New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-01-14

-, ~, ~. .oh otber IT, has been observed that |
-, = borses head was rubbed, he protruded ms
head uncovered his teeth and moVeo nus jaws as 4
nihhlnc another horses neck. Wheh d hoiSo 10 v'u
ried his wish TO bite often becomes so suons 'haV
be will clatter his teeth together' auu 'hOusn No'
vicious will bite his groom Cats' as Is wen hho"n
dIile vettinr their feet, owing, Mr.. Darwin sug-
casts 70 their having originally inhabited the dry
country of Egypt, and when they wet their
feet. tbey shake them violently. When some
water was poured into glass close TO the head
ola kitten il Immediately shook its feet in the usual
manner affording an instance of habitual move
ment falsely excited by associated sound, instead
OF nv the sense of touch. Another example of an
habitual movement without purpose is furnished by
the shedrake. The wild bird feeds the sands left
uncovered by the tide, and when worm-hole is dis
covered pats the ground with its feet which makes
the worm come TO the surface Now the tame shell
drake has been noticed when they come to ask for
food, to pat the ground in rapid and inpatient
manner making the movement their expression OF
hunger. The flamingo and other birds when anxious
to be fed beat the ground with their feet in the same
odd manner. The kingfishers when they catch fish
always beat it until it is killed. and the same birds
in the Geological Gardens always beat the raw meat
with which they are sometimes fed before devour-
ing it.
mind lead to certain habtual movements which
were originally of service but are now without pur-
pose it is also true that when a directly opposite
state of mind is induced there is tendency to the
| performance of movements of directly opposite
kind though they have never been of any service.
| When dog for example, approaches strange dog
| OF a man in a hostile frame of mind, he walks up
right and very stiily His head is raised, and the
tail is held erect and quite rigid The halr Drlstes'
the pricked ears are directed forward and the eyes
have fixed stare. AS he prepares to spring with
savage growl on his enemy, the canine teeth are
uncovered and the ears pressed backward on the
head But let us now suppose that the dog suddenly
discovers that the man whom he Is about 10
| attack is not stranger, but hls master us
| whole bearing is instantly reversed Instead OF
| walking upright the BODY crouches, and is thrown
| into tlexuous movements His tail is lowered, and
ways from side to side. His hair at once becomes
smooth. His ears are depressed and drawn back
ward, but not closely to the head. His lips hang
| loosely The eyelids become elongated from the
drawing back OF the ears and the eyes longer APP
| pear round and staring. The animal at such times
is in an excited condition from joy and neryetorce
generated IN excess, which naturally leads TO some
| kind of action. None Of the movements described,
so clearly expressive of Affection of the least di-
rect service to the animal Their explanation is to
be found in the fact that they are in complete anti
| thesis to the movements which take place when
dog intends to fight and which consequently are ex-
pressive of anger. II will here give" says the au-
thor one other instance of antithesis IN express
! sion formerly possessed large dog, who like
| every other dog was much pleased to go out walk
ing He showed his pleasure by trotting gTavey be-
| fore me with high steps, head much raised, mod
eratelv erected ears and tail carried aott but not
| sti1lv Not far from my house path branches OF
TO the right leading to the hOt-hOuse, which used
often to visit for few moments, TO look at my ex-
perimental plants. This was always great disap-
| pointment to the dog, as be did not know whether
| | should continue my walk and the instantaneous
! and complete change of expression which came over
him. as soon as my body swerved in the least towards
| the path land / sometimes tried this as an expert
ment) was laughable. His look Of detection was
| known to every member OF the family, and was
called his dollhouse face This consisted In the head
| dropping much the whole body sinking little and
remaining motioness the cars and tail falling sud
denly down, but the tail was by no means wagged.
With the falling of the ears and of his great chaps,
| the eyes became much changed in appearance and
fancied that they looked less bright. His aspect was
that of pite0us hopeless detection and it was, as
have said, laughable, as the was so slight.
Every detail in his attitude in complete oppos-
ton to his former joyful yet dignifed bearing and
can be explained as it appears to me- IN no other
way except through the principle of antithesis'
Had not the change been instantaneous, should
have attributed it to his lowered spirits affecting
in the case OF man, the nervous system and circula
ton and consequently the tone of his whole muscu
| lar frame and this may have been in part the
| cause"
In illustration of the third principle, namely, that
many expressions of certain states Of mind result
from the constitution of the nervous system, Mr.
Darwin refers to the loss Of color in the hair which
| is sometimes the consequence of extreme terror or
grief Another instance is that of the trembling of
! the muscles which is common to man and the lower
animals. This is of no service often of great dis
! service and cannot have been at first acquired
through the win, and afterward rendered habtual
| by association with any emotion. Young children
| do not tremble but go into commissions under the
! circumstances that would induce excessive trem-
| bling in adults. Trembling is caused not only by
| fear, but occasionally also by anger and JOY. Mr.
| Darwin remembers once seeing n boy who had just
shot his first snipe on the wing, whose hands trem-
bled TO such degree from delight that for time
he could not reload bis gun. Fine music often
a shiver to run down the backs of some sensitive
| persons. When animals suffer from an agony of
pain, they generally writhe about with frightful
| contortiOns. Those which habitually use their
voices utter piercing cries groaDs. Almost every
muscle of the body Is brought into strong action.
With man, the mouth may be closely compressed,
OF more commonly the lips are retracted, with the
teeth clenched OF ground together. The eyes stare
wildly OF the brows are heavily contracted. Per-
spiration battles the body, and drops trickle down
the face. The nostrils are dilated and often
culver and the breath may be held until the blood
stagnates in the purple face
One Of the most striking chapters in the volume is
devoted to an analysis of the phenomena of blush