With respect to the movements of certain muscles of the face
under great suffering, as well as from other emotions,
these will be best considered when we treat of the special
expressions of man and of the lower animals.
We will now turn to the characteristic symptoms of Rage. Under this
powerful emotion the action of the heart is much accelerated,[9]
or it may be much disturbed. The face reddens, or it becomes purple
from the impeded return of the blood, or may turn deadly pale.
The respiration is laboured, the chest heaves, and the dilated
nostrils quiver. The whole body often trembles. The voice is affected.
The teeth are clenched or ground together, and the muscular
system is commonly stimulated to violent, almost frantic action.
But the gestures of a man in this state usually differ from the purposeless
writhings and struggles of one suffering from an agony of pain;
for they represent more or less plainly the act of striking or fighting
with an enemy.
All these signs of rage are probably in large part, and some of them
appear to be wholly, due to the direct action of the excited sensorium.
But animals of all kinds, and their progenitors before them,
when attacked or threatened by an enemy, have exerted their utmost
powers in fighting and in defending themselves.
Pages:
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121