Чарльз Дарвин
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
I have already had occasion to remark on the curious manner in which two or three species of Alacacus and the Cynopithecus niger draw back their ears and utter a slight jabbering noise, when they are pleased by being caressed. With the Cynopithecus (fig. 17), the corners of the mouth are at the same time drawn backwards and upwards, so that the teeth are exposed. Hence this expression would never be recognized by a stranger as one of pleasure. The crest of long hairs on the forehead is depressed, and apparently the whole skin of the head drawn backwards. The eyebrows are thus raised a little, and the eyes assume a staring appearance. The lower eyelids also become slightly wrinkled; but this wrinkling is not conspicuous, owing to the permanent transverse furrows on the face.
Painful emotions and sensations. – With monkeys the expression of slight pain, or of any painful emotion, such as grief, vexation, jealousy, &c., is not easily distinguished from that of moderate anger; and these states of mind readily and quickly pass into each other. Grief, however, with some species is certainly exhibited by weeping. A woman, who sold a monkey to the Zoological Society, believed to have come from Borneo (Macacus maurus or M. inornatus of Gray), said that it often cried; and Mr. Bartlett, as well as the keeper Mr. Sutton, have repeatedly seen it, when grieved, or even when much pitied, weeping so copiously that the tears rolled down its cheeks. There is, however, something strange about this case, for two specimens subsequently kept in the Gardens, and believed to be the same species, have never been seen to weep, though they were carefully observed by the keeper and myself when much distressed and loudly screaming. Rengger states[512] that the eyes of the Cebus azarae fill with tears, but not sufficiently to overflow, when it is prevented getting some much desired object, or is much frightened. Humboldt also asserts that the eyes of the Callithrix sciureus "instantly fill with tears when it is seized with fear;" but when this pretty little monkey in the Zoological Gardens was teased, so as to cry out loudly, this did not occur. I do not, however, wish to throw the least doubt on the accuracy of Humboldt's statement.
The appearance of dejection in young orangs and chimpanzees, when out of health, is as plain and almost as pathetic as in the case of our children. This state of mind and body is shown by their listless movements, fallen countenances, dull eyes, and changed complexion.
Anger. – This emotion is often exhibited by many kinds of monkeys, and is expressed, as Mr. Martin remarks,[513] in many different ways. "Some species, when irritated, pout the lips, gaze with a fixed and savage glare on their foe, and make repeated short starts as if about to spring forward, uttering at the same time inward guttural sounds. Many display their anger by suddenly advancing, making abrupt starts, at the same time opening the mouth and pursing up the lips, so as to conceal the teeth, while the eyes are daringly fixed on the enemy, as if in savage defiance. Some again, and principally the long-tailed monkeys, or Guenons, display their teeth, and accompany their malicious grins with a sharp, abrupt, reiterated cry." Mr. Sutton confirms the statement that some species uncover their teeth when enraged, whilst others conceal them by the protrusion of their lips; and some kinds draw back their ears. The Cynopithecus niger, lately referred to, acts in this manner, at the same time depressing the crest of hair on its forehead, and showing its teeth; so that the movements of the features from anger are nearly the same as those from pleasure; and the two expressions can be distinguished only by those familiar with the animal.
Baboons often show their passion and threaten their enemies in a very odd manner, namely, by opening their mouths widely as in the act of yawning. Mr. Bartlett has often seen two baboons, when first placed in the same compartment, sitting opposite to each other and thus alternately opening their mouths; and this action seems frequently to end in a real yawn. Mr. Bartlett believes that both animals wish to show to each other that they are provided with a formidable set of teeth, as is undoubtedly the case. As I could hardly credit the reality of this yawning gesture, Mr. Bartlett insulted an old baboon and put him into a violent passion; and he almost immediately thus acted. Some species of Macacus and of Cereopithecus[514] behave in the same manner. Baboons likewise show their anger, as was observed by Brehin with those which he kept alive in Abyssinia, in another manner, namely, by striking the ground with one hand, "like an angry man striking the table with his fist." I have seen this movement with the baboons in the Zoological Gardens; but sometimes the action seems rather to represent the searching for a stone or other object in their beds of straw.
Mr. Sutton has often observed the face of the Macacus rhesus, when much enraged, growing red. As he was mentioning this to me, another monkey attacked a rhesus, and I saw its face redden as plainly as that of a man in a violent passion. In the course of a few minutes, after the battle, the face of this monkey recovered its natural tint. At the same time that the face reddened, the naked posterior part of the body, which is always red, seemed to grow still redder; but I cannot positively assert that this was the case. When the Mandrill is in any way excited, the brilliantly coloured, naked parts of the skin are said to become still more vividly coloured.
With several species of baboons the ridge of the forehead projects much over the eyes, and is studded with a few long hairs, representing our eyebrows. These animals are always looking about them, and in order to look upwards they raise their eyebrows. They have thus, as it would appear, acquired the habit of frequently moving their eyebrows. However this may be, many kinds of monkeys, especially the baboons, when angered or in any way excited, rapidly and incessantly move their eyebrows up and down, as well as the hairy skin of their foreheads.[515] As we associate in the case of man the raising and lowering of the eyebrows with definite states of the mind, the almost incessant movement of the eyebrows by monkeys gives them a senseless expression. I once observed a man who had a trick of continually raising his eyebrows without any corresponding emotion, and this gave to him a foolish appearance; so it is with some persons who keep the corners of their mouths a little drawn backwards and upwards, as if by an incipient smile, though at the time they are not amused or pleased.
A young orang, made jealous by her keeper attending to another monkey, slightly uncovered her teeth, and, uttering a peevish noise like tish-shist, turned her back on him. Both orangs and chimpanzees, when a little more angered, protrude their lips greatly, and make a harsh barking noise. A young female chimpanzee, in a violent passion, presented a curious resemblance to a child in the same state. She screamed loudly with widely open mouth, the lips being retracted so that the teeth were fully exposed. She threw her arms wildly about, sometimes clasping them over her head. She rolled on the ground, sometimes on her back, sometimes on her belly, and bit everything within reach. A young gibbon (Hylobates syndactylus) in a passion has been described[516] as behaving in almost exactly the same manner.
The lips of young orangs and chimpanzees are protruded, sometimes to a wonderful degree, under various circumstances. They act thus, not only when slightly angered, sulky, or disappointed, but when alarmed at anything – in one instance, at the sight of a turtle,[517]– and likewise when pleased. But neither the degree of protrusion nor the shape of the mouth is exactly the same, as I believe, in all cases; and the sounds which are then uttered are different. The accompanying drawing represents a chimpanzee made sulky by an orange having been offered him, and then taken away. A similar protrusion or pouting of the lips, though to a much slighter degree, may be seen in sulky children.
Many years ago, in the Zoological Gardens, I placed a looking-glass on the floor before two young orangs, who, as far as it was known, had never before seen one. At first they gazed at their own images with the most steady surprise, and often changed their point of view. They then approached close and protruded their lips towards the image, as if to kiss it, in exactly the same manner as they had previously done towards each other, when first placed, a few days before, in the same room. They next made all sorts of grimaces, and put themselves in various attitudes before the mirror; they pressed and rubbed the surface; they placed their hands at different distances behind it; looked behind it; and finally seemed almost frightened, started a little, became cross, and refused to look any longer.
When we try to perform some little action which is difficult and requires precision, for instance, to thread a needle, we generally close our lips firmly, for the sake, I presume, of not disturbing our movements by breathing; and I noticed the same action in a young Orang. The poor little creature was sick, and was amusing itself by trying to kill the flies on the window-panes with its knuckles; this was difficult as the flies buzzed about, and at each attempt the lips were firmly compressed, and at the same time slightly protruded.
Although the countenances, and more especially the gestures, of orangs and chimpanzees are in some respects highly expressive, I doubt whether on the whole they are so expressive as those of some other kinds of monkeys. This may be attributed in part to their ears being immovable, and in part to the nakedness of their eyebrows, of which the movements are thus rendered less conspicuous. When, however, they raise their eyebrows their foreheads become, as with us, transversely wrinkled. In comparison with man, their faces are inexpressive, chiefly owing to their not frowning under any emotion of the mind – that is, as far as I have been able to observe, and I carefully attended to this point. Frowning, which is one of the most important of all the expressions in man, is due to the contraction of the corrugators by which the eyebrows are lowered and brought together, so that vertical furrows are formed on the forehead. Both the orang and chimpanzee are said[518] to possess this muscle, but it seems rarely brought into action, at least in a conspicuous manner. I made my hands into a sort of cage, and placing some tempting fruit within, allowed both a young orang and chimpanzee to try their utmost to get it out; but although they grew rather cross, they showed not a trace of a frown. Nor was there any frown when they were enraged. Twice I took two chimpanzees from their rather dark room suddenly into bright sunshine, which would certainly have caused us to frown; they blinked and winked their eyes, but only once did I see a very slight frown. On another occasion, I tickled the nose of a chimpanzee with a straw, and as it crumpled up its face, slight vertical furrows appeared between the eyebrows. I have never seen a frown on the forehead of the orang.
The gorilla, when enraged, is described as erecting its crest of hair, throwing down its under lip, dilating its nostrils, and uttering terrific yells. Messrs. Savage and Wyman[519] state that the scalp can be freely moved backwards and forwards, and that when the animal is excited it is strongly contracted; but I presume that they mean by this latter expression that the scalp is lowered; for they likewise speak of the young chimpanzee, when crying out, as having the eyebrows strongly contracted. The great power of movement in the scalp of the gorilla, of many baboons and other monkeys, deserves notice in relation to the power possessed by some few men, either through reversion or persistence, of voluntarily moving their scalps.[520]
Astonishment, Terror– A living fresh-water turtle was placed at my request in the same compartment in the Zoological Gardens with many monkeys; and they showed unbounded astonishment, as well as some fear. This was displayed by their remaining motionless, staring intently with widely opened eyes, their eyebrows being often moved up and down. Their faces seemed somewhat lengthened. They occasionally raised themselves on their hind-legs to get abetter view. They often retreated a few feet, and then turning their heads over one shoulder, again stared intently. It was curious to observe how much less afraid they were of the turtle than of a living snake which I had formerly placed in their compartment;[521] for in the course of a few minutes some of the monkeys ventured to approach and touch the turtle. On the other hand, some of the larger baboons were greatly terrified, and grinned as if on the point of screaming out. When I showed a little dressed-up doll to the Cynopithecus niger, it stood motionless, stared intently with widely opened eyes, and advanced its ears a little forwards. But when the turtle was placed in its compartment, this monkey also moved its lips in an odd, rapid, jabbering manner, which the keeper declared was meant to conciliate or please the turtle.
I was never able clearly to perceive that the eyebrows of astonished monkeys were kept permanently raised, though they were frequently moved up and down. Attention, which precedes astonishment, is expressed by man by a slight raising of the eyebrows; and Dr. Duchenne informs me that when he gave to the monkey formerly mentioned some quite new article of food, it elevated its eyebrows a little, thus assuming an appearance of close attention. It then took the food in its fingers, and, with lowered or rectilinear eyebrows, scratched, smelt, and examined it, – an expression of reflection being thus exhibited. Sometimes it would throw back its head a little, and again with suddenly raised eyebrows re-examine and finally taste the food.
In no case did any monkey keep its mouth open when it was astonished. Mr. Sutton observed for me a young orang and chimpanzee during a considerable length of time; and however much they were astonished, or whilst listening intently to some strange sound, they did not keep their mouths open. This fact is surprising, as with mankind hardly any expression is more general than a widely open mouth under the sense of astonishment. As far as I have been able to observe, monkeys breathe more freely through their nostrils than men do; and this may account for their not opening their mouths when they are astonished; for, as we shall see in a future chapter, man apparently acts in this manner when startled, at first for the sake of quickly drawing a full inspiration, and afterwards for the sake of breathing as quietly as possible.
Terror is expressed by many kinds of monkeys by the utterance of shrill screams; the lips being drawn back, so that the teeth are exposed. The hair becomes erect, especially when some anger is likewise felt. Mr. Sutton has distinctly seen the face of the Macacus rhesus grow pale from fear. Monkeys also tremble from fear; and sometimes they void their excretions. I have seen one which, when caught, almost fainted from an excess of terror.
Sufficient facts have now been given with respect to the expressions of various animals. It is impossible to agree with Sir C. Bell when he says[522] that "the faces of animals seem chiefly capable of expressing rage and fear;" and again, when he says that all their expressions "may be referred, more or less plainly, to their acts of volition or necessary instincts." He who will look at a dog preparing to attack another dog or a man, and at the same animal when caressing his master, or will watch the countenance of a monkey when insulted, and when fondled by his keeper, will be forced to admit that the movements of their features and their gestures are almost as expressive as those of man. Although no explanation can be given of some of the expressions in the lower animals, the greater number are explicable in accordance with the three principles given at the commencement of the first chapter.
CHAPTER VI. – SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS OF MAN: SUFFERING AND WEEPING
The screaming and weeping Of infants – Forms of features – Age at which weeping commences – The effects of habitual restraint on weeping – Sobbing – Cause of the contraction of the muscles round the eyes during screaming – Cause of the secretion of tears.
IN this and the following chapters the expressions exhibited by Man under various states of the mind will be described and explained, as far as lies in my power. My observations will be arranged according to the order which I have found the most convenient; and this will generally lead to opposite emotions and sensations succeeding each other.
Suffering of the body and mind: weeping. – I have already described in sufficient detail, in the third chapter, the signs of extreme pain, as shown by screams or groans, with the writhing of the whole body and the teeth clenched or ground together. These signs are often accompanied or followed by profuse sweating, pallor, trembling, utter prostration, or faintness. No suffering is greater than that from extreme fear or horror, but here a distinct emotion comes into play, and will be elsewhere considered. Prolonged suffering, especially of the mind, passes into low spirits, grief, dejection, and despair, and these states will be the subject of the following chapter. Here I shall almost confine myself to weeping or crying, more especially in children.
Infants, when suffering even slight pain, moderate hunger, or discomfort, utter violent and prolonged screams. Whilst thus screaming their eyes are firmly closed, so that the skin round them is wrinkled, and the forehead contracted into a frown. The mouth is widely opened with the lips retracted in a peculiar manner, which causes it to assume a squarish form; the gums or teeth being more or less exposed. The breath is inhaled almost spasmodically. It is easy to observe infants whilst screaming; but I have found photographs made by the instantaneous process the best means for observation, as allowing more deliberation. I have collected twelve, most of them made purposely for me; and they all exhibit the same general characteristics. I have, therefore, had six of them[601] (Plate I.) reproduced by the heliotype process.
The firm closing of the eyelids and consequent compression of the eyeball, – and this is a most important element in various expressions, – serves to protect the eyes from becoming too much gorged with blood, as will presently be explained in detail. With respect to the order in which the several muscles contract in firmly compressing the eyes, I am indebted to Dr. Langstaff, of Southampton, for some observations, which I have since repeated. The best plan for observing the order is to make a person first raise his eyebrows, and this produces transverse wrinkles across the forehead; and then very gradually to contract all the muscles round the elves with as much force as possible. The reader who is unacquainted with the anatomy of the face, ought to refer to p. 24, and look at the woodcuts 1 to 3. The corrugators of the brow (corrugator supercilii) seem to be the first muscles to contract; and these draw the eyebrows downwards and inwards towards the base of the nose, causing vertical furrows, that is a frown, to appear between the eyebrows; at the same time they cause the disappearance of the transverse wrinkles across the forehead. The orbicular muscles contract almost simultaneously with the corrugators, and produce wrinkles all round the eyes; they appear, however, to be enabled to contract with greater force, as soon as the contraction of the corrugators has given them some support. Lastly, the pyramidal muscles of the nose contract; and these draw the eyebrows and the skin of the forehead still lower down, producing short transverse wrinkles across the base of the nose.[602] For the sake of brevity these muscles will generally be spoken of as the orbiculars, or as those surrounding the eyes.
When these muscles are strongly contracted, those running to the upper lip[603] likewise contract and raise the upper lip. This might have been expected from the manner in which at least one of them, the malaris, is connected with the orbiculars. Any one who will gradually contract the muscles round his eyes, will feel, as he increases the force, that his upper lip and the wings of his nose (which are partly acted on by one of the same muscles) are almost always a little drawn up. If he keeps his mouth firmly shut whilst contracting the muscles round the eyes, and then suddenly relaxes his lips, he will feel that the pressure on his eyes immediately increases. So again when a person on a bright, glaring day wishes to look at a distant object, but is compelled partially to close his eyelids, the upper lip may almost always be observed to be somewhat raised. The mouths of some very short-sighted persons, who are forced habitually to reduce the aperture of their eyes, wear from this same reason a grinning expression.
The raising of the upper lip draws upwards the flesh of the upper parts of the cheeks, and produces a strongly marked fold on each cheek, – the naso-labial fold, – which runs from near the wings of the nostrils to the corners of the mouth and below them. This fold or furrow may be seen in all the photographs, and is very characteristic of the expression of a crying child; though a nearly similar fold is produced in the act of laughing or Smiling.[604]
As the upper lip is much drawn up during the act of screaming, in the manner just explained, the depressor muscles of the angles of the mouth (see K in woodcuts 1 and 2) are strongly contracted in order to keep the mouth widely open, so that a full volume of sound may be poured forth. The action of these opposed muscles, above and below, tends to give to the mouth an oblong, almost squarish outline, as may be seen in the accompanying photographs. An excellent observer,[605] in describing a baby crying whilst being fed, says, "it made its mouth like a square, and let the porridge run out at all four corners." I believe, but we shall return to this point in a future chapter, that the depressor muscles of the angles of the mouth are less under the separate control of the will than the adjoining muscles; so that if a young child is only doubtfully inclined to cry, this muscle is generally the first to contract, and is the last to cease contracting. When older children commence crying, the muscles which run to the upper lip are often the first to contract; and this may perhaps be due to older children not having so strong a tendency to scream loudly, and consequently to keep their mouths widely open; so that the above-named depressor muscles are not brought into such strong action.
With one of my own infants, from his eighth day and for some time afterwards, I often observed that the first sign of a screaming-fit, when it could be observed coming on gradually, was a little frown, owing to the contraction of the corrugators of the brows; the capillaries of the naked head and face becoming at the same time reddened with blood. As soon as the screaming-fit actually began, all the muscles round the eyes were strongly contracted, and the mouth widely opened in the manlier above described; so that at this early period the features assumed the same form as at a more advanced age.
Dr. Piderit[606] lays great stress on the contraction of certain muscles which draw down the nose and narrow the nostrils, as eminently characteristic of a crying expression. The depressores anguli oris, as we have just seen, are usually contracted at the same time, and they indirectly tend, according to Dr. Duchenne, to act in this same manner on the nose. With children having bad colds a similar pinched appearance of the nose may be noticed, which is at least partly due, as remarked to me by Dr. Langstaff, to their constant snuffling, and the consequent pressure of the atmosphere on the two sides. The purpose of this contraction of the nostrils by children having bad colds, or whilst crying, seems to be to cheek the downward flow of the mucus and tears, and to prevent these fluids spreading over the upper lip.
After a prolonged and severe screaming-fit, the scalp, face, and eyes are reddened, owing to the return of the blood from the head having been impeded by the violent expiratory efforts; but the redness of the stimulated eyes is chiefly due to the copious effusion of tears. The various muscles of the face which have been strongly contracted, still twitch a little, and the upper lip is still slightly drawn up or everted,[607] with the corners of the mouth still a little drawn downwards. I have myself felt, and have observed in other grown-up persons, that when tears are restrained with difficulty, as in reading a pathetic story, it is almost impossible to prevent the various muscles. which with young children are brought into strong action during their screaming-fits, from slightly twitching or trembling.
Infants whilst young do not shed tears or weep, as is well known to nurses and medical men. This circumstance is not exclusively due to the lacrymal glands being as yet incapable of secreting tears. I first noticed this fact from having accidentally brushed with the cuff of my coat the open eye of one of my infants, when seventy-seven days old, causing this eye to water freely; and though the child screamed violently, the other eye remained dry, or was only slightly suffused with tears. A similar slight effusion occurred ten days previously in both eyes during a screaming-fit. The tears did not run over the eyelids and roll down the cheeks of this child, whilst screaming badly, when 122 days old. This first happened 17 days later, at the age of 139 days. A few other children have been observed for me, and the period of free weeping appears to be very variable. In one case, the eyes became slightly suffused at the age of only 20 days; in another, at 62 days. With two other children, the tears did NOT run down the face at the ages of 84 and 110 days; but in a third child they did run down at the age of 104 days. In one instance, as I was positively assured, tears ran down at the unusually early age of 42 days. It would appear as if the lacrymal glands required some practice in the individual before they are easily excited into action, in somewhat the same manner as various inherited consensual movements and tastes require some exercise before they are fixed and perfected. This is all the more likely with a habit like weeping, which must have been acquired since the period when man branched off from the common progenitor of the genus Homo and of the non-weeping anthropomorphous apes.
The fact of tears not being shed at a very early age from pain or any mental emotion is remarkable, as, later in life, no expression is more general or more strongly marked than weeping. When the habit has once been acquired by an infant, it expresses in the clearest manner suffering of all kinds, both bodily pain and mental distress, even though accompanied by other emotions, such as fear or rage. The character of the crying, however, changes at a very early age, as I noticed in my own infants, – the passionate cry differing from that of grief. A lady informs me that her child, nine months old, when in a passion screams loudly, but does not weep; tears, however, are shed when she is punished by her chair being turned with its back to the table. This difference may perhaps be attributed to weeping being restrained, as we shall immediately see, at a more advanced age, under most circumstances excepting grief; and to the influence of such restraint being transmitted to an earlier period of life, than that at which it was first practised.
With adults, especially of the male sex, weeping soon ceases to be caused by, or to express, bodily pain. This may be accounted for by its being thought weak and unmanly by men, both of civilized and barbarous races, to exhibit bodily pain by any outward sign. With this exception, savages weep copiously from very slight causes, of which fact Sir J. Lubbock[608] has collected instances. A New Zealand chief "cried like a child because the sailors spoilt his favourite cloak by powdering it with flour." I saw in Tierra del Fuego a native who had lately lost a brother, and who alternately cried with hysterical violence, and laughed heartily at anything which amused him. With the civilized nations of Europe there is also much difference in the frequency of weeping. Englishmen rarely cry, except under the pressure of the acutest grief; whereas in some parts of the Continent the men shed tears much more readily and freely.
The insane notoriously give way to all their emotions with little or no restraint; and I am informed by Dr. J. Crichton Browne, that nothing is more characteristic of simple melancholia, even in the male sex, than a tendency to weep on the slightest occasions, or from no cause. They also weep disproportionately on the occurrence of any real cause of grief. The length of time during which some patients weep is astonishing, as well as the amount of tears which they shed. One melancholic girl wept for a whole day, and afterwards confessed to Dr. Browne, that it was because she remembered that she had once shaved off her eyebrows to promote their growth. Many patients in the asylum sit for a long time rocking themselves backwards and forwards; "and if spoken to, they stop their movements, purse up their eyes, depress the corners of the mouth, and burst out crying." In some of these cases, the being spoken to or kindly greeted appears to suggest some fanciful and sorrowful notion; but in other cases an effort of any kind excites weeping, independently of any sorrowful idea. Patients suffering from acute mania likewise have paroxysms of violent crying or blubbering, in the midst of their incoherent ravings. We must not, however, lay too much stress on the copious shedding of tears by the insane, as being due to the lack of all restraint; for certain brain-diseases, as hemiplegia, brain-wasting, and senile decay, have a special tendency to induce weeping. Weeping is common in the insane, even after a complete state of fatuity has been reached and the power of speech lost. Persons born idiotic likewise weep;[609] but it is said that this is not the case with cretins.
