He unfastened the collar of her chemise in order to examine
the state of her lungs; and then a brilliant blush rushed over her chest,
in an arched line over the upper third of each breast, and extended downwards
between the breasts nearly to the ensiform cartilage of the sternum.
This case is interesting, as the blush did not thus extend downwards until
it became intense by her attention being drawn to this part of her person.
As the examination proceeded she became composed, and the blush disappeared;
but on several subsequent occasions the same phenomena were observed.
[6] Moreau, in edit. of 1820 of Lavater, vol. iv. p. 303.
[7] Burgess. ibid. p. 38, on paleness after blushing, p. 177.
The foregoing facts show that, as a general rule, with English women,
blushing does not extend beneath the neck and upper part of the chest.
Nevertheless Sir J. Paget informs me that he has lately heard
of a case, on which he can fully rely, in which a little girl,
shocked by what she imagined to be an act of indelicacy,
blushed all over her abdomen and the upper parts of her legs.
Moreau also[8] relates, on the authority of a celebrated painter,
that the chest, shoulders, arms, and whole body of a girl,
who unwillingly consented to serve as a model, reddened when she
was first divested of her clothes.
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