it exists, must evidently give way to the red globules, and which we must infer is then exuded into the adjoining tissue, (an improbable event,) or else contained in real vessels, which had been previously empty or collapsed. l With regard to the distinction which Dr. Hall draws between inflammation and . blushing, I do not agree, and beg, respectfully, to differ from him on this point; if Dr. Hall had observed the pheno- menon in its intense form, as seen on the cheek of individuals the most susceptible, he would recognize a retardation of the blood on the surface, a “ stagna- tion,” or something akin to it, even after the paroxysm had subsided; and which I have seen 112 OF THE CAPILLARIES. continue for at least twenty minutes after the droop- ing aspect of the features had passed away; this symptom giving evidence of the moral impulse being suppressed ; for I defy any one, in the act of blush- ing, to look at, or stand the glance of another per- son present. The eyes are irresistibly borne down, and the whole features droop, or languish in oppo- sition to the will. My reply to the second of the questions laid down at the beginning of this Chapter is—That it is fully ascertained by most eminent physiologists, Burdach, Muller, &c. that the heart is capable of propelling the red blood into the remote capillaries of any part of the cutaneous surface—for instance, those of the face, scalp, ears, &c., or either ex- tremities. } The latter of these authors has some peculiar views regarding this subject, which I may here mention—‘‘ The mutual action or affinity between the blood and the tissues of the body, which is an essential part of the process of nutrition, is, under many circumstances, greatly encreased: and an accumulation of blood into the dilated vessels of this organ is the result. It is seen, for example, in the reproductive organs when excited; in the uterus during pregnancy, stomach in digestion, &c. The local accumulation of blood with the dilatation of old and the formation of new vessels, is, however, seen most frequently in the embryo, in which new OF THE CAPILLARIES. 113 organs are developed in succession by a process of this kind (vital turgescence of the blood-vessels). This condition may be excited very suddenly, as is Seen in the instantaneous injection of the cheeks with blood in the act of blushing, and of the whole head under the influence of violent passions; in both these instances the local phenomena are evt- dently induced by nervous influence.” * With regard to the third query—lIs the increased redness of the cheek in blushing merely a local “fection depending upon its organic sensibility, upon Some inherent property belonging to the small blood-vessels of the face in particular—or upon a certain stimulus conveyed to them by the filaments of the sympathetic nerves, which I have already spoken of, as supplying the ultimate arterial branches with involuntary nervous influence? I have only to state, in reply, that the capillaries of this part of the sentient surface of the body are not in themselves sufficient to produce a moral illustra- tion of shame upon the cheek. I am aware, that there are many arguments in opposition to this statement—but, nevertheless, I maintain that there is a vis a tergo, an impulse from the brain urging the blood forward to the surface of the face, in every instance in which the blush may be excited. There is, apparently, a defined circle, a chain of * Handbuch fuer Physiologie. Q 114 OF THE CAPILLARIES, action wherein the brain forms a principal part, through which the nervous influence must circulate, before the blood can appear on the cheek: of this I shall speak more amply in the third division of this subject when treating of the anastomosing of the nerves. Before concluding my remarks on the capillary blood-vessels, I have another query to investigate, still more interesting than the preceding. It is this —Why does the blush take place on the cheek in preference to any other part of our system? _ Is the feeling of this region more exquisite than that of any other part of the dermis? Is its organic sensibility more highly wrought, or more highly endowed with’ nervous influence and vascu- larity, than all the rest of the cuticular surface ? These questions, interesting in themselves, lead to investigations and inquiries doubly more so. Every student of anatomy must have been forcibly struck with the peculiar arrangement of the capil- lary vessels beneath.the surface of the cheek, as seen by injection. Their size, the intricacy of their interwoven communications with each other, form- ing a net-work, at first sight of confused and unde- fined vessels, (an appearance so different from that observed in other parts of the body,) and such as cannot fail to attract the attention of the student— to bid him pause and reflect upon the probable design of the Omnipotent in ordaining that this iso- im OF THE CAPILLARIES. 115 lated portion of the human skin should be more abundantly supplied with red blood than that of any other part of the same external sentient surface. If we inject an infant even with common coarse size, we see the face growing darker and darker as the injection advances, until it finally assumes the colour of venous blood. It not unfrequently becomes perfectly black; at other times it will assume the colour of a person who died from apo- plexy; all these circumstances confirm us in the belief that, even from birth, this part of the body is more highly organized, more replete with arterial blood, than any other portion of the external sur- face. It still remains for me to explain why this is so, for as yet I have only alluded to the fact of Such being the case; but, before I can properly explain all its bearings, and offer my own con- jectures upon this interesting subject, I must first make a few observations on the Dermoid System, especially that part of it belonging to the face, a subject intimately connected with the physiology of blushing and the peculiar arrangement of the ca- pillaries in the cheek—that external arena of the emotions of the soul—that focus of every involun- tary exhibition of internal feeling and sympathy. CHAPTER III. OF THE DERMIS, OR SKIN OF THE CHEEK. « To man it is a sensitive limit, placed on the boundaries of his soul.” —Bicwat. Tur skin is composed of three layers—the epidermis or scarf-skin, rete mucosum or seat of colour, and the cutis or true skin. It is extremely porous and extremely vascular; a child in full vigour comes into the world, from this circumstance, scarlet, and it is also endowed with intense sensibility. ‘Some parts of the skin have more feeling than others ; the lips, for example, as Haller says, “ ad basia destinata,’ the glans clitoridis, glans penis, &c., with a similar intention. It is more dense and thick on those parts which nature has designed for bear- ing pressure or burthen, as seen on the back, on the soles of the feet, and palms of the hands; and on the contrary, we find the skin on the fore part of the body, on the inside of the arms and legs, and when its surfaces touch opposite surfaces, to be OF THE DERMIS. 117 much more thin than on those parts just mentioned. It is extremely thin on the lips, and allows the colour of the blood to shine through it. The epidermis, the exterior layer of our common integument, says Mr. Lawrence, is the thin trans- parent or light-greyish pellicle raised by a blister ; in the natural state it adheres closely, almost in- separably, to the subjacent parts, and is accurately _ fitted to the cutis, having folds and lines corres- ponding to all the inequalities of that organ. It presents no traces of fibres, lamina, or cells; it has no blood-vessels, absorbents, or nerves ; there- fore, though perforated by the hairs, by the excre- tory tubes of cutaneous follicles, by the exhalent mouths of the capillaries, and possibly by absorbent orifices, it is incapable of sensation and all vital ac- tions, extravascular and inorganic. It is a protect- ing sheath for the finely organized and sensible skin; and serves the further purpose of preventing evapor- ation, by which that organ would be inevitably dried. Thus the external surface of our living ma- chine is in a manner dead ; and objects applied to it act on the cuticular nerves through this insensi- ble medium. When preternaturally thickened, it destroys sensation; if removed, as by blistering, the contact of bodies gives pain, but does not pro- duce the appropriate impressions of touch. The delicate rete mucosum, generally regarded as the seat of human colour—of all the diversified 118 OF THE DERMIS. tints which characterize the various races of men, is interposed between the epidermis and cutis, or true skin—In the Negro it is more clearly demon- strated than in Europeans. Malpighi, who dis- covered its existence, announced that it gave colour to the skin; and this opinion is now admitted by all. In the Negro it is black; in the Chinese yel- low; in the aboriginal American, copper-colour ; while, in the European, it possesses different shades of red and olive, more or less approaching to white- ness. It is a deficiency of this rete that gives to the skin of the Albino a peculiar dead or pallid cast, something like that of leprous scales ; it is like- wise owing to their want of pigmentum, that the eyes of this being are so weak as hardly to see an object by day, or bear the rays of the sun. The rete is closely adherent to the cutis; and according to the interesting experiments and conclusions of the late Dr. Wallace on the Negro’s skin, it ap- pears, that the cohesion between the black pigment and the tissue in which it is deposited is so great, that the former could not be removed even by rub- bing the surface with lint. The next layer we come to, is that which has the greatest bearing on our subject, 7. e., the cutis or true skin. The areolar tissue of the cutis is permeated in every direction by countless myriads of arterial and venous ramifications, of which the ultimate capillary divisions occupy the external or compact surface of OF THE DERMIS. 119 the organ, and forms a vascular net-work over the entire body, eluding our enquiries and defying cal- culation by the number and fineness of its tubes. In the glow of exercise or the flush of shame, in the excitement of fever or the eruption of measles, Scarlatina, &c., these cutaneous vessels are filled with blood ; they may be injected with coloured fluids after death. Their ramifications are particu- larly numerous and subtile in those parts of the Cutaneous organ which possess the most exquisite Sensibility; and where the surface is found on Minute examination to be covered by numerous fine processes called villi.* The colour of the cutis is uniform, or very nearly So, in all the varieties of the human race, and depends entirely on the state of its capillary blood-vessels. According as they are full or empty, it may vary (as we see in the white races) from a more or less florid red, constituting what artists call flesh colour, to the waxy paleness of fainting or exhaustion from hemorrhage. Maceration in water makes its areo- lar tissue quite white, and injection with size co- loured by vermilion gives it a deeper or lighter Shade of red, according to the force employed. * It is the external vascular surface of the cutis, with its pa- Pillæ or villi, that Bichat has described as a separate stratum, un- der the name of corps RETICULAIRE. + Lawrence’s Lectures on Man. 120 OF THE DERMIS. Before birth the cutaneous surface of the cheek contains more blood (comparatively speaking) than any other part of the same system, but then it is dark venous blood that circulates through its vessels. The fluid is as yet perfectly unaerated, and con- tinues so until birth, when the new-born being breathes for the first time the oxygenated atmo- sphere in which he is to live. There now takes place a complete revolution in the dermoidal system ; the skin, which was hitherto of a blue or livid shade, assumes a scarlet colour from the arterial blood traversing those vessels which were formerly supplied by venous fluid alone. The skin of the face does not immediately assume that rosy tint which afterwards takes place there. For some months after birth (says Bichat) that lively carnation is not yet observed which soon after is spread over the cheek, and which begins to manifest itself towards the time the sinuses are formed, and the teeth cut, at which period the pro- cess of nutrition attracts more vital activity to that part. This is generally observed during the process of dentition, as may be seen in the frequent flush- ings to which the face is subject during that critical period, and we can observe through the exquisitely delicate skin of the infant, with a magnifying glass, numbers of the minute vessels through which the blood is circulating, which are united and inter- woven in a beautiful manner with each other, and OF THE DERMIS. 12] appear to be immediately beneath the external cuta- neous surface. M. Magendie stated in his lectures on the blood, delivered at the College of France, that the move- ment of this fluid in the capillaries of one’s own body may be seen in the following manner :— “ Place yourselves in a strong light, close your eyes, and then stretch the upper lids so as to render them as thin as possible ; they will permit the passage of a few luminous rays, and you will perceive, though of course indistinctly, the blood moving’ from the upper part of the lid towards the tarsal cartilage.” I have frequently tried this experiment, and found that the circulation appeared most distinct when the light was moderate, not strong, as observed by M. Magendie, and any individual may convince him- self of this by trying the experiment first close by a strong light, and then gradually withdrawing the eye to a given distance, in order to lessen the inten- sity of the luminous rays. We now arrive at the investigation of that ques- tion I omitted answering in the last Chapter, viz., Why does the blush strike on the cheek in prefer- ence to any other part of the dermoidal system? In the concluding remarks on the capillary sys- tem, I have alluded to the peculiar arrangement of the vessels of the cheek, and the facility by which that anatomical arrangement admits the blood to its surface. Now, I shall endeavour to explain why R 199 OF THE DERMIS. this is so; and before offering my own peculiar views on this point, let us first hear the observations of the immortal Bichat, on the same subject. -Here I shall make a remark, says this physiolo- a gist, which to me appears very important—it is, that the capillary system of the face is much more liable than that of any other part to be permeated with blood—First, This is obvious in the two cases I have just mentioned, (after violent running, and during the hot stage of fever,) wherein the action of the heart is increased. Secondly, In passions, the _ skin remains the same in all other parts, whilst this | suddenly flushes or turns pale. Thirdly, We know that the physician frequently consults the state of the capillary system of the face, because it is most generally influenced by that of the internal viscera; that it is filled with or void of blood ace erate as it is sympathetically affected, &c. From what does this remarkable susceptibility of the capillary system of the face to admit red blood proceed? I believe three essential causes give rise to it—First, The way is already open, since the colour of the cheek proclaims its presence, its quantity only is increased, whilst, whenever an- other part of the skin is flushed, the blood it con- tains is nearly accidental. Secondly, The anato- mical arrangement of the capillary system is better accommodated there, than in other parts, to this in- flux of the blood; for, it appears that there is a OF THE DERMIS. #33 more ready communication between this system and the arteries of the corium. This is proved by in- jection, in which the face colours with the utmost facility. There is not an anatomist, I dare, say, who has not occasionally been struck with this phenomenon in infants particularly, in which, if the coarse injections of our dissecting rooms pass even imperfectly, the face becomes quite black, whilst very little fluid penetrates the other parts of the cutaneous system. Thirdly, It appears that there is a quicker sensibility in the face; in fact, the stimulant that attracts the blood to this part does not act with the same force elsewhere; for. instance, a blow upon the ear will redden the cheeks more than a similar blow applied to the arms, &c. The blood is withdrawn from the capillary sys- tem of the face with the same rapidity as it flows to it; in the space of a moment, passions will alter- nately impress upon the features both the fiery complexion of a fever, the paleness of syncope, and also every intermediate shade. It is the facility with which this fluid penetrates those parts that colours the living picture, as it were, in which the divers passions alternately tinge the features with a thousand different shades, which fade away, return, change, and are modified, according to the state of the mind. I have observed in this respect, that the face af- fords to our passions three means of expression— 124 OF THE DERMIS. First, The capillary system, perfectly independent of the will, and which often betrays what we wish to conceal. Secondly, The muscular motions, which, by contracting or expanding the features, express melancholy and grief, or joy and happiness. Thirdly, The state of the eye, an organ which, as Buffon has remarked, not only receives the sensa- tions, but also expresses the passions. The two latter circumstances are, in some means, voluntary, at least we may feign them, whilst we could not be deceived by the first. Anger, joy, &c., may be imitated by frowning, by laughing, &c.; but it is the Roucs by which the actress represents modesty and innocence ; let it be wiped off, and the paleness of fear and terror instantly appears. I shall add another essential observation in respect to the capil- lary system of the face, which is, that its tendency to be over-run with blood disposes it to become more frequently the seat of a multitude of affections. Erysipelas is more frequently detected in this part than in any other; it is the principal seat of the pustules in smallpox, &c.* With regard to all the statements of this author, I perfectly agree, with one single exception, which is this: “ In passions,” says Bichat, “ the skin re- mains the same in all other parts, whilst this (the skin of the face) suddenly flushes or turns pale.”— * Systéme Dermoide, pp. 668, 669, Anatomie Générale, par Xav. Bichat. OF THE DERMIS. 125 That this is not strictly correct I am certain will be readily allowed, for many cogent reasons— First, In the intense blush, as seen in some deli- cate females, we may observe, that not only the skin of the face, but that of the ears, scalp, neck, and bosom, assumes the same crimson aspect ; this is not a rare phenomenon; it may be observed in almost every ball or drawing-room; and with which I am sure every one is familiar. I have oftentimes observed the blush commence on the neck and ears, and then spread to the cheek, when all three were engaged together. How are we to ac- count for this? Are we to look upon such a case as an exception to the general rule, as a lusus nature? No, the question is not insolvable; it appears to me to be very easily explained :— It is the custom of all nations, as already ob- served, to leave the face bare, whatever may be their creed or location. In cold, or even temperate climates, as our own, the external atmosphere, } which is below the heat of the body, constantly act- ing on the exposed surface of the facial skin, natu- rally attracts blood to the part, not for the sake of beauty, but for the caloric which it gives off. Now, the constant ingress of blood to this particular part, which is kept up through life by the very same means that first attracted it there, must render the minute arterial tubes more dilatable, and, conse- quently, more liable to become filled with red blood 126 OF THE DERMIS, on any case of emergency, than in any other part of the same system. Thus it is, that in a temperate climate, we ob- serve the fairest skins and most rosy complexions ; and in those countries beneath the tropics we ob- serve the very reverse. According to the afore- said counter-stimulant law, the neck and bosom of a female, who, in compliance with the custom of her country, and the fashions of society, keeps them constantly exposed, must become more plen- tifully supplied with animal heat than they would require if equally covered with the rest of the body. Then, how is this heat to be procured ? The blood, the source of all heat, must traverse through “ gates and alleys,” where it was not re- quired before, to diffuse its genial warmth, convey increased vitality, and its natural consequence, sus- ceptibility, to the part concerned. ‘This increased flow of blood, together with the anatomical arrange- ment and exquisite delicacy of the skin in this re- gion, renders it more accessible to the red fluid than other parts which are not exposed, and finally brings its organic sensibility on a par with that of the cheek. It may be stated in opposition to the foregoing theory, that the peculiar redness of the cheek is often confined to.a circumscribed spot, and is not diffused. over the whole face; and, at the same time, it may be asked, why does not the neck OF THE DERMIS. 127 become rosy as well as the former, as from the above reasoning the laws of the one should equally apply to the other. It has been already stated that the capillaries of the face have an arrangement pe- culiar to themselves, for the express purpose (as we must infer) of colouring and diffusing heat over this part of the body, which is generally kept bare, and seems to have been originally intended by na- ture to be so, from its singular peculiarity of organ- ization, which we must certainly conceive to have been so constituted for some wise end. Although a redness similar to that of the cheek in its natural and healthy state is not observable on the neck in those instances alluded to, yet that the minute blood-vessels of this part are more sus- ceptible of the blood’s ingress, or in the words of Bichat, that “ the way is more freely open” for the admission of this fluid than in other parts, is suff- ciently proved by the fact of their being instanta- neously filled in the act of blushing, and partaking of as deep a scarlet colour as the cheek itself. The organic sensibility of this region must be highly developed in order to render it so susceptible. The blood must have been in greater abundance on the external surface of the dermis or true skin, the circulation in the capillaries immediately beneath the epidermis of this part more lively and free than elsewhere, and owing to the increased vascularity of the neck, scalp, ears, and bosom, arising from the OG aaa : pe = = Teamr ranan = mat —— = = ERE MRT Pah 2 VEU TET hal eager 128 OF THE DERMIS. causes already explained, the blood is as easily drawn to their surface from any impulse of the sensorium, as exemplified in some of the passions, as it is to that of the face in the act of blushing. I must therefore conclude that the face is not the only part which colours. It has been stated, and I have heard individuals repeat the assertion, that in the act of blushing the same glow of heat that is felt upon the cheek is a moment previously experienced in the epigastric region, as if a harbinger of what was about to take place. That this is the fact I have not the slightest doubt, and we may reasonably infer that a point so extremely sensitive as this is, must participate more or less in the general sympathetic and organic emotion. I have already alluded to the abundant supply of involuntary nerves with which this region is en- dowed; it is, as it were, the focus of involition, whence emanate a variety of sensations peculiar to this place, sometimes pleasing and sometimes pain- ful, for which reason it has been called by the illustrious Hunter, ‘the sensitive centre,” or “centre of sympathies.” Every individual about to blush is conscious of a peculiar sensation in this particular region be- fore the phenomenon actually takes place, and of this impression, and the probable influence it has in stimulating the vascularity of the cutaneous sur- face in its immediate vicinity during the production OF THE DERMIS. 129 of the blush, I shall discuss more fully in the Third Section of this Essay, or that which bears exclusively on its physiology. To me the construction of these parts (the appa- ratus of the sympathies which I have just spoken of) has long been a source of reflection, nor do I think any individual can meditate even for a mo- ment on the subject, without being impressed with a feeling of happiness and delight on observing the harmony of movement of these delicately organised structures, and the evident security with which all are arranged, combined, and made effectual, not only for sympathizing with every emotion of the soul, but likewise for fulfilling the great end for which their exquisite adjustment was designed— the maintenance of Life. I have now concluded my observations on the « Anatomy of Blushing,” and am fully aware how imperfectly they have been made. It was not my intention to go deeply or minutely into this part of the subject, as avowed at the commencement of the Section. I deemed it merely necessary to give an outline of the construction and arrangement of the principal parts concerned in the production of this phenomenon, and have accordingly confined my anatomical remarks within as small a compass as possible; if I have erred in this respect I have to crave the indulgence of my readers, as brevity was the main object, and an Essay of this kind, intended s 130 OF THE DERMIS. principally for the general reader, would not be adapted for abstract physiological inquiry. I have endeavoured, though, perhaps, in a limited sense of the phrase, to give the “‘ utile et dulce” in these pages, by drawing moral inductions from natural phenomena, both pleasing and interesting in them- selves; and if this subject be regarded by the reader with the same interest as that with which I have looked upon it, my. expectations will be fulfilled. SECTION THIRD. THE MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. CHAPTER I. OF THE SENSATION OF BLUSHING. In the preceding pages I have described the “ Ana- tomy” of the parts engaged in Blushing—I have there treated of the brain and spinal marrow, and of the voluntary and involuntary nerves emanating from them. We have seen that these which were placed beyond the control of the will, or in other words, the nerves of involition, were most particu- larly engaged in the production of this interesting phenomenon. I have alluded to the epigastric cen- tre, where the whole influence of the involuntary nervous system seems to be concentrated in the semilunar ganglia or solar plexus, whence arise such a variety of sensations, both painful and other- wise, that the ancients believed it to be the seat of the passions—the source whence every emotion of rage, fear, hope, joy, and sorrow had their origin ; 132 OF THE SENSATION OF BLUSHING. and some even honoured this region as the exclu- sive residence of the soul. I have explained the sympathy that the heart and stomach evince in every mental emotion, particularly the heart, which never fails to participate in the slightest disturbance of the mind. I have pointed out how highly both of these vital organs are endowed with the nervous energy of involition, how their functions may be carried on by night as well as by day, in our sleeping and waking moments, always the same —sleepless and inexhaustible. This vital action going on from the cradle to the grave, forcibly pro- claims the wisdom of the Deity in thus guarding the wonderful mechanism of our frames against constant and inevitable death. I have, likewise, _ investigated the minute blood-vessels or capillary system, as being intimately connected with this sub- ject—we have seen them interlace with each other in a thousand different ways, defying all calcula- tion, and I have offered an explanation why the cheek and neck in particular should be the seat of the blush—why the minute vessels of these parts of the body should be influenced by the emotions of © the mind, exclusively, in admitting the red blood to the surface of the skin, which is not observed on other parts. E I have concluded the Second Section of this Essay with some observations on the dermoidal sys- tem generally, but more particularly on that part OF THE SENSATION OF BLUSHING. 133 belonging to the cheek ; and have endeavoured to explain the anatomical arrangement and construc- tion of the different layers of this organ, as observed both in the Negro and European. We have seen that the capillaries in the dermis of the face, neck, and scalp, communicated much more freely with each other than those of other parts of the same organ ; that their arrangement was peculiar in this respect—and from this peculiarity arose the great liability of the skin in these places to become in- vaded with blood under certain circumstances. Having already shown the anatomy of the parts concerned in the production of the pheno- menon—lI have now to unite all these into one, and describe the Mechanism by whose action the blush is finally brought forth upon the cheek. No one who has arrived at the years of maturity but must be more or less, familiar with that pecu- liar and indescribable sensation which immediately precedes the appearance of the blush on the cheek. After the impression is made on the sensorium which is to excite this phenomenon, we become im- mediately conscious of what is about to take place— we feel that the will is overpowered—and, for the time being, is rendered subordinate to the mental powers, and the emotions of sympathy. Now, from the feeling of our own helplessness, like a bad swimmer when out of his depth, we become flurried, 134 OF THE SENSATION OF BLUSHING, and in our eager attempts to avert the threatened result, by endeavouring to expel from the mind or imagination that association of ideas which is about to bring it forth, we only fix it the more firmly, and ensure its full development, to the deep mortifi- , cation and prostration of our will. . * Presently a kind of fluctuating glow pervades the „entire frame—there is great mental confusion—the eyes languish, and never look towards the bystander —the countenance loses its wonted animation—every feature seems to droop—the head itself hangs, as if endeavouring to conceal from external gaze the mental emotion which is about to be reflected from the soul upon the face. There is a thrill or throb- bing of the heart, which is oftentimes visible exter- nally—we feel a momentary oppression in the re- gion of the stomach or centre of sympathies, and semilunar ganglia—the breathing becomes affected in the general sympathy, and a stifling follows as in grief—all self-possession is lost for the moment —the voice becomes changed, and the vague man- ner of speaking is not unfrequently the harbinger of the deep and burning blush which is soon to follow. The individual concerned often feels a peculiar sensation similar to the epileptic aura rising from the precordia upwards, as if it was the impulse which the stomach had received from the brain, being reflected back upon the face; all this takes OF THE SENSATION OF BLUSHING. 135 place immediately, and follows the first mental im- pression. The blush is now felt stealing to the surface of the cheek—the skin begins to tingle, and before the phenomenon is perfected, there is pain, heat, redness, and swelling, or in other words, a species of temporary inflammation ensues. When the blush is intense, an overwhelming em- barrassment is the result; there is not a vital organ in the body which does not participate in the gene- ral emotion ; and it is even affirmed, that the cor- pora cavernosa become. injected, which must evi- dently take place from an engagement of the spinal nerves, through the media of the sympathetics in this particular instance. As my theory of the Physiology of Blushing is principally based upon the conviction of an anasto- mosing or joining of the minute filaments of the organic and complex nerves, I shall here make some observations on this subject. CHAPTER II. OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. Wiis was the first anatomist who gave an accu- rate description of the brain and nerves. He was also the first who endeavoured to explain the various instances of sympathy between the different parts of the body from the communications or anastomoses of their nerves. Vieussens afterwards adopted and illustrated this doctrine further, and his views were embraced by the majority of writers down to the time of Whytt. This latter author, in his work on Nervous Disorders, where he treats of the “ struc- ture, use, and sympathy of the nerves,” has endea- voured with much energy and argument to subvert this doctrine. The prevailing opinion (says Whytt) has been that the sympathies are owing to the communications between the nerves, and particularly to the connection which the intercostals have with the fifth, sixth, and eighth pairs, and with almost all those which proceed from the spinal marrow. Upon this principle it has been thought easy to OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 137 trace the various sympathies not only between the several parts of the abdomen, but also between them and the head, neck, thorax, and extremities; but, however plausible this theory may appear at first view, and how readily soever it may seem to ex- plain many remarkable instances of consent ; yet a more strict examination will show it to be liable to insuperable difficulties. Professor Whytt, in endeavouring to subvert the theory—‘‘ that the sympathy of the several parts of the body was dependent on a union or anastomosis of their nerves,” has laid down a series of obstacles, all of which do not appear to me as being perfectly correct. The following are a few of his arguments against this theory :—First, Since every individual nerve appears to be quite distinct from every other, not only in its rise from the medullary substance of the brain or spinal marrow, but also in its progress to that part where it terminates; it follows that the various instances of sympathy, observed between the different parts of the body, cannot be owing to any communication or anastomoses of their nerves: * * * But,” he adds, “lest it should be alleged that the course of the nervous filaments in the ganglia is so intricate, that it is not altogether clear whether they may not intermix or communicate with one another in their passage through those bodies; it wil] be necessary to offer some less doubt- ful arguments for proving that the sympathy of T na SR 138 OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. the several parts does not depend on any union or anastomosis between these nerves. Secondly, If there were any anastomosis or real communication between the nerves of the same or different trunks, either in the ganglia or elsewhere, it is natural to think that a confusion would necessarily take place in our sensations, as well as in the motions of our several muscles ; for the impressions of external ob- jects would be communicated, at the places of union, to other nerves than those affected ; and the change produced. by the will in any nerve, at its origin in the brain or spinal marrow, in order for moving a particular muscle, would affect all those nerves with which it has any communication by means of the ganglia or otherwise. Thirdly, We observe a ‘remarkable sympathy between many parts whose nerves have certainly not the smallest communication with one another.” After a variety of arguments, all having the same tendency as the foregoing, this author comes to the following conclusion :—“ If, therefore, the various instances of sympathy cannot be accounted for from any union or anastomosis of the nerves in their way from the brain to the several organs ; and if there are many remarkable instances of consent between parts whose nerves have no connection at all; it follows, that all sympathy must be referred to the brain and spinal marrow, the source of all the nerves.” ‘This was rather a summary conclusion— OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 139 however, nearly the same doctrine is now advocated by Dr. Marshall Hall, who denies, in toto, that the nerves unite or anastomose by any means, or in any part of the system; also the existence of a sympathetic nerve; and refers the various sympa- thies to the spinal marrow and medulla oblongata. Professor Whytt further adds:—“ Although the optic nerves unite at the cella turcica, yet it has been shown that their fibres do not cross, inter- mix, or truly communicate with each other ; never- theless there is a considerable sympathy between the eyes.” Again he says, “ Although the nerves of the two kidneys do not appear to have any con- nection with each other, yet, when one of these glands is inflamed or irritated by a stone, the se- cretion from the other is frequently much dimi- nished.” As the foregoing dogmas are not in exact accord- ance with my views of the same subject, I shall take the liberty of making the following comments upon them—First, With regard to the ‘‘ individual nerves.” In the extremities of the body we certainly find nerves arising from the same source travelling together for some way, then separating, and finally meeting and interlacing with each other, if not actu- ally uniting. In the arm we have a good example of this; and in the thigh another between the branches of the anterior crural and great sciatic nerves. It is true that both of these nerves do not 140 OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. arise from the same point; but then the ganglia from which they take their origin communicate with each other; and I have been enabled to trace a close conffection between some of the minute branches on the inside of the thigh. Second, As to the argu- ments against the ganglionic nerves anastomosing with each other, I cannot at all concur; and what- ever doubts may exist with regard to the former, it appears to me that there are few, if any, in this in- stance. In the cavernous sinus in the brain, we find the ophthalmic branch of the fifth, (a ganglionic nerve,) together with the third, fourth, and sixth pairs, more or less connected with that branch of the sympathetic which accompanies them. Some anatomists go so far as to state, that the sympathe- tic itself has its origin from the fifth pair, from its vidian branch; but this view is not generally re- ceived. That there is an evident connection between these two nerves does not admit of doubt ; and this we may infer forms a link within the cranium be- tween a compler nerve, and one purely involuntary. As we descend, we may observe in the neck, between the ceryical plexus, sympathetic, and eighth pair, a communication that is not “ deceptive ;” and al- though their union is certainly “ intricate? enough, still it may be clearly demonstrated that their com- municating or anastomosing branches cannot be separated from each other without injury to either ; or, in other words, without a solution of continuity OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 141 being produced. The followers of Whytt would call this nervous connection merely a relationship, and not a bona fide union. In another Chapter I have alluded to the-tho- racic ganglia of the sympathetic situated on the heads of the ribs, sometimes twelve, and some- times only eleven, in number; we may see that each ganglion communicates with the spinal inter- costal nerves by one or more branches—that these ganglia send off filaments to unite with the laryn- geal, phrenic, and vagus nerves ; and who will deny that palpable anastomoses that exists in the imme- diate vicinity of the heart between the cardiac plexus, eighth pair, and recurrent nerves? Again, on the diaphragm we see a communication between filaments of the sympathetic and vagus; and finally, in the region of the stomach, in the solar plexus, there is an evident anastomosis of branches derived from these two great nerves. From these data I argue that there is a “ nervous circle” between the brain, sensorium, and ganglionic nerves, as far as I have traced them, with which the kidneys, blad- der, spermatic organs, &e., are connected through the medium of the renal plexus, spinal, and splanchnic nerves. I here take the opportunity of stating my dissent from some of Dr. Marshall Hall’s views regarding the sympathetic nerve. Dr. Hall is of opinion that the word sympathetic is an “ unmeaning Ss alee z 5 -> Hamme e nee aeaaea ms ete ne ea aipear ar reen eara a a ne aa neers lesa PR E en TI RTT S oe ae a s ne — SES nrnna 142 OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. term,” as applied to this nerve; and again he says in his “ Lectures on the Nervous System,” “I pro- ceed to notice the internal ganglionic, or that de- signated the grand sympathetic, from an erroneous notion that upon it depended the extensive series of sympathetic actions which I have shown to be functions of the true spinal or excito-motory system.” That the animal or instinctive passions are materially connected with the spinal system, I have not the slightest doubt; it is apparently their seat, their prime mover. But with regard to any of those emotions not exhibited by the lower animals, (of which the impulse that excites the blush is one of the best examples,) I must say it is my firm convic- tion that they have not the slightest connection directly with the spinal marrow, and if this organ becomes implicated in the internal commotion, it is not from any connection with this emotion in itself ; its implication is merely secondary, and takes place most probably by the radiation of the general and sympathetic sensation. lam fully impressed with the ingenuity of Dr. Hall’s beautiful theory of the reflex functions of the spinal marrow and its nerves; but reflected movements of the nervous principle are not confined to this part of the nervous system ; it is now well ascertained that reflex motions take place in the sympathetic nerves, as well as in the true spinal system, differing only in the degrees of intensity. Dr. Hall, I believe, arranges the emo- OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 143 tion of blushing with the other exciting impulses, as those of anger, fear, &c. whose seat he places in the medulla oblongata, but with this opinion like- wise I have to differ; and I am sure others will agree with me in this respect, for if there be any cerebral emotions, this surely is one ;—as well might he place the seat of the soul or of the conscience in the spinal marrow with that of the passions, as to conclude that the impulse which excites the blush, emanated from that part of the nervous system. I do not think that the sympathetic and its functions are deserving of the neglect and oblivion which Dr. Hall would consign them to. But of this I shall speak more fully in a succeeding Chapter :—and now let us return to the doctrines of Whytt and his followers. . With regard to the “sympathy observed between parts whose nerves have certainly not the smallest communication with one another,” I have merely to state, it is my firm belief, that there is no in- stance in the animal economy wherein such sym- pathies are observed, which cannot be traced to ner- vous communication. As to the idea, “ that a confusion in our sen- sation, as well as in the motion of our several muscles, would be the necessary result of an anasto- mosis of the nerves,” experience proves that it is not exactly correct. It is strange that this writer, who so readily referred all sympathetic emotions, not to 144 oF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. any connection or union between the nerves, “ but to particular sensations excited in certain organs,” could not suppose that there were certain nerves constituted for the conveyance of certain impressions, and the performance of special functions—surely one supposition is as reasonable as the other; and it does not at all follow, that an individual nerve con- veying an impression to or from the brain must, as a matter of course, transmit part of its impression to every nerve with which it may communicate in its course, and through them to the particular organ to which they are finally distributed. If such were the case, it would, indeed, be contrary to all the laws hitherto observed in Nature’s works. In denying that anastomoses of the nerves had any thing to do with the production of sympathy, Professor Whytt had in view that the brain and spinal marrow were exclusively the organs to which all sympathetic actions were to be finally referred, and in this he was partly correct; but then it was not necessary to disprove the former doctrine, in order to assert this opinion; for, admitting that the brain, &c., be the true source of sympathy, the ganglionic and some of the cerebral nerves per- form an important part in the nervous chain, by conducting the sensorial impulse from the brain to the different vital organs, as the heart, stomach, &e., in order that they may sympathize with the part first affected, which impulse we may reason- OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 145 ably infer is carried on to the parts first mentioned by means of an anastomosis of the cerebro-spinal nerves. To the sympathy of the various organs with the mental emotions, this assertion particularly applies. Thus, in weeping from sorrow, several involuntary acts of deglutition take place. This is the peculiar feeling which has been so expressively denominated the “stifling of grief,” and it affords a fine illus- tration of a reflex sympathy. The cesophageal plexuses of nerves are particularly implicated in this instance, and it is to be borne in mind that to this net-work of nerves are sent branches of the sympathetic, vagus, and recurrents. This writer was one of the first who strenuously opposed the doctrine of the nervous laquei, as ad- vanced by Willis, Vieussens, Haller, &c., who sup- posed that the sudden changes in the motion of the fluids, caused by the passions, were owing to the arteries and veins being compressed or contracted by the nerves, which are seen in many parts of the body to surround them like small cords. It was with this view Willis laid such stress on the follow- ing remark :—“ Poterat nervus arteriam tanquam circumjectus funiculus arctare;” and Haller, when treating of the nervous tissue, alludes to the curious manner in which the vessels are encircled by nerves ; he says, “ Eas enim omnes arterias, aut ansa ner- vosa aut multiplex utique nervorum plexus amplec- U 146 oF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. titur.” But as we are now aware that the nerves are not muscular in any sense of the word, that they are the least elastic parts of the body ; that in their na- tural state they lie loose in the cellular substance, and even experiments prove that they are wholly in- capable of any contraction whatsoever; this doc- trine is entirely exploded. However, although the nerves do not contract on the arteries, and by this means propel the blood in the small vessels; still, I believe, that they exert a propelling influence on the capillaries, which they indubitably possess, though in a very different manner from the above. I have already stated that the mucous membrane of the intestines, and that of other parts, and the arteries, are principally supplied by the sympathe- tic nerves. We know that the motion of the intes- tines is peristaltic or vermicular, in short, that this is a peculiar property of the sympathetic nerves, which it seems from recent researches on this sub- ject, they impart in a greater or less degree to those organs which they supply exclusively with’ nervous influence. Now, by entwining the remote vessels in this spiral-shaped manner, the nervous filaments of the sympathetic, may, by imparting to them their vermicular influence, produce a similar move- ment in the blood current within ; hence we may in one way explain the rotatory motion of the red globules, as seen in the capillaries of the frog’s foot, &e.; and by this spiral arrangement, the nervous OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 147 principle would extend over a larger surface of the blood-vessel—its vermicular current would exert a powerful influence over the motion of the blood, in consequence of its being conveyed around the tube ; and, hence, in the excitement of passion, in the blush of shame, &c., we might account for the in- stantaneous penetration of the capillaries of the head, neck, and face, with red blood, independent of the heart’s action. This latter assertion does not at all interfere with one previously made regarding « the heart having the power of transmitting the blood through the capillaries,” in this instance, the redness is produced by nervous influence on the small vessels, the heart itself being sympathetically engaged at the same time. Nothing makes more sudden or more surprising changes in the body, than the several passions of the mind. These, however, act solely by the me- diation of the brain, and exhibit, in a strong light, its sympathy with every part of the system. « Such is the constitution of the animal frame,” says Whytt, “that certain ideas or affections excited in the mind are always accompanied with corres- ponding motions or feelings in the body; and these are owing to some change made in the brain and nerves, by the mind (sour) or sentient principle ; but what that change is, or how it produces those effects, we know not ;—as little can we tell why 148 OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. shame should raise a heat and redness in the face, while fear is attended with a paleness.” Before mentioning this writer’s theory as to the manner in which the blush is produced on the cheek, I must premise by stating, that according to his view of the capillary circulation, the very small vessels were endowed with a power of motion excited by the stimulus of the fluids as they passed along ; and that the “vibratory” or “oscillatory” motions of these vessels were much encreased, when they were more than ordinarily irritated ; or when through violent passions, or other causes, the nerves were greatly affected. Upon the same principle he explains the phenomenon of blushing, and in the following words :—“ The redness and glow of the face from a sense of shame are most probably owing to an encreased motion of the small arteries of that part ; for the florid colour and sudden warmth seem to be more the consequences of a quicker motion of the blood in these vessels, than a stagnation of it from any compression or spasm of the veins, which would produce but a livid redness and less heat. Besides, we know that a greater degree of redness is instantly brought on the eyes, and in a short time on the skin by an encreased motion of their small vessels, upon the application of acrid sub- stances to them.” As the doctrine of “the encreased motion of the small vessels” has long since passed away, this OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 149 theory of the Mechanism of Blushing necessarily falls to the ground ; we must therefore endeavour to seek its explanation from some other source than the foregoing. My motives for directing so much attention to Professor Whytt’s book, were in consequence of his making more frequent allu- sions to this subject, and to other of the sympathies, than any other writers, (excepting Van Swietan) that I am aware of, who lived in the eighteenth century. I shall now state Professor Muller’s ob- servations on this phenomenon, as being the most modern, and in opposition to the former. In the first place, this profound physiologist does not deny that some of the nerves anastomose with each other, and in this respect differs materially from Whytt and his disciples. He is of opinion, that the phenomenon is entirely local, that is, is produced independently of the heart’s action; but at the same time he does not deny that the heart and other vital organs sympathize with the mental or sensorial impression which calls forth the blush. Muller supposes that there is a mutual action or affinity between the blood and the tissues of the body, which under many circumstances becomes greatly increased, as exemplified in the numerous instances of “ vital turgescence of the blood-vessels,” such as happens in the antlers of the stag when growing, the orgasm of the uterus during pregnancy, the comb of the turkey-cock when enraged, &e., 150 oF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. and “ this condition,” he adds, “may be excited, as in blushing.” He denies the existence of a self-propelling power in the blood, and further states “ that it is most probable the nerves do not really assist in carrying on the circulation in the capillaries, al- though it is certain that nervous influence is the principal cause of the accumulation of blood in the capillaries of certain parts during the state of vital turgescence.” Professor Muller again illustrates this vital affi- nity of parts, by referring to the vegetable kingdom. He says, “ This condition of turgescence in animals is analogous to phenomena which are so evident in plants, such as the afflux of sap to the fruit-bud, which contains the impregnated ovum.”—But he adds, “although the circulation of the sap in plants, effected by means of attraction, shows us the possi- bility of a similar phenomenon in animals; still there are at present no distinct observations which prove it in a conclusive manner.”* This latter state- ment does not refer to what he calls the vital tur- gescence, it merely has relation to the ordinary mode of circulation as observed both in plants and animals. Professor Muller makes the following interesting * Physiology by Baly, p. 233. OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 151 remarks on the anastomosing of the facial nerve or nerve of expression of the human countenance, with the trigeminus or fifth, and vagus, both of which are ganglionic nerves. Sir Charles Bell imagined that certain muscles of the face, for example those of the lips and nos- trils, might lose their powers of motion in the ex- pression of the passions, but might still perform their part in the movements of mastication and vice versa, and he explained this by the circumstance of these muscles receiving branches both from the facial and infra-orbital nerve. “But the latter nerves,” says Muller, “ has not the slightest motor power, and the muscles of the face are, by division of the facial nerve, rendered incapable of any kind of motion. * * * Gir C. Bell regarded the facial nerve as motor only, but it is also highly sensitive. The sensibility of this nerve is indubitable, but whether its sensitive fibres are contained in the nerve itself from its origin, (according to Eschricht’s view,) or su- peradded to it in its numerous anastomoses with the fifth nerve, viz., with the superficial temporal, sub- cutaneous male, infra-orbital, and mental branches, is another question. Eschricht’s experiments have at all events proved that the facial nerve does not derive all its sensitive fibres from the nervus trige- minus.” After noticing the views of other physiologists on this subject not coinciding with his own, he goes 152 OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. on to state—‘‘ The source can be distinctly shown from which the facial nerve derives the sensibility which it still retains at its exit from the stylo-mas- toid foramen, when the trunk of the nervous trige- minus is divided—a branch of the vagus, namely, unites with the facial nerve im its course through the Fallopian aqueduct; this communicating branch of the vagus which exists in man, as well as in ani- mals, and which completely explains all difficulties, was first discovered by Comparetti, and has been also described by Cuvier in the calf. A consider- able branch is given off from the vagus at an acute angle, and passes through a special bony canal to the facial nerve, with which a portion of its filaments unites ; while the continuation of the branch is dis- tributed to the ear. This nerve which we have seen in the calf, as well as in the human subject, is evidently a principal cause of the sensibility of the facial nerve.” With regard to the anastomosing branches be- tween the ganglionic and the trunks of the cerebral and spinal nerves, Professor Muller observes—It being shown that the sympathetic regularly receives fasciculi of motor and sensitive fibres from the spinal nerves as its motor and sensitive roots, the existence of asimilar relation between it and those cerebral nerves which are analogous to the spinal nerves, in having double roots, becomes very probable. The hypoglossal, vagus, and glossopharyngeal nerves OF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. 153 do, in fact, give roots to the superior cervical ganglion, and thus to the cord of the sympathetic ; * * * The sympathetic nerve then receives roots of sensitive and motor properties from the cerebral nerves which we have named; it, likewise, receives a similar root from the great spinal nerve of the head—the nervus trigeminus (or fifth).” Such are a few of the observations of this pro- found writer on the communications of the nervous branches with each other in different parts of the body; and what other cause can we assign for this union between nerves, oftentimes different, not only in structure, but likewise in the functions they have to perform, more probable than that it is for the sole purpose of transmitting the nervous principle from the one to the other as occasion may require, thereby diffusing their influence over a wider space, and from one organ to another, as happens, ap- parently, during the different emotions of the mind £ Professor Muller is opposed to the doctrine of the nervous principle and electricity being identical— and his views differ entirely from the conclusions of Dr. Wilson Philip and those of MM. Prevost and Dumas on this subject. The last-named physiolo- gists, in particular, have endeavoured, by experi- mental enquiry, to prove the presence of electric currents in the nerves; but Muller objects to the manner in which the experiments were conducted. M. Bouillaud read a memoir by M. Folchi, before x 154 oF THE ANASTOMOSING OF THE NERVES. the Académie Royale de Médecine, in May, 1838, in which the author endeavoured to demonstrate the existence of an electric current emanating from the brain, and passing through the nerves to the differ- ent parts of the body, which he believed identical with the nervous current. This gave rise to a dis- cussion regarding the correctness of the experiments which led the author to the above conclusion, but nothing was finally determined either one way or the other; and the author himself not being pre- sent, his theory could not be so fully explained and supported as was required. _ CHAPTER III. A THEORY OF THE MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. Ir is now almost universally admitted that all the impressions which excite the feelings are first re- ceived by the sensorium in the brain. The mind reflects and generates the ideas which form this impression, and these ideas are instantaneously transmitted to the true seat of the passions, where- ever that may be; whether in the medulla oblon- gata, as is the opinion of Dr. M. Hall, or in the viscera, according to the ancients, as before men- tioned. Here a question presents itself for our con- sideration, viz.—Does the phenomenon of blushing come under the head of the ‘‘ passions,” commonly so called—or, in other words, is it the effect of pas- sion? According to my view, it is evidently most distinct from what we understand by the term—it is “ moral” or “ spiritual,” not animal; and when we speak of it, in relation to the passions, we should affix to it either of the foregoing prenomens in con- tradistinction to those common to us with the brute. 156 A THEORY OF THE Blushing cannot be excited by physical means—not so with the passions. We can make an individual laugh against his will, by tickling the soles of his feet—we can make him cry by corporal punishment —we can make him tremble with fear by the same means—we can rouse his anger by striking him— but, we can only make him blush by appealing to his conscience. No physical means can produce | this phenomenon—it must be solely a moral stimu- | lus that will excite a true blush—an appeal from the being spiritual, from the “ divinity which stirs within us,” to the organic sensibility of other vital parts of our system, which readily sympathize with the soul’s emotion in giving external evidence, by the tint of the cheek, of what is going on internally in the moral sanctuary ; and, what other evidence could be more eloquent than that which comes gushing from the heart? It speaks volumes—we all intuitively know that its presence is the result of a painful struggle in the mental feelings. If it be true that the face of Charlotte Corday, the assassin of Marat, who was executed during the French Revolution, became suffused with a blush after the head was severed from the body, we may infer-that the stimulus which excites the blush has a higher or more elevated origin than that assigned to the animal or instinctive passions; but, I fear, little reliance can be placed on this statement, unless, reasoning from the circumstance of the MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 157 _heart’s possessing its organic vitality for some time after being removed from the body, (by means of the twigs of the sympathetic nerve diffused through its substance, as already mentioned, and even then being susceptible of impressions,) we were to draw the extravagant conclusion that the minute fila- ments of the same organic nerve detected by Reil and others on the surface of the brain, not only pos- sessed their vitality after decapitation, but also main- tained that of the organ over which they were scattered, and during this period rendered it liable to moral impressions, as well as the heart to physical ; but before such a theory could have any probability in Charlotte Corday’s case, we should presuppose that the sensorium also survives for some time after the head being severed from the body; that the conscience still actually exists, and as the capillaries of the face as well as those of other parts of the sys- tem are supplied by and under the influence of the sympathetic nerves, we were to infer that the senso- rial influence in this instance, as during life, was conveyed from the brain to the cheek through this channel. Butit will be observed that there are many serious obstacles in the way of such an inference. In the first place, the analogy is imperfect, and for ob- vious reasons—the heart being composed of muscular fibre, the brain of nervous matter—the functions of the latter being spiritual, those of the former purely phy- sical—the sympathetic filaments receiving influence 158 A THEORY OF THE from the brain, not bestowing it upon this organ— and lastly, for aught we know to the contrary, the sensorium does not, even for a moment, survive the death of the body. It is true that vitality displays itself strikingly in the eel and salamander after being divided into several parts, and for some time in each division. These parts retain their organic sensibility, which may be excited by any stimulus; but as this property is not possessed by the higher animals, it would be hazarding too much to sup- pose that the brain of man retained, though in a less palpable manner, its susceptibility of impres- sions also, for some time after being separated from the body. It will appear from the foregoing that I have endeavoured to draw a distinction between blushing and the passions, of the existence of which I am perfectly convinced, and if we use the word passion to express the excitement which produces this phe- nomenon, we should call it a moral passion, to dis- tinguish it from the others. In a former page I have alluded to a “nervous circle,” through which it is probable that the sen- sorial influence is circulated in the act of blushing. I shall now endeavour to describe that circle. The brain. is the centre or rather the origin of this circle, as the heart is that of the circulation. The heart propels the blood-current through the system. So MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 159 the brain, in this instance, is the exciter—the pri- mum mobile in the circulation of the nervous current around the periphery above mentioned. The brain being the exciter, the ganglionic nerves, and some of the cerebral, are the conductors of the nervous current. The sympathetic nerve, as we are all aware, extends from the brain through the skull, along the vertebre of the neck, chest, and abdomen, to terminate on the coccyx in the ganglion impar. In its course from the brain to its termination, we find it communicating with a vast number of nervous branches derived from various sources. In tracing this nerve from above downwards, we find it com- municating in the cavernous sinus with a branch of the fifth pair, and accompanying the third, fourth, and sixth pairs, through it. It is also connected with the vidian so intimately that it has been sup- posed by some, as already observed, to take its origin from this nerve. In the ciliary nerves aris- ing from the ciliary or lenticular ganglion, we have an association of branches from the organic or sym- pathetic nerve with the third and fifth pairs. The same occurs in the gasserian ganglion. Again in the spheno palatine ganglion we have an interweav- ing of branches between the sympathetic and nervus trigeminus; the fifth pair likewise communicates with organic. filaments derived from the otic gang- lion or plexus santorini. There is a connexion be- 160 A THEORY OF THE tween the sympathetic and glosso-pharyngeal nerves, at the point where the ganglion-petrosum is formed, and with the facial nerve at the situation of its en- largement within the Fallopian tube, which Muller supposes to be for the purpose of adding organic fibres to these nerves. Tracing onwards, we find this great nerve, after leaving the cranium, commu- nicating freely with the spinal nerves, and accord- ing to the opinion of Remak, the cords of commu- nication consist principally of tubular fibres; there is also a regular interchange of filaments between the sympathetic and intercostal branches. In an- - other part of this Essay, I have discussed the con- nection that exists in the neck and thorax, between the vagus, recurrent phrenic, and sympathetic nerves, and if we include that union just described between branches of the trigeminus (within the cranium) and sympathetic, we shall have through the links of this nervous chain the brain, eye, heart, lung, liver, and stomach united into one harmonious whole, by means of which an impression on one of these organs may be conveyed to, and felt by the rest. Immediately after leaving the chest, we find the great sympathetic nerve of either side unit- ing behind the stomach, and the result of this union is the solar plexus of nerves, before described ; which plexus or ganglion completes or forms the lower boundary of that nervous circle 1 have been de- scribing. MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 161 This circle is in a manner doubled: by the vagus nerve of each side, pursuing a nearly parallel course as far as the stomach. Now, fibrille of the sympa- thetic have been described by Reil as seen by him- self and others on the surface of the brain ; but some have doubted this assertion. However, this much is certain, that the branches of the internal carotid supplying the cerebral mass are, like all the other arterial tubes in the economy, supplied by filaments of the organic nerves, and as the capillary blood- vessels traversing the brain inosculate with each other like those of different parts of the system, we must infer that their accompanying nervous fibrille anastomose, or at least interweave, with each other in a somewhat similar manner. According to this view we may explain the closing of the nervous circle within the cranium. The superior union of this circle cannot, like the inferior or epigastric, be brought to a defined point; on the contrary, the union that takes place within the cranium: between the sympathetic nerves is not confined to one or two large branches, but is formed by the uniting of a variety of small filaments through the substance of the brain. Then, from the numerous fibrille diffused through the cerebral mass, we are to infer that the cord of the sympathetic takes its origin, and that this origin iscommon to both nerves, the result of which is a union of them within the cranium. After leaving the skull, we find the sympathetic : i 162 A THEORY OF THE of each side passing down along the spinal column internally, and forming on each vertebra, near its junction with the head of the rib, a ganglion, which, as we have already seen, communicates with branches of the spinal nerves. All these ganglia are linked together by the parent trunk, and have been supposed by some writers to perform the office of insulators for the nervous current transmitted from the brain. According to the hypothesis of Reil, “these ganglia have the nature of half-conductors, preventing the transmission of weak impressions, and allowing the transmission of such only as are the effects of very intense irritation.” Some obser- vations made by Brachet relative to the effects of irritation of the thoracic ganglia of the smpathe- tic, favour this view.* In traversing the thoracic cavity, this great nerve gives off near the sixth and seventh dorsal vertebre, the great splanchnic branches which unite into one trunk before leaving the chest, and having entered the abdomen ex- pand into the semilunar ganglion. The lesser splanchnic are given off low down in the thorax and terminate in the renal plexus, from which, or- ganic nervous filaments are transmitted to the re- productive organs, bladder, &c. From the circum- ference of this nervous circle, organic branches anastomose with spinal and cerebral nerves, so that * ‘Muller’s Physiology, p. 662, ete. MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 163 through the radiation of the sympathetic filaments from this centre to different parts, their involuntary influence is almost universally diffused over the vital organs of the thoracic cavity. In the abdomen, the stomach, it is true, is supplied by the par vagum, but the functions of this cerebral nerve are highly complex, (as has been lately so well described by Dr. J. Reid,) and no doubt much of its complexity, involuntary; and organic influence is derived from its intimate connexion with the spinal and particu- larly with the sympathetic nerves. The opinion of Van Deen on this subject is, that the communications of the ganglionic with the cerebro-spinal nerves are for the purpose of impart- ing to the latter a vegetative influence in addition to their sensitive and motor properties; and to the ganglionic nerve a motor influence, and also the faculty of sensibility to impressions under certain cir- cumstances. This statement was published in 1834 ; and shortly afterwards, in the same year, Professor Muller promulgated a directly opposite opinion. The latter writer states his conviction that the com- monly received notions respecting the connections of the ganglionic with other nerves, namely—the transmission of sympathetic influences, are errone- ous. For my part, I must say that I am inclined to the former opinion. But to proceed— It will be remembered, that the nervous circle I have traced from the brain to the solar plexus was eed SN na Ne a De SNRs ec eS ao nar Sapp Rl TINS MIS Se m aa me me 164 A THEORY OF THE principally formed by the sympathetic nerves of either side, uniting above and below. Now, it has been demonstrated, from experimental enquiry, that the sensibility of parts supplied by the sympa- thetics is more feeble and indistinct than in other parts; and it was this peculiarity that. drew from Reil the hypothesis that the ganglia have the na- ture of half-conductors, and only transmit the im- pulse of intense irritation. This opinion appears to me to be more correct than any other, especially when the mind is the impelling organ, and the rea- son why, I shall presently explain. In other than the organic nerves, the velocity with which the nervous fluid is circulated, has been calculated by Haller at the rate of 9000 feet in a minute, and by Sauvages at 32,400 in the same space of time. These conclusions were drawn from the rapidity with which electricity is transmitted through conductors ; the galvanic and nervous prin- ciple being regarded by many as identical; thus we find Mr. Mansford explaining the nature of the epileptic fit on this principle—he contended that the brain is constantly generating the nervous fluids, and that in health they are controlled by the will, in opposition to their natural tendencies; their forma- tion, retention, and discharge thereby being duly regulated ; but, when weakened by disease, this con- trol is irregularly or imperfectly exercised, and their MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 165 accumulation is favoured, until it reaches its maxi- mum, when it explodes in an epileptic seizure. However, most of the modern writers on Physio- logy deny the identity of nervous influence with the electricities. Dr. Shearman contends that epi- lepsy owes its origin to a deficiency or irregular dis- tribution of nervous energy ; and Dr. Copland states that in some cases the irritation is propagated by nervous connections to the situation referred to, the chief phenomenon of the seizure being one of the numerous forms of morbid action depending upon reflex sympathy. The aura epileptica is, in many cases, nothing else than a manifestation of this kind of sympathy.* Although the sympathetic nerve is the predomi- nant feature in the formation of the circle above described, it is also to be borne in mind, that the eighth pair or par vagum with which the former is so intimately connected, pursues a nearly parallel course from its exit from the cranium as far as the stomach, and that in this course both sympathetic and vagus have frequent and close communication with the true spinal nerves. This connection must be undoubtedly for the purpose of a mutual trans- mission of their respective nervous energy. ‘What other motive can be assigned for this blending to- gether of different nerves ? * Copland’s Dictionary of Practical Medicine, pp. 797, 798. Article—EriLrpsy. 166 A THEORY OF THE The vagus nerve, in many animals, has been proved by Professor Weber to supply the place of the sympathetic. This is the case in the snake. Then from the circumstance of these two nerves mutually replacing each other, we may fairly argue that the function of the one may be performed by the other in such instances. This is another fact in proof of the intimacy of their relationship, and of their imparting nervous influence of a similar kind to each other. The probability of a circulation of the nervous fluid from the brain through the nerves, and back again to the central organ, is denied by Professor Muller in his elaborate work on physiology, and as it is upon the belief of the existence of a nervous current circulating through the cerebro-spinal and ganglionic nerves to and from the central organs, that my theory of the mechanism of blushing is founded, I with much diffidence have to differ from the opinion of this great physiologist. “It cannot be proved,” says this writer, “that the centripetal and centrifugal conductors form a continuous circle in which a constant current. of the nervous fluid is kept up from the central organs, through the motor nerves, and from the peripheral extremities of these back through the sensitive nerves to the central organs.” In favour of this view he cites the experiments of Gaedechens, in which irritation excited in the facial nerve was not communicated by means of its anas- MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 167 tomosis to the trunk of the infra-orbital nerve, so as to excite pain. Moreover, he denies the existence of a “real communication between the primitive fibres of both these nerves.” I look upon these merely as negative proofs in favour of his doctrine, but for the present, it is with the ganglionic * and cerebro- spinal anastomosing that I have principally to do, and the following are my views regarding the con- nection and function of these two nerves :— First, That the sympathetic nerves, contrary to the opinion of Bichat, are sensitive, though in a minor degree, but their sensibility may be conside- rably increased on certain occasions, through the agency of their ally, the par vagum, the latter nerve affording a sensitive influence, as is well known, to all the parts with which it communicates. Secondly, That there is every reason to suppose that even in these nerves there are motor and sensitive fibres, independent of others for nutrition. Thirdly, That the fibres of this nerve can communicate their action to each other, and that the nervous fluid can circu- late or oscillate through them in both directions, that is, from the central organ to their extreme filaments, and vice versa. And lastly, That the impulse of the Moral Feelings, when excited, is transmitted through the sympathetic and vagus, from the sensorium to the different organs that participate in * The word ganglionic is here applied to the SympaTHETic Nerves in particular, 168 A THEORY OF THE the MENTAL EMOTION; for example, in the flush of hope and the joy of its emotion, the heart and sto- mach sympathize with the mind, and their functions harmonize with each other—the individual feels an indescribable lightness and vigour of body, together with a buoyancy of spirits, while exulting in the de- lightful enjoyment of the “ pleasures of hope ;” and no doubt the impression of the mind is conveyed to the organs mentioned, through the medium of the ganglionic nerves, and the healthy impulse thus conveyed to the heart and stomach is reflected again upon its original fountain. Thus a mutual feeling or consent is carried on between the whole. It is upon these principles, then, that I explain the Mechanism of Blushing, and the radiation of sensations that are generally felt from the impulse of shame. The following is the theory advanced regarding the production of these phenomena :— The exciting impression is first received by the sensorium, which physiologists now admit to be situated in the brain, the mind reflects upon the nature of the exciting cause—a train of ideas is generated and passed in review before the reflecting faculties (the mind’s eye). The conscience becomes roused, and the impression first conveyed to the sensorium is now submitted to it for final judg- ment; it is here weighed in the balance (I am speak- ing of the true blush—the blush of shame). If the MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 169 mind be susceptible, and if the memory recals and brings before the sensorium the recollection of past circumstances inimical to the moral feelings, and perceives in them an identity with the present; or if the conscience itself sees in the exciting impression conveyed to the sensorium at first, a just evidence of an infringement upon the laws of morality, it repels the impression, and promulgates to the dif- ferent vital organs in the system its own feelings. Thus the chain of action is set up which is finally to bring forth the blush on the cheek. But if the first impression be feeble, so as only to excite a partial emotion in the mental faculties, (as takes place in those instances of suppressed blushing, where the individual experiences all the preliminary sensations ; but still the impulse is not sufficient to produce the phenomenon,) the cheek will not be- come suffused. When the appeal to the conscience preponderates (the infringement on the moral and social laws being weighed in the balance) the in- dividual concerned is perfectly aware, even some moments before-hand, of what is about to take place—volition is now forcibly called into action, and strenuously endeavours to avert the threatened and painful exposé of the consciENce and its feelings. It is in vain that the will struggles against the com- bined power of the mental faculties—nay, the very attempt to suppress the exciting impulse only adds new vigour to its involuntary movement, by re- zZ 170 A THEORY OF THE taining the impression still before the sensorium and conscience, which the latter indignantly endeavour to disclose, and finally succeed in transmitting their own impression to the different organs that sympathize with them during the production of the phenomenon—it is the diffusion or propagation of this sympathetic influence that I now come to in- vestigate — In the first place—What are the organs affected during the impulse of shame? There are three in particular, viz—the brain, heart, and stomach ; and if the blush be intense, and the individual san- guineous in temperament, the corpora cavernosa, as before mentioned, are liable to arterial injection. Is it not interesting to reflect on the mechanism by which all these different and widely separated parts are united together in one common cause, each par- ticipating in the feeling of the other, and by their combined efforts rendering the individual painfully alive to their general, though momentary derange- ment, and the internal emotion about to be pro- claimed upon the cheek ? This sympathetic excitation of the vital organs takes place, and the person concerned is perfectly conscious of its progress several moments before the struggle of the internal feelings is proclaimed on the cheek. Query—Is not this contrary to the generally received opinion, that all the emotions are proclaimed instantaneously—that even their MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 171 generation and physical development or proclama- tion are synchronous, no interval existing between them; and how do we account for the delay which we allege takes place in this instance, viz., from the first sensation of the blush-exciting impulse, until the phenomenon is fully brought forth ? These querys, I think, may be satisfactorily an- swered by the following explanation. That the in- terval above mentioned, between the first internal sensation and the final result the suffusion of the cheek exists, does not admit of doubt, and this very interval caused by the slow* movement of the sen- sorial impulse to the epigastric region, solar plexus, stomach, &c., which are decidedly effected by the emotion, brings most convincing evidence that the nervous influence sympathetically exciting those parts is principally transmitted from the brain through the medium of the ganglionic or sympathe- tic nerves, the slow transmission of impressions being (as we have already seen) peculiar to this division of the nervous system, which Reil endea- yours to explain by the insulating properties of the * When I say, that the movement of the nervous principle is stow in this particular instance, I am to be understood as using the term in a limited sense only. Experiments have proved that the vis nervosa does not travel so fast through the sym- pathetic as through nerves purely sensitive, and whatever may — be the rxreRNaL appearance of the progress of the blush the 1N- TERNAL, OF nervous movement is by no means so rapid, as at first sight it would lead us to suppose. aan ne — - PTEE =e EN NASTICS J r aai AC et P a e =i ema Sepasipie ~nia Heini Skee ae TA nore RERE OS e ror o we sa menen n 172 A THEORY OF THE ganglia it forms along its course. The vagus nerve is materially implicated, as far as the stomach is concerned, and also receives and transmits impres- sions to and from the great sympathetic, according to the predominancy of their influence. But, to proceed— When the feelings are excited strongly, be it from shame or bashfulness, the nervous balance is lost in the cerebrum, and the involuntary powers of the mind gain the ascendancy over the wili, and the agents of its volition. The first impression is decidedly made on the sensorium, on the mens con- scia recti, and affects it in some peculiar manner, the remote cause of which we are not as yet aware. The impulse given to the brain is now conducted thence, in a comparatively slow degree, by the sympathetic circle along the thoracic cavity to the heart, stomach, and solar ganglion. ‘The stomach in particular is peculiarly influenced by the ner- vous circulation, which is, perhaps, owing to its vicinity to the union of the semilunar ganglia, in- dependent of the impression conveyed to it by the par vagum or eighth pair. It is here that indescribable sensation is perceived, which immediately precedes the blush, and that, as it were, gives the first alarm which produces the irresistible drooping of the entire countenance, just as the colour is beginning to rise upon the cheek ; at the same time there is a fluttering sensation felt MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 173 about the heart, and there seems to be a kind of momentary stagnation of the nervous influence in the precordial region while these anomalous feelings are being excited; it is, therefore, with strict ac- curacy, that John Hunter has applied to this part the expressive designation of the “centre of sym- pathies.” At the epigastric centre the nervous impulse or spiritus cerebri, as Boerhaave terms it, seems to pause —Donec aptus evadat fluere per vascula ultra ima- ginationem parva omnia,”* that is, until by re- pei impressions from the sensorium, it becomes, as it were, overcharged with feeling, when suddenly there is an indescribable sensation of relief per- ceived by the individual, as if an oppressive burden was removed. The partially restrained respiration becomes free again, which is announced by an almost imperceptible sigh, and now a peculiar glow is felt over this region, which is perceived gradually rising from the pracordia, not unlike the epileptic aura, through the chest and neck; an involuntary act of deglutition ensues, the heart still sympathis- ing in the general emotion, and at length the flash bursts forth upon the cheek in a “living blaze of blood” —it is the lava of the heart produced by an erup- tion of feeling, now rolling through myriads of minute vessels that were hitherto invisible in the cheek. * Institutiones Medice, pp. 276, 277, et seq. 174 A THEORY OF THE This part which I have attempted to describe is but the first movement in the mechanism of blush- ing. After the colour rises and spreads over the surface of the cheek, it is retained there generally for a few moments, oftentimes for several minutes, being regulated, and entirely dependent on the impetus of the soul’s emotion ; when the interval of time mentioned has elapsed, the blush begins gra- dually to subside, and the manner and progress of its decline is not less interesting than that of its first production. But after the first visible declan- sion of colour in the cheek, should any thought or expression again jar upon the conscience or sensibi- lity, the same chain of action is again set up; the same impulse is again transmitted through the nervous circle; the same organs sympathize anew in the mental emotion, and blush follows blush, each deeper than the other, as often as the impres- sion is repeated in the sensorium. The varying as- pect, which this waving or oscillation of colour, produces in the human countenance is truly won- derful—it forcibly proclaims the intensity of the internal eruption ; and the design made manifest in every movement of the beautiful machinery which can produce these physical changes so rapidly in the human face, must convince every reflecting mind of the existence of a wise and bountiful Omni- potent. The red colour varies considerably in its shade MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 175 during the progress of the blush; when it first rises to the surface it is of a much deeper colour than after it has been visible for some moments ; imme- diately before it begins to decline the cheek assumes | a perfectly scarlet colour, which must be owing to the blood being aereated at the surface, from its great proximity to the external atmosphere. If venous blood can be oxygenated when enclosed in a bladder for experiment sake, assuredly it may undergo the same process when placed beneath the delicate epidermis of the cheek. As yet I have not offered an explanation as to the manner by which the corpora cavernosa become implicated during the emotion. The following is my view regarding the mechanism and probable cause of this extraordinary coincidence of vital tur- gescence. At first sight, this fact would seem to disprove my assertion—that the phenomenon of blushing is entirely the result of a moral impulse, emanating from those faculties in the cerebrum which govern and regulate the propagation of all such impressions. I shall presently show, that this objection will not hold good, but before doing so, I must first explain the manner by which those structures become in- jected. In the first place, this adjunct phenomenon, as far as I am aware, is never produced unless in decidedly sanguineous habits; and when it does occur, it is in instances of intense blushing, where 176 A THEORY OF THE the exciting impression has been repeated on the sensorium several times in quick succession; each impression or impulse producing a corresponding suffusion of the cheek with blood, similar to that described in a preceding page. When this is the case, the organic nerves become in a manner over- charged by nervous influence, part of which is ra- diated from the circle to the different organs highly endowed with involuntary power. Now, when this nervous influence is being transmitted through the sympathetic nerves in such profusion, they propel through their splanchnic branches to the renal plexus a considerable portion of the vis nervosa, whence it is conducted to the corpora cavernosa by their organic filaments derived from this source. This circumstance demonstrates not only a re- markable sympathy between this organ and the cheek, but also a close analogy between their struc- ture ; it proves that the latter as well as the former possesses the characteristics and properties of an erectile tissue, and that both are liable to become injected with blood from the same mental emotion. I firmly believe, that the orgasm of this structure is produced solely by the influence of the organic nerves in this instance—it is not a spinal act—and if the spinal nerves are concerned, it is merely by implication—by the universal systemic exitement that has been effected by the involuntary acts of the mind. MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 177 The impulse exciting the turgescence of the cor- pora cavernosa does not emanate from the true seat of the passions in the case I have alluded to ; it is not excited by sensual sensation; that appetite, on the contrary, is dormant. The swelling of the corpora cavernosa with blood is, in this instance, purely from an emotion of the mind; it beautifully illustrates the laws of sympathy in the human frame, and that peculiar state of feeling or consent, which is evinced between certain structures and the vital fluid. The mechanism of the decline of the blush, and the remarkable paleness which follows, is, as I have © already said, fully as interesting and as worthy of at- | tention, as the production of the phenomenon itself. When the paroxysm has subsided, the muscles of | the face again resume their wonted tonicity, by | which the drooping of the countenance gradually | disappears. The eyes begin to lose their languish- ing and downcast aspect. The eyebrows become once more elevated, and the blood progressively recedes from the surface towards the deeper seated vessels, accordingly as the nervous impulse is with- drawn. It is during this retrograde movement of the blood that the cheek is so liable to become again suddenly suffused, like a jet from a fountain, if the mind be in the least degree excited. It is curious that during this and the other mental emotions in which the capillaries and small arteries are particu- larly engaged, the veins are not at all influenced, 2 A 178 A THEORY OF THE and this is explained by the fact of the former being supplied by nervous branches from the sympathetic, whereas the latter receive no filaments from this nerve. On this interesting point Dr. Alison makes the following observation :-— “ Several organs belonging to the department of organic life, which are much influenced by mental emotions and sensations, as the heart, the bowels, the capillary arteries, the secreting organs, &c., are chiefly supplied with nerves from the ganglia and plexuses of the sympathetic nerve. And it is re- markable that the veins, in which no influence of these mental acts is discernible, have in general no such nerves.” The peculiar pallor that immediately succeeds the blush resembles more the “ pale cast of thought” than the whiteness of fear; it differs principally from the latter in the aspect of the countenance remaining unchanged, and in its natural state of expression. How wonderful are all these physical changes in the human countenance, by which we are enabled to judge with mathematical certainty of the internal feelings of our fellow beings! There is an expression of the countenance to denote individually pleasure and pain, hope and fear, tage and shame, and to man, who is but as a drop in the ocean, compared with all the other beings in the wide field of creation, these emotions are chiefly peculiar. In my humble opinion, the sim- MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 179 ple doctrines of Lavater* on the expression, &e., of the human countenance, are far more correct, and certainly more philosophic than all the plausible theories of modern phrenologists. The expression of the eye alone is, oftentimes, sufficient to denote the character of the individual much more accu- rately than the most minute phrenological calcu- lations. ‘© What can be more significant,” observes a late writer, “ than the sudden flushing and contusion of a blush—than the sparkling of rage, and the lichtenings of a smile? The soul is, as it were, visible upon these occasions—the passions ebb and flow in the cheeks, and are much better distin- guished in their progress than the changes of air in a weather-glass. The countenance seems designed not only for ornament but for information. The passions there displayed make way for commerce and communication, and help to let one man into the sentiments and affections of another. - Here, joy and grief, resolution and fear, modesty and conceit, inclination, indifferency, and disgust are made legible. The character is fairest and best marked in children, and those who are unpractised in the little hypocrisies of conversation ; for when nature has learned to put on art and disguise, the forehead is not easily read. * Notwithstanding his mistaking a highwayman for a philo- sopher upon one occasion. 180 A THEORY OF THE The face being designed to be unclothed, and in view, God has there fixed the seat and visibility of the passions, for the better direction of conversa- tion. The sudden alteration of the countenance is very remarkable. A forcible object will rub out the richest colours at a stroke, and paint others of a quite different appearance. A vigorous thought, or a surprise of good fortune, dispels the gloom and lightens the air immediately.* Before concluding, I have one more observation to make, as to what class of the emotions blushing comes under. The different emotions are divided by writers into two classes, viz.—exciting and depressing. Now, to which of these does the emotion that excites the blush belong? It is generally placed by phy- siologists in the first, and although the turgescence of the cheek with blood during the emotion would seem to prove the accuracy of this statement, still there is good reason, in my opinion, to doubt its correctness. The countenance has evidently the appearance of deep depression, notwithstanding the suffusion of the face ; we know of no other exciting emotion in which the features droop, and from which there is a feeling or sensation of Oppression in- the precordia during the time it lasts. How, then, are we to account for this? The following appears to me to be the explanation :— * J. Elmes, A ET aR ee Tat te EF a ee MECHANISM OF BLUSHING. 181 The phenomenon of blushing is not the result of an exciting nor, strictly speaking, of a depressing emotion—but it is a compound of both—in other words, it is the product of a MIXED emotion of the mind. The internal faculty excites an indescriba- ble sensation, which causes the face, the external field of action, to droop or assume the aspect of de- pression. Compare the flush of rage with that of shame, and the appearance of the features in both instances, which, perhaps, may demonstrate more clearly what I have asserted. The colour is nearly the same in both cases; but, observe the striking difference in the countenances—the features of the one are strained to a point, whilst those of the other languish. In the former, the countenance, the « mirror of the soul,” reflects the true image of the internal excitement; whereas in the latter, the ex- ternal image, if we were to reason from analogy, is false. Lachrymation or weeping, when produced by grief, is the result of an emotion more closely re- sembling that of blushing than any of the others to which man is subject; indeed, as we have already seen, blushing not unfrequently terminates in the involuntary shedding of tears, both being produced by the impulse of shame. We may, therefore, infer that weeping is, strictly speaking, more the product of a mived emotion than of one truly de- pressing. 182 A THEORY OF THE MECHANISM, ETC. There are many grown-up individuals in whom this is evinced—I{ have known one family, consist- ing of father, mother, and ten children, all of whom, without a single exception, were prone to false blushing, to a most painful degree. The children were all grown, and some were sent to travel, in order to wear away this diseased sensibility ; but nothing was of the slightest avail—the same state of feeling still continues, and the tear-drop may be seen starting upon the eye of the youngest during the act of intense blushing. raem a ot qre *- T Rect ae ot eT lk nem CONCLUSION. TREATMENT, MORAL AND PHYSICAL, OF THE MENTAL EMOTIONS ARISING FROM DISEASED SENSIBILITY. One of the greatest vices of civilization is that state of morbid sensibility treated of in the First Division of this Essay. It is the source of a variety of evils incidental to civilized existence—it is not unfrequently a remote cause of mania, monomania, melancholy, despon- dency, and suicide—it is this diseased feeling that infuriates its victim—that drives him to despair from a consciousness of his mental subjugation— that often curbs the mind from responding to the dictates of the will, preventing the former from ex- hibiting its powers, whatever they may be, and by this means marring the happiness of the in- dividual. It makes him hate society—in short, all kinds of social intercourse—for there he glaringly sees, and is keenly alive to his own natural defects ; 184 CONCLUSION. he feels himself alone, and fancies he is neglected, — an outcast; his sensitive soul is highly susceptible of all the whims that are constantly being engen- dered by his wanton imagination. If his tempera- ment be phlegmatic, brooding melancholy finally rules over his mind; it may be seen externally stamped upon his brow—if sanguineous, the fervid imagination predominates ; the moral powers are sunk, and in the frenzy of despair he not unfre- quently plunges into the depths of recklessness and libertinism. This morbid condition of the feelings is also the source of the false blush, and the mental embarrass- ment attendant upon it in society. Although the latter has not hitherto been regarded as a disease, it is my humble opinion that in its intense form it should certainly come under the head of “ Nervous Disorders,” and be looked upon as a true disease, arising from weakness or debility, most frequently in the mental faculties, but likewise often occurring from bodily or corporeal indisposition. If, therefore, we regard this form of the blush, together with other intense emotions, as the result of mental disorder, we are naturally led to offer some observations as to the manner of obviating or controlling their baneful influence upon the disposition of the indi- vidual in early life, as also the uneasiness and con- fusion they produce in maturer years, when he is called upon to fulfil his part in society, and per- form the common duties of life. RI Sse TR tn II A MORAL TRAINING. 185 There are two methods of education, the one for early, the other for maturer years, by the adoption of which many of the evils attendant upon diseased sensibility may be in a great measure obviated ; these are, moral and physical training. The first inculcates an early exercise of the reasoning powers, by which means, if duly applied, the parent may be convinced of the possibility of counteracting, to a considerable degree, the painful predisposition of the most morbidly sensitive mind, to indiscriminate impressions. ‘The other, or that for more advanced years, embraces a variety of physical exercises, by means of which the body (usually irritable and feeble in these instances) is rendered more vigorous, its tone improved, the functions better performed, and, as a natural consequence, the mind rendered less irritable from the general improvement of the system. MORAL TRAINING. It has been stated in a former page, (and I am sure few will doubt the accuracy of the observa- tion,) that, from the earliest infancy of a child, you can detect the bent of its disposition. If it be quick and sensitive, you may easily observe the sus- ceptibility of the mind, and the keenness with which certain impressions are felt; and as this child grows on towards manhood, you will perceive this state of feeling, if unchecked in its early state, 2B 186 CONCLUSION. ripening itself through every phasis of his existence, until it becomes a ¿rue disease. As soon as a child so predisposed is capable of the slightest reflection, the judicious parent should at once begin to adopt those measures suitable to the age of the child, and likely to prove beneficial in restraining the sen- sibility of the mind; it, however, not unfrequently happens, that from bad management and mistaken views on the part of the parent or guardian, the incipient malady, instead of being removed by this early training, becomes more firmly rooted, so much so, as in after-life to oppose every remedy whatever, to exhibit itself more strikingly than be- fore, and in this uncontrolled form it proves highly prejudicial to the interests of the individual. The first consideration to be observed, in all cases in which morbid sensibility of the mind evinces itself in early life, should be regarding the disposition or temperament of the individual, whether it be of a sanguineous, phlegmatic, choleric, or melancholic turn; but as a general rule, the method to be adopted, in all instances, should be of an essentially soothing character, being merely — graduated to each, according to the urgency of the case, and as circumstances may require; for in- stance, the child of a silent and listless habit will require, blended with that mild treatment men- tioned, kindly encouragement—a moral stimulus— and great care to prevent his mind hereafter from verging upon melancholy or madness; whereas, on MORAL TRAINING. 187 the other hand, one of a sanguineous constitution will require the fervid imagination and keen sus- ceptibility usually attendant on such habits, to be gently and gradually subdued, and brought under the control of the will and the reasoning powers, by timely well-directed moral restraint. Mild treat- ment, in all cases of mental irritability, will invari- ably be found to have a decidedly more beneficial effect than harsh or severe means; by the for- mer, you can ultimately make a child of the most obstinate and excitable disposition subdued and tran- quil; by the latter, you only render the sensibility more evident, and the child himself taciturn, surly, and morose—his obedience to your instructions is merely compulsory, and not from conviction that they are intended for his good, the inculcation of which should be the grand aim of all entrusted with the care of youth. It is vain to suppose that by constantly re- | proaching and upbraiding children or young people for shyness or timidity, you will remedy these evils. The fault is not theirs; on the contrary, it is a na- tural defect, though frequently increased by bad management ; and the very dread of parental reprove- ment which usually haunts the minds of persons so brought up, instead of obviating the baneful effects of sensibility, for which it was intended by the anxious parent, will be sure to excite that state of feeling on every opportunity, and when the indivi- dual himself may be using every endeavour to sup- Se Tene remem So aa SSI m i SIS NNSA 188 CONCLUSION. press it. “ Nothing is more painful to young people than to have their feelings and countenances scruti- nized, and the degrees of their sensibility measured by the surveying eye of the unmerciful: spectator. Under the constraint of such examinations they can think of nothing but that they are looked at, and feel nothing but shame or apprehension;” they are afraid to lay their minds open, lest they should be convicted of some deficiency for which they might afterwards be reproved. The season of universal smiles and courtesy of childhood (observes an admirable writer on this subject) is delightful while it lasts, but it soon passes away; they soon speak without exciting any astonishment, and instead of meeting with admira- tion for every attempt to express an idea, they are repulsed for troublesome volubility ; even when they talk sense they are often checked for unbecom- ing presumption. Children feel this change in pub- lic opinion and manner most severely ; they are not sensible of any change in themselves, except, per- haps, they are conscious of having improved both in sense and language. This unmerited loss of their late gratuitous allowances of sympathy usually ope- rates unfavourably upon the temper of the sufferers ; they become shy, and silent, and reserved, if not sullen; they withdraw from our capricious society, -and endeavour to console themselves with other pleasures. * * * Children of a timid temper or ofan indolent disposition are quite dispirited and MORAL TRAINING. 189 bereft of all energy in these circumstances ; others with greater vivacity and more voluntary exertion, endeavour to supply the loss of universal sym- pathy by the invention of independent occupa- tions; but they feel anger and indignation, when they are not rewarded with any smiles or any praise for their “ virtuous toil.” They naturally seek for new companions either amongst children of their own age, or amongst complaisant servants. * These judicious observations apply equally to young people as well as to children. If the former, when first brought into society, feel embarrassed or become suffused for trivial causes, (by no means an unfrequent occurrence,) and are afterwards rebuked by their parents for their shyness and awkwardness, they will constantly be in dread of committing the same offence again when similarly situated, and rather than run the risk of being taunted or laughed at, will naturally endeavour to avoid or shun that society, which instead of being a pleasure, is a con- tinued source of painful restraint and exposure of their internal sensibility. I have known a family in which this was strikingly exemplified ; indeed, two of the daughters frequently wept, when obliged to mingle in society, so intense was this diseased state of mental excitability ; others, again, while hearing a sermon, may be seen to flush and turn pale alternately, merely from extreme suscepti- * R. L. Edgeworth on “ Sympathy and Sensibility.” 190 CONCLUSION. bility. In the Life of Sir Walter Scott, we find an example of a man of learning and genius, an advo- cate, and afterwards judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, who was a melancholy victim of this morbid sensibility. His highly sensitive mind was easily and deeply affected by the slightest impres- sions, and he had frequently been observed to weep like a child at hearing a pathetic tale recited. This diseased predisposition, which he could never over- come, was a burden—a drawback upon his intel- lectual faculties, ever restraining his mind from fully displaying its natural powers, which in this instance were possessed to a high degree; and at length he died in the prime of life, a martyr to the stings of wounded feeling. I would seriously urge parents whose children are the subjects of this extreme sensibility to en- deavour to check, by every means in their power, the growing evil; as neglect. in early life of those morbid symptoms often leads the unhappy victim to seek a refuge in low company, and not unfre- quently ends in his withdrawing from society al- together. When this “mauvaise honte” appears, instead of ridicule and reproaches, I would recom- mend the utmost kindness to be shown, united with the exertion of every influence that may tend to in- spire confidence. Some appear to feel sensations of pleasure or pain with more energy than others—they have more feeling than reflection; great care should be taken MORAL TRAINING. 19] to encourage persons of this temper to describe and compare their sensations ; and when young people are observed to be overwhelmed with confusion or timidity, on coming into contact with their fellow- creatures, the parent or preceptor should gradually and with great delicacy endeavour, if possible, to draw from them a description of their feelings. If the timidity is found to proceed from distrust of their own powers, ignorance, or false associations, means should be taken to establish self-approba- tion, “as a considerable portion of the happiness of life arises from a well grounded sense of this feel- ing’”—we should, therefore, secure its gratification, and at the same time, by reasoning, dispel all mis- taken or confused ideas. As repetition makes all things easy, and the faculties of the mind may be strengthened by exercise, as well as the members of the body, I would suggest, as a remedial measure, bringing the young person into the same situation and circumstances as first excited the mental paroxysm, again and again, if possible, until use had rendered the exertion easy; for, as Bichat remarks, habit blunts the sentiment, and the more we regard an object, the less are we sensible of its agreeable or painful qualities. As another resource for strengthening the mind, “| would accustom youth to habits of observation on passing events, which would often be more advanta- geous than the multiplicity of tasks and lessons, with which the tender mind is so frequently loaded ; let 192 CONCLUSION. the judgment be exercised upon the objects of their senses, aS a mind early accustomed to act upon what it sees, will acquire a degree of vigour and discrimination, extremely serviceable in all the difficulties and intricate circumstances to which human life is exposed.” I would exercise and im- prove the mental and moral capacities as much as possible, and enlighten the understanding in order to give the pupil the power of forming his rules of conduct on a solid basis, so as to give him sufficient strength of mind to abide by the principles he has formed. ‘‘Frankness towards youth produces frank- ness in return, one of the most pleasing qualities of the human heart; but this attribute family cool- ness and family reserve have a continual tendency to suppress, so that they who are brought up under this system, generally acquire an unamiable cast of character through life. Let a frank simplicity and cordial sympathy with their children ensure to parents their disinterested friendship—for where this is withheld, all confidence is sure to become chilled and repressed.” If parents and individuals entrusted with the care of youth will make trial of the simple rules here laid down, commencing as early as the first symptoms make their appearance, and graduating them according to the development of the understanding and capacities of their young charges, I am sure their labour and exertions will be, in the majority of cases, attended with that re- ward which is the main object of their wishes. PHYSICAL’ TREATMENT. To the gymnasium of Elis and the games of Olympia are to be attributed the first public encou- ragement of physical or corporeal exercise. Here were exhibited and encouraged those feats of agility and strength, such as running, wrestling, leaping, and throwing of the quoit, so conducive to the health and vigour of both mind and body; and to these were also added, intellectual contentions in poetry, eloquence, and the fine arts. Long after the Olympic games had ceased to ex- ist, the gladiator fights were introduced at Rome by the Bruti, and from a barbarous commencement, these sports were, in succeeding ages, so modified, as to induce many of the Roman senators, knights, and citizens, to enlist themselves among the gladi- ators, in order to procure esteem and popularity. Nero is said to have exhibited upon one occasion four hundred senators and six hundred knights. In the East these exercises were also publicly en- couraged ; and Cyrus made it, in a manner, a law to the Persians, whose good education was a great part of his care, that they should never eat but after labour. Civilization, in correcting the evils and barbarous customs of past ages, has not unfre- quently erred in the opposite extreme—. €., in over refinement ; and in no other instance is this more glaring than in the various and ludicrous distortions 2C 194 CONCLUSION. to which the human frame is now subjected by the ever varying fashions, and the almost total neglect of bodily exercise amongst the higher ranks of so- ciety. To this source may be traced a variety of the diseases to which these classes are so liable ; hence we may account for the majority of cases of spinal deformities, contortions of the limbs, and general malformation. To the same origin may also be referred several of the most distressing of the nervous disorders, such as hysteria, epilepsy, men- tal irritability, despondency, melancholy, &c.; and lastly, almost every case of difficult or fatal par- turition is, in a great measure, owing to either of these vices. It was from a knowledge of the inju- rious effects of sedentary habits on the body, that Hippocrates* observed, “ Rest makes the body moist and weak—exercise makes it dry and strong.” This ancient writer observes again, when treating of chlorotic girls, “Food and exercise have op- posite effects, yet mutually contribute to health— exercise consumes what is in the body, and meat and drink fill up the deficiency.” Galen even re- commended old people not to abstain from exercises ; he orders them to keep up their accustomed labours, only to lessen the violence of them; and Celsus remarks, that idleness renders both mind and body dull, but labour strengthens them—* the first brings on old age betimes, but the latter occasions * De Victus Ratione Sanorum,. PHYSICAL TREATMENT. 195 a long youthfulness.” Continued rest has been no- ticed by Sanctorius as a most frequent cause of indigestion ; thus he observes, in Aphorism 389, “long rest renders sickly bodies heavier, because the meat and drink are not digested, and the ex crementitious perspirable matter is not prepared to be discharged ; whence all manner of diseases, and even death itself, follow as consequences ;” even in healthy people when the perspiration is deficient, he recommends exercise as the best restorative; and Van Swieten, in his admirable Commentaries on Boerhaave’s Aphorisms, makes the following judi- cious observations—“ Rest of body, or a neglect of proper exercise, not only impedes the ultimate at- tenuation of the aliments, but also retards the ex- pulsion of such parts as ought naturally to be dis- charged from the body, in order to maintain health.” Sydenham had so high an opinion of exercise on horse-back, that he believed by this alone he could cure a consumption, provided it was not too far gone. Notwithstanding the recommendations of bodily exercise by these and many other illustrious writers of both ancient and modern times, the art of gymnastics has until very lately been allowed to remain in unmerited neglect. It is only now that medical practitioners are beginning to see their great utility as a remedial measure in a variety of complaints incidental to civilized existence, and therefore they are becoming more frequently pre- 196 CONCLUSION. scribed in both medical and surgical cases. It is lamentable to look back upon the old regime of boarding-school physical education, and the perni- cious effects it has produced in society. The mul- tiplicity of distortions and deformities of the limbs and body (and let the reader recollect that the cor- poreal frame is never in any degree injured with- out materially affecting the mind) that were pro- duced by those destructive engines, viz., collars, backboards, stocks, &c., the usual paraphernalia of such establishments, is as incredible as it is to be deplored. The most frequent diseases of board- ing schools are consumption, chlorosis, dyspepsia, and curvature of the spine; and the source of these maladies may, with few exceptions, be traced to the above causes. How many a parent has had her fondest hopes blighted by these pernicious instruments! How often have we not seen young girls in the:bloom of youth and health when sent to school, returning in a few years with their constitutions undermined, with curved Spine, with sunken eye, with blanched cheeks, with bloodless lips, and in a little time the red flag of death (the hectic flush) is planted upon the pallid cheek, in order, as it were, to deceive the observer, and steal the life of its victim imperceptibly away! Now, what is this sudden and fatal change owing to ? The following is, in my opinion, the true explana- tion :—At the generality of boarding-schools it has been the invariable practice of the mistresses, when- PHYSICAL TREATMENT. 197 ever a girl appeared at all awkward or inclined to stoop, to have immediate recourse to the “ collar” and “ backboard,” in order “ to give the young lady a proper carriage,” and, in addition to these tortures, should her feet not be sufficiently turned out, the unhappy girl was placed in “stocks,” by which means both heels were placed together, and the toes pointed in straight lines from either side of the body, and in this position she was compelled to sit for hours together. These three instruments, consti- tuting in themselves an infernal machine, were so con- structed, that when applied to young growing girls, they produced the most baneful consequences ; in the first place, they prevented the body and limbs from moving either one way or the other, conse- quently the whole frame must have been maintained in the same fixed position during the period of their application. This sedentary habit in itself was quite sufficient to produce indigestion. The immoy- able position of the neck and back for so long a time, only rendered the muscles and ligaments of these parts feeble and weak, (a natural result of the want of exercise,) and the consequence was, that the spinal column, from the want of support, yielded to one side, not unfrequently to both, forming a double curvature like the letter S; this state of things went on for some time without attracting any attention, until at length one of the hips became visibly prominent, which then attracted notice to the part; but when this happened it was generally 198 CONCLUSION. too late, the disease was too far gone to be remedied —the chest became narrowed—the lungs could not expand—and if the individual escaped sinking un- der the shock which her still tender frame had re- ceived, it was only to drag on a wretched existence of deformity and sickness. The apparatus for the feet was equally injurious, independent of the pain- ful position in which the limbs were kept; the liga- ments and muscles of the hip, knee, and ankle joints were more or less injured by the straining which this unnatural torture of the feet produced. It was like turning a stream against its course to endeavour to force these muscles to act in a manner which nature never intended them to do; and it only frustrated the very ends which it was in- tended to fulfil; for the ligaments became stretched —the joints loosened—and when the limbs were again let free, the feet turned inwards more than ever, whither, in a certain degree, they are natu- rally inclined. The manner in which young girls:were made write was another evil of the first magnitude, in boarding-school education. My respected pre- ceptor, Dr. Macartney, of Dublin, used frequently to allude to this, and the following observation is taken from manuscript notes of his lectures :— “Girls in boarding schools are in a sad way for want of exercise; and the abominable manner in which they are made write with the entire body twisted out of its natural position, brings on curva- PHYSICAL TREATMENT. 199 ture of the spine ; when the menstrual period comes on there is no discharge—consumption follows, and terminates in the death of the person.” The physical treatment I would recommend to both growing and grown-up individuals subject to diseased sensibility, is a regular course of gymnastic exercises, graduated according to the age, sex, constitution, &c., of the person. It is almost in- credible what wonderful effects may be produced on the mind by physical training ; and if this sys- tem was more generally cultivated in boarding schools and private families, than those barbarous instruments before alluded to, society would have been spared a series of evils which were inflicted on it by the old plan. Some parents, perhaps, may imagine that the female form is too deli- cate and feeble for the practice of gymnastics—but let it be remembered what the intention is with which they are entered upon. “It is not solely for the purpose of exercising such power as the indivi- dual may be already possessed of—but by a well- devised gradation of movements, to procure an additional supply of strength.” Let; any, even the weakest, make the trial, and at the expiration of a month—nay, even of a week, there will be an evi- dent increase of strength and constitutional vigour. In these exercises, we should begin with the most gentle, and increase them by degrees. “ Those exercises of the body are more especially service- able, which give delight to the mind at the same 200 CONCLUSION. time; and in male cases, tennis, fencing, &c., are particularly adapted for this purpose—for which reason the wisdom of antiquity appointed rewards for those who excelled in these gymnastic exercises, that by this means the bodies of their youth might be hardened for warlike toils.* In France the gymnastic system of education is very much culti- vated ; there are several institutions, both public and private, for this purpose in Paris, all conducted in a most scientific manner; but one in particular claims our especial regard in this place. The gymnasium alluded to, viz—the “ Institut Ortho- pedique de Paris,” is conducted on an extensive scale by MM. Pravaz and Jules Guerin, two able and scientific physicians. This establishment is de- voted to the treatment of Deformities of the Spine and Limbs, occurring in individuals of either sex ; and the plan principally relied upon, is a series of gymnastic exercises, adapted to the age and con- stitution of the patient, and well regulated diet. The system pursued in this institution is based upon 9 the principles of physiology and animal mechanics, and when. conducted by such scientific men, cannot fail to be attended with success. MM. Pravaz and Jules Guerin do not pretend to be able to cure all cases of deformity; it is only where the curva- ture is recent, and in individuals whose growth is not complete, that they expect to find the bene- * Mercuriali de Arte Gymnastica. PHYSICAL TREATMENT. 201 ficial effects of their mode of treatment fully de- veloped. They strongly protest against the practice of using corsets and girdles, and, in short, the whole paraphernalia of the old regime. It is aston- ishing what a salutary effect this physical training has on the mental irritability usually attendant on bodily deformity, for, as Dr. Macartney, who strong- ly advocated the system of gymnastics, used to ob- serve} in his admirable lectures, “ It not only carries on the natural secretions and excretions, but it like- wise strengthens the mental faculties, as well as it in- vigorates the bodily functions.” Mercuriali recommends weak people to begin with the gentlest exercises, as by swinging on a rope with a slow oscillatory motion, for it is parti- cularly to be borne in mind that the strength is never to be over-exerted, so as to produce a sense of lassitude, or weariness, as this would be injurious even to the most vigorous constitutions. To weakly girls, languishing under chlorosis, Van Swieten re- commends, as a sovereign remedy, steel and bodily exercise. By these remedies, he says, “ the tumid face shall begin to subside, the lips and cheeks be- come tinctured with the rose, and the wonted vigour return to the whole body.” In very weak people the ancients used to exercise the muscles by friction, on which they set a very high value, both as a pre- servative of health, and serviceable in the cure of many diseases; thus Hippocrates has said, that “ friction may loose or bind, may make plump or 2D 202 CONCLUSION. lean: if hard, it binds; if soft, it loosens ; if vio- lent, it diminishes ; if moderate, it fills up. And Columella* observed, “ The bodies of cattle ought to be rubbed down daily, as well as the bodies of men, for in both instances it tends to produce health, vigour, and long activity.” Before concluding this subject, I beg to say, that from experience and observation, I can strongly recommend the gymnastic system of education to the attentive consideration of parents, guardians, and all who are entrusted with the care of youth; for “the development of the physical powers is not the exclusive object which we attain by gym- nastic exercises ; the intellectual and moral capaci- ties are as obviously influenced—the mind becomes better adapted to its pursuits—habits of irritability, moroseness, languor, indolence, and effeminacy are removed—and in their stead, a cheerful buoy- ancy of spirit, liveliness of disposition, and a mind glowing with intrepidity, at the same time within the control of the individual, are invariably sub- stituted.” * De re Rustica. THE END. LONDON: JOHN SCOTT, PRINTER, JOHN STREET, HOLLANDSTREET, BLACKFRIARS ROAD. 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