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Show 214 EXPRESSION OF liiGti SPIRlTS. CHAP. VIII. that the negroes on tLe Upper Nile began a general rubbing of their bellies when he displayed his beads; and Leichhardt says that the Australians smacked and clacked their mouths at the sight of his horses and bullocks, and more especially of his kangaroo dogs. The Greenlanders, "when they affirm anything with "p.l easure, suck down air with a certain sound·' " 19 and this may be an imitation of the act of swallowing savoury food. Laughter is suppressed by the firm contraction of the orbicular. muscles of the mouth, which prevents the great zygomatic and· other muscles from drawing the lips ~ackwards and upwards. The lower lip is also sometimes ~1eld by the teeth, and this gives a roguish expression to the face, as was observed with the blind and de~f Laura. Bridgman.20 The great zygomatic muscle IS sometimes variable in its course, and I have seen a young ';oman in whom the depressores anguli oris 'vere brought Into strong action in suppressing a smile· but this by no means gave to her countenance a melan~ choly expres~ion, owing to the brightness of her eyes. Laughter Is frequently employed in a forced manner to conceal or mask some other state of mind, even ang.er. We often see persons laughing in order to conceal their sha~e or shyness. When a person purses up his mouth_.' as 1f ~o prevent the possibility of a smile, though ther~ Is noth1ng to excite one, or nothing to prevent its f~ee I?du.lgence, an affected, solemn, or pedantic expression lS given; but of such hybrid expressions nothing more need here be said. In the case of deriRion, a real or pretended smile or laugh is often blended with the expression proper to contempt, and this may pass into 19 Crantz,. quoted by Tylor, ' Primitive Cultut·e' 18,..., 1 1 · p. 16D. ' ' vo . 1· 2° F. Lieber, 'Smithsonian Contributions,' 1851, vol. ii. p. 7. CHAP. 11!. EXPRESSION OF LOVE, ETC. 215 angry contCJn pt or scorn. In such cases the meaning of the laugh or smile is to show the offending person that he excites only atnusement. Love, tender feelings, &c.-Although the e1notion of love, for instance that of a mother for her infant, is one of the strongest of which the n1ind is capable, it can hardly be said to have any proper or peculiar means of expression; and this is intelligible, as it has not habitually led to any special line of action. No doubt, as affection is a pleasurable sensation, it generally causes a gentle smile and some brightening of the eyes. A strong desire to touch the beloved person is commonly felt; and love is expressed by this means more plainly than by any other.21 Hence we long to clasp in our anns those whom we tenderly love. We probably owe this desire to inherited· habit, in association with the nursing and tending of our children, and with the mutual caresses of lovers. With the lower anilnals ·we see the same principle of pleasure derived from contact in association with love. Dogs and cats manifestly take pleasure in rubbing against their masters and mistresses, and in being rubbed or patted by them. 1\iany kinds of n1onkeys, as I am assured by the keepers in the Zoological Gardens, delight in fondling and being fondled by each other, and by persons to whom they are attached. Mr. Bartlett has described to me the behaviour of two chimpanzees, rather older animals than those generally imported into this country, when they were first brought together. They sat opposite, touching each other with their much protruded lips; and the one put his hand on the shoulder of the other. They then mutually folded 21 1\ir. Bain remarks ('Mental and Moral Science,' 1868, p. 239), '' T nderness is a pleasurable emotion, variously stimulated, whose " efl'ort is to draw human beings into mutual embrace." |