Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1897-09-14
TRE BLUsH
What Causes lt-ls Called the Color
of Virtue.

There is in the cheeks of many peo
pie rosy color which is ever present
and the cheeks thus beautifed by ma
turearespoken ofas bearing the flag
of health" However, a person ma,
enjoy the very best of health withou
having the unfurlcd flags Of health
in the cheeks; because permanent
rubicundity of the cheeks is due mere
ly to delicateness or whiteness of the
cuticle, which displays the azure ar
borcscences of the veins. There may
be two women who are in perfect
health, perpetually bright and cheer
full, carrying sunshine along with
them wherever they may go, and one
may have cheeks devoid of any notice
able crimson luster, while the cheeks
of the other seem like two gardens of
roses bursting in full bloom. Rosy
cheeks are, as rule, appreciated more
by those who do not have them than
by those who are fortunate enough
to possess them. 1t is common to
hear women with rosy cheeks give ut
terance to depreciative remarks con-
cerning them, while not a day passes
but what we may meet with those
whose cheeks have a profusion of
color which is not original. This ar
tifcial and superficial luster some
times disappears in places, reappear-
ing upon lips not closely related to
the cheeks on which the color is dis
played.
Blushing indicates a mOmentary
congestion Of the capillaries, which
are dilated only for an instant by nerv-
Gus excitement, then contract again,
and by this contraction expel the alb
normal accumulation Of blood. The
coming and going of this crimson
tide may be described as follows:
When an emotion takes possession Of
the mind hot flush is felt, the skin
grows red, and unless this emotion is
very intense this change in the APP
pearance of the skin is confined to the
cheeks. The blood is a red and a hot
fluid, and when an increased amount
visits the cutaneous vessels the skin
reddens and grows hot. The vessels
are caused to contain an abnormal
quantity of blood because of the re-
taxation, suspension or partial paraly-
sis of the cutaneous nerves, when un-
der ordinary conditions, keep the YES
sells moderately and uniformly con-
tracted. When a person is taken on
surprise the confused state Of the
mind is manifest in the flushed cheek.
We can imagine what a tempest
ragged in either cheek when Juliet
found she had been overheard; but the
"mask of night" was on her face, and
the beautiful blush which her con-
fusion kindled in her dainty cheeks
came and went unseen by Romeo's
eyes.
a blush may be a forerunner of a
thought that follows closely after; as
when a person, having committed
grevious misdeed, and being brought
face to face with it, is about to ac-
knowledge his guilt, the sensation of
shame born of that consciousness is !
apt to kindle the cheek while the
thought momentarly trembles on the
verge Of speech. Or blush may be
the telltale off thought in secret vain
ly kept; so that it often happens that
When a woman's love is not expressed
Her love is oft in a blush confessed.
The blush has been spoken of as be-
ing the color Of virtue; that in the
blush the dignity Of yirtueis isasserted.
Diogenes once met a youth blushlng
and said: Courage, my my boy; |
that is the complexion of virtue" 1t |
is true some people reach a degree Of |
debasement when the cheeks are no |
longer visited by "the red spots Of |
shame" With such virtue is a mean
ingless word, and he for whom that |
word embodies no suggestiyeness Of |
the souls nobility is more on the level |
with the reasonless creation than on
that of man. To be incapable of |
blushing under any conditions indi-
Gates at least badly blunted moral
These thoughts revolv-
ing in the mind of the poet Young
moved him to write:
The man that bushes is not quite brute
This purely local modification of |
the circulation knownas the blush is
not visible where there is a pigmen-
tary deposit in the cells constituting
the undermost layer Of the skin, as,
for example, in the African.-Frank |
Morris Kramer, in st. Louis Republic.
The Worlds Fleets.