Prolonged screaming inevitably leads to the gorging of the blood-vessels of
the eye; and this will have led, at first consciously and at last habitually,
to the contraction of the muscles round the eyes in order to protect them.
At the same time the spasmodic pressure on the surface of the eye,
and the distension of the vessels within the eye, without necessarily
entailing any conscious sensation, will have affected, through reflex action,
the lacrymal glands. Finally, through the three principles of nerve-force
readily passing along accustomed channels--of association, which is so
widely extended in its power--and of certain actions, being more under
the control of the will than others--it has come to pass that suffering
readily causes the secretion of tears, without being necessarily accompanied
by any other action.
[24] Quoted by Sir J. Lubbock, `Prehistoric Times,' 1865, p. 458.
Although in accordance with this view we must look at weeping
as an incidental result, as purposeless as the secretion of tears
from a blow outside the eye, or as a sneeze from the retina
being affected by a bright light, yet this does not present any
difficulty in our understanding how the secretion of tears serves
as a relief to suffering.
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