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Show 326 DLUSIIING. CllAl'. XJII. confused. Therefore it would seem that tho capi~laries of the face are affect~d, both during the inhalation of the nitrite of amyl and during blushing, before that part of the brain is affected on which the mental powers dep nd. . . . . Conversely when tho bra1n 1s pr1manly affected., tho circulation of tho skin is so in a secondary 1nannor. Dr. Browne has frequently observed, as ho informs nH', scattered red blotches and Inottlings on the chests of epileptic patients. In these cases, when ~he skin 0~1 the thorax or abdomen is gently rubbed w1th a ponml or other object, or, in strongly-1narkcd. cases, is mere:y touched by the finger, the surface becomes suffused. 1n less than half a minute with bright red n1arks, wlnch spread to some distance on each side of the touched point, and persist for several minutes. Th.ese. are the cerebral rnaculm of Trousseau; and they 1nd1cate, as Dr. Browne remarks, a highly modified condition of tho cutaneous vascular system. If, then, there exists, as cannot be· doubted, an intimate sympathy between the capillary circulation in that part of the brain on whieh our mental powers depend, and in the skin of the face, it is not surprising that the moral causes which induce intense blushing should likewise induce, independently of their own disturbing influence, n1uch confusion of mind. The Nature of the Mental States which induce Blushing.- These consist of shyness, shaine, and modesty; the essential elen1ent in all being self-attention. Many reasons can be assigned for believing that origin~lly self-attention directed to personal appearance, in relatwn to the opinion of others, was the exciting cause; the same effect being subsequently produced, th.rough the force of association, by self-attention in relation. to moral c;onduct. It is not the simple act of reflectmg CHAP. XJil. BLU HING. 327 on. our own appearance, but tho thinking what others tlu~k of us, which xcit s n Llu h. In absolute ~oh.tude the 1nost. ·en itive person would be quite 1~d1fferent ~tbout hm app arance. vV e feel blame or (hsapprobatJon lllOl'~ acutely than approbation; anu consequently d pr cw.tory rmnark or ridicule, whoth r of our appearance or conduct, cause us to blu h much 1nore rea~ily. than does ;praise. But undoubtedly praise and admiration are h1ghly fficient: a pretty girl blush s when a man gn.z s intently at her, though sho n1ay know per~ectly w II that he i. not depreciating her. Many children, as well as old and s nsiti ve p rsons blush, when they are much prai l. IIereafter the question will be discussed, how it ha arisen that the consciousness that. other::; ar attending to our personal a?pearanco should have. led to the ~apillarie , ospecw. lly those of tho face, Instantly beco1ning filled with blood. My reasons for believing that attention directed to personal appearance, and not to moral conduct, has been the fundamental element in the acquirement of the habit o.f blushing, wil~ now bo given. They are separately l~o-ht, but c~mb1ned p_ossess, as it appears to me, consider(. ble weight. It 1s notorious that nothing makes a. shy pers~n blush so 1nuch as any remark, however slight, on h1s per onal a1 poarance. One cannot notice e~en the dr ~ of a wo1uan much given to blushing, w1thout cau 1ng her · fac to crimson. It i sufficient t? stare hard at some persons to make them,. as Coleridge remarks, blush,-" account for that he who "can." 23 With the two albinos observed by Dr. Burgess,24 23 .In a. tli:;cussion on so-ca.llctl a.nima.l magnetism in 'Ta.ble Ta.Ik • vol. 1. 2"' Ibid. p. 4.0. : |