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Show 292 FEAR. CHAP. XII. restlessly fro1n side to side, hue ill~tc volvens oculos totumque pererrat.18 The pupils are said to be enormously dilat d. All the n1uscles of the ·body may become rigid, or may be thrown into convulsive moven1ents. The hands are alternately clenched and opened, often with a twitching movement. The arms may be protruded, as if to avert some dreadful danger, or may be thrown wildly over the head. The Rev. Mr. Hagenauer has seen this latter action in a terrified Australian. In other cases there is a sudden and uncontrollable tendency to headlong flight; and so strong is this, that the boldest soldiers may be seized with a sudd-en panic. . As fear rises to an extreme pitch, the dreadful scream of terror is heard. Great beads of sweat stand on the skin. All the muscles of the body are relaxed. Utter prostration soon follows, and the mental powers fail. 'fhe intestines are affected. The sphincter muscles cease to act, and no longer retain the contents of the body. Dr. J. Crichton Browne has given me so striking an u,rcount of intense fear in an insane woman, aged thirtyfive, that the description though painful ought not to be omitted. When a paroxysm seizes her, she screams ont, " This is hell ! " " There is a black wotnan ! " '' I " can't get out! "-and other such exclamations. When thus screaming, her movements are those of alternate tension and tremor. For one instant she clenches her hands, holds her arms out before her in a stiff semifl xed position; then suddenly bends her body forwards, sways rapidly to and fro, draws her fingers through her hair, clutches at her neck, and tries to tear off' her 18 See M'oreau on the rolling of the eyes. in the edit. of 1820 of L:lVat<.'r, tome iv. p. 263. Also, Gratiolet, De la Phys. p. 17. CIIAI>. XII. FEAR. 293 clothes. The sterno- leido-mastoid muscles (which se:·ve to b nd the h ad on the ch<'st) t(. nd out promin ntly,. a if woll n, and th kin in front of thein i Inuch wnnld d. H r hair, which i cut short at the ba ·k of her head, and. i mooth wh n he is calm n w tands on end; that in front b ing dishevelled b~ th ru v m nts of her hands. ~rhe countenance xpr s ~ great In ntal ng ny. The skin i fln h d over the fi:tce ~nd n ·k, down to the clavicles, and the v ins of th for he~d and neck tand out like thiek cords. The ~ow r hp drop ' and i somewhat evert d. The mouth IS k pt half op n, with the lower jaw proj cting. ~rhe ~bed~ ar.e hollow a~ld deeply furrowed in curved lines I uniuug from the wings of the no trils to tho corner, of th m ut~., ~rhe no trils th mselves are rai ed aud ext~ ndod.: lh eye are wid ly open d, and b neath th m ~ 1 . kin ~ppe~rs w ll n; the pupils are large. ~rhe fol ~oad IS wnnl~l~d transversely in many folds, and at ~he In~er .xtr ~Itle. of the eyebrows it is strongly iurIO\~~ d In divergin~ line ' produced by the pow rful and pel l t nt contractiOn of the corrugators. Mr. B .n ha . also described 19 an agony of terror and of d. pair, wlnch he witnessed in a murd r r whil 't e" ar·nae d to the place of execution in Turin ,, o' h f h . n ac " Bl ? t e car the officiating priests were seat d ; and In tLe c ntre sat the criminal himself It ,',' l·m po "bl · · was I ~ to witne the condition of this unhappy " wr tch Withou.t t rror; and .v; et, a if 1. 1np lle d b y " some trange Infatuati?n, it wa qually impossible ,, Hno t to gazel upon an object so wild ' so full of· 11 ot.r o1.. " e seemec about thirty-five years of age; of laro·e and mu.:cular form; his countenance marked by 19 'Obs ~rvn. t·I ous on Italy: 1825, p. 48, ns quoted i 'Th of Expresswn,' p. 16 . n o Anatomy |
