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Show 346 BLUSHING. CHAP. XIII. plainccl, to excite into activity that part of the sensorium which receives the sensory nerves of tho face; and this will react through the vaso-~otor .system. on the facial capillaries. By frequent r~1teratton durtng numberless o-enerations, the process w1ll have become so habitual in association with the belief that other. .; are thinki~g of us, that even a su~pici?n of. their depreciation suffices to relax the cap1llanes,. without any conscious thought about our faces. WI.th so~o sensitive persons it is enough even to notice tholl' dress to produce the same effect. Through. the. force, also of association and inheritance our caplllanes are rola~ed, whenever we know, or imagine, that any one is blaming, though in silence, our ac~ions, tho~ghts, or character· and a()'ain, when w·e are highly praised. On thi; hyp;th~sis we can understand how it is that the face blushes much more than any other part of the body, though the whole surface is ~ome'v~hat affected, 1nore especially with the races which still go nearly naked. It is not at all surprising that the dark-. coloured races should blush, though no change of colour is visible in their skins. From the princip1e of inheritance it is not surprising that persons born blind should blush. We can understand why the young are n1uch more affected than t.he old, and wo.Inen more than men; and why the opposite sexes e~pec1ally excite each other's blushes. It becomes obvious why personal ren1arks should be particu~arly liable to cause blushing, and why the most powerful of all the causes is shyness; for shyness relates to the presence and opinion of others, and the shy are always more or l:ss self-conscious. With respect to real shame fro~ moral delinquencies, we c~n perceive why it is no~ gu1l~, but the thou()'ht that others think us guilty, which raises. a blush. A man reflecting on a crime cotnmittecl 1ll CHAP. XIII. llLUSIIIN • 347 solitude, and stung l y his conscience, docs not L1nHh; yet he will blu h und r tho vivi l re ollection f n detected fault, or of ono omn1ittecl in th pres n , f others, the degree of bln hin~ b ing clo ·ly relat d to the feeling of reganl for those who have d tocted, witnessed, or suspect d his fault. Breaeh s of conventional rules of conduct, if th y are rjgidly in i. tel on by our equals or superiors, oft n cau. more inteu.·o Llushes even than a detect ,cl crime; an l an a ·t whi h is really criminal, if not blam d by our qual.·, hardly raises a tinge of colour on our cheek . l\1 de ty from humility, or from an indelicacy, excites a vivid blush, as both relate to the judgn1ent or fix d customs of other .. Fron1 the intimate sympathy which xists between the capillary circulation of the surface of the head and of the brain, whenever there is inten e blushing, there will be some, and often great, confusion of mind. ~rhis is frequently accon1pani d by awkward 1novements, and sometiJnes by the involuntary twitching of certain muscles. As blushing, according to this hypothesis, is an indirect result of attention, originally directed to our personal appearance, that i to the urface of the body, and more espe ·ially to the face, we can understand tho meaning of the ge tures which accompany blushing throughout the world. These con ist in hiding the face, or turning it towards the ground, or to one ide. The eyes are gener~.lly averted or are restless, for to look at the man who cau es us to ~ el shame or shyness, imn1ediatoly brings home in an intolerable manner the consciousne~s that his gaze is direeted on u .. Through the prin iple of associated habit, the same movement of the face and yes arc practised, and an, indeed, hardly be avoided, whenever we know or .b~lieve that others are blaming, or too strongly prmsing, our moral conduct. |