The following remarks will at least
serve to recall some of the chief points discussed in this volume.
We may confidently believe that laughter, as a sign of pleasure or enjoyment,
was practised by our progenitors long before they deserved to be called human;
for very many kinds of monkeys, when pleased, utter a reiterated sound,
clearly analogous to our laughter, often accompanied by vibratory movements
of their jaws or lips, with the corners of the mouth drawn backwards
and upwards, by the wrinkling of the cheeks, and even by the brightening
of the eyes.
We may likewise infer that fear was expressed from an extremely remote period,
in almost the same manner as it now is by man; namely, by trembling,
the erection of the hair, cold perspiration, pallor, widely opened eyes,
the relaxation of most of the muscles, and by the whole body cowering
downwards or held motionless.
Suffering, if great, will from the first have caused screams or groans to
be uttered, the body to be contorted, and the teeth to be ground together.
But our progenitors will not have exhibited those highly expressive
movements of the features which accompany screaming and crying until their
circulatory and respiratory organs, and the muscles surrounding the eyes,
had acquired their present structure.
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