[46] See, also, Mr. Michael Foster, on the action of the vaso-motor system,
in his interesting Lecture before the royal Institution, as translated
in the `Revue des Cours Scientifiques,' Sept. 25, 1869, p. 683.
On this hypothesis we can understand how it is that the face blushes
much more than any other part of the body, though the whole surface
is somewhat affected, more 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 principle of inheritance it is not surprising that
persons born blind should blush. We can understand why the young
are much more affected than the old, and women more than men;
and why the opposite sexes especially excite each other's blushes.
It becomes obvious why personal remarks should be particularly 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 less self-conscious. With respect to real shame
from moral delinquencies, we can perceive why it is not guilt,
but the thought that others think us guilty, which raises a blush.
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