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Show 358 CONCLUDING REMARKS CHAP. XIV. Although most of our expressive actions 'tar~ inn;~e . . . d itted by everyone, l IS a l - or instinctive, as IS a m h instinctive power £ nt uestion whether we ave any ere q . . h This has generally been assumed of recoo·n1s1ng t em. b t 1 b oh . but the assumption has een s rong y to e t e cdaseb, M Lem.oine.2 Monkeys soon learn contr.o v.e rte . h Yn ot ·o nl the tones of voi·c e of th eu· · to dtistmt~~ the expresrion of their faces, as is ~sserted mas ers, f 1 b 3 Doo-s well know the difference by a care u o server. o between caress.i ng an d threatening ge. stures or tonBes ; and the seem to recognise a compassionate t~ne. ut as far aYs I can mak e out' after repeated tnals, thhey d not understand any movement confined .to t e 0 features excepti. ng a smi·1 e or laugh ·' and .t his tThhe.y a ear ' at least in some cases, to recognise. . Is lf!ited amount of knowledge has probably_ been g~In~d, b k and dogs through their assoCiating both y mon eys ' . d l h h kind treatment with our actions;. an t 1e k::~le':ge certainly is not instinctive. Children, _no doubt, would soon learn the movements of. expressi~n in their elders in the same manuel~ as a~:nmals leain h f n Moreover when a child cries or laughs, t ose o ma · · ' · d · ct he knows in a general manner what be IS. o~no d bat he feels. so that a very small exert~on an w ld te,ll him what crying or laughing of reason wou . h 'l meant in others. But the question IS, do. our c I- .. tbei'r knowledge of expression solely dren acquue · t' d by expen.e nce through the power of associa Ion an reason ? · t ba ve As most of the movements of expressio~ rou~ inc-been gradually acquired, afterwards becoming Inst 2 'La Physionomie et la Parole,' 1865, pp .. 103, 118p ·acruay' 1830, s Rengger, '.Naturgeschichte der Saugethlere von at o , ' s. 55. CHAP. XIV. AND SUMMARY. 359 tive, there seems to be some degree of a priori probability that their recognition would likewise have become instinctive. There is, at least, no greater difficulty in believing this than in admitting that, when a female quadruped first bears young, she knows the cry of distress of her offspring, or than in admitting that many animals instinctively recognise and fear their enemies; and of both these statements there can be no reasonable doubt. It is however extremely difficult to prove that our children instinctively recognise any expression. I . attended to this point in my first-born infant, who could not have learnt anything by associating with other children, and I was convinced that he understood a smile and received pleasure from seeing one, answering it by another, at much too early an age to have learnt anything by experience. When this child was about four months old, I made in his presence many odd noises and strange grimaces, and tried to look savage; but the noises, if not too loud, as well as the grimaces, were all taken as good jokes; and I attributed this at the time to their being preceded or accompanied by smiles. When five months old, he seemed to understand a compassionate expression and tone of voice. When a few days over six months old, his nurse pretended to cry, and I saw that his face instantly assumed a melancholy expression, with the corners of the mouth strongly depressed; now this child could rarely have seen any other child crying, and never a grown-up person crying, and I should doubt whether at so early an age he could have reasoned on the subject. Therefore it seems to me that an innate feeling must have told him that the pretended crying of his nurse expressed grief; and this through the instinct of sympathy excited grief in him. M. Lemoine argues that, if man possessed an innate |
