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Show 322 BLUSHING. CHAP. XIII. for concealment.~.w vVe turn away the whole body, more especially the face, which we endeavour in so1no manner to hide. An ashamed person can hardly enduro to meet the gaze of those present, so that he almost invariably casts down his eyes or. looks askant.. As there generally exists at the same t1~1e a strong .wish to avoid the appearance of shame, a vain attem~t 1s ~ade to look direct at the person who causes th1s feeling; and the antao·onism between these opposite tendencies leads to various restless movements in the eyes. I have noticed two ladies ·who, whilst blushing, to which they are very liable, have thus acquire~, ~s it a~pears, the oddest trick of in?e~santly b~Inlnng their eyelids with extraordinary rapidity. ~n Intense. blush is son1etimes accompanied by a sbght effusion of tears ; 21 and this, I presume, is due to the lacrymal glands partaking of the increas~d s~pply of b~o~d, which we know rushes into the capillaries of the adJOin-ing parts, including the retina. . Many writers, ancient and modern, have noticed the foregoing movements ; and it has already been shown that the aborigines in various parts of the world often exhibit their shame by looking downwards or askant, or by restless movements of their eyes. Ezra cries out ( ch. ix. G), " 0, my God I I am ashamed, and blush to " lift up my head to thee, n1y God." In Isaiah ( ch. 1. 2o Mr. W edgwood says (Diet. of English Etymology, val. iii. 1865, p. 155) that the word shame "may well originate in the idea of shade "or concealment, and may be illustrated by the Low German scheme, "shade or shadow." Gratia let (De la Phys. pp. 357-362) has a .good discussion on the gestures nccompanying shame; but some of lns re-marks seem to me rather fanm.f ul. See, also, Burgess (1'b 1'd · PP· 60 ' 134:) on the same subject. 21 Burgess, ibid. pp.181, 182. Boerhaave also noticed (as quotml.by Gratiolet ibid. p. 361) the tendency to tho secretion of tears dunug intense blushing. 1\"[r. Bulmer, as we have seen, speaks of the "watery eyes" of the children of the Australian aborigines when ashamed. CHAl'. XIII. DLUSHING. I 323 G) we 1neot with the word , " I hid not tny face from '' shame.'' eneca remarks (Epist. xi. 5) "that th "I~oman players hang down their heads, fix their eyes " on the ground and keep them lowered, but are unable "to blush in acting shame." According to Macrobius, who lived in the fifth century('~-.: aturnalia,' B. vii. c. 11), "Nat ural philosophers assert that nature being moved " by shame spreads the blood before herself as a veil, " as we see any one blushing often puts his hands before "his face." Shakspeare makes Marcus ('Titus Andronicus,' act ii. sc. 5) say to his niece, "Ah! now "thou turn'st away thy face for shame." A lady informs me that she found in the Lock Hospital a girl whom she had formerly known, and who had become a wretched castaway, and the poor creature, when approached, hid her face under the bed-clothes, and could not be persuaded to uncover it. We often see little children, ·when shy or ashamed, turn away, and still standing up, bury their faces in their mother's gown; or they throw themselves face downwards on her lap. Confusion of 1nind.-Most persons, whilst blushing intensely, have their mental powers confused. This is recognized in such common expressions as "she "was covered with confusion." Persons in this con• ~ition los~ their presence of mind, and utter singularly Inappropriate rernarks. Th yare often much distressed, stammer, and make awkward movements or strange grimaces. In certain cases involuntary twitchings of son1o of the facial muscles may be observed. I have been informed by a young lady, who blushes excessively, that at such times she does not even know what she is ~ay1ng. When it was suggested to her that this might be due to her djstress from the consciousness that her y 2 |