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The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals

C >> Charles Darwin >> The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals





[10] `Letters from Egypt,' 1865, p. 66. Lady Gordon is mistaken
when she says Malays and Mulattoes never blush.

[11] Capt. Osborn (`Quedah,' p. 199), in speaking of a Malay,
whom be reproached for cruelty, says he was glad to see that
the man blushed.

Mr. Washington Matthews has often seen a blush on the faces
of the young squaws belonging to various wild Indian tribes
of North America. At the opposite extremity of the continent
in Tierra del Fuego, the natives, according to Mr. Bridges,
"blush much, but chiefly in regard to women; but they certainly
blush also at their own personal appearance." This latter
statement agrees with what I remember of the Fuegian, Jemmy Button,
who blushed when he was quizzed about the care which he took
in polishing his shoes, and in otherwise adorning himself.
With respect to the Aymara Indians on the lofty plateaus
of Bolivia, Mr. Forbes says,[13] that from the colour of their
skins it is impossible that their blushes should be as clearly
visible as in the white races; still under such circumstances
as would raise a blush in us, "there can always be seen the same
expression of modesty or confusion; and even in the dark,
a rise of temperature of the skin of the face can be felt,
exactly as occurs in the European." With the Indians who
inhabit the hot, equable, and damp parts of South America,
the skin apparently does not answer to mental excitement so
readily as with the natives of the northern and southern parts
of the continent, who have long been exposed to great vicissitudes
of climate; for Humboldt quotes without a protest the sneer
of the Spaniard, "How can those be trusted, who know not how to
blush?"[14] Von Spix and Martius, in speaking of the aborigines
of Brazil, assert that they cannot properly be said to blush;
"it was only after long intercourse with the whites, and after
receiving some education, that we perceived in the Indians
a change of colour expressive of the emotions of their minds."[15]
It is, however, incredible that the power of blushing could
have thus originated; but the habit of self-attention, consequent
on their education and new course of life, would have much
increased any innate tendency to blush.


[12] J. R. Forster, `Observations during a Voyage round the World,'
4to, 1778, p. 229. Waitz gives (`Introduction to Anthropology,' Eng.
translat. 1863, vol. i. p. 135) references for other islands in
the Pacific. See, also, Dampier `On the Blushing of the Tunquinese'
(vol. ii. p. 40); but I have not consulted this work.
Waitz quotes Bergmann, that the Kalmucks do not blush, but this may be
doubted after what we have seen with respect to the Chinese. He also
quotes Roth, who denies that the Abyssinians are capable of blushing.
Unfortunately, Capt. Speedy, who lived so long with the Abyssinians, has not
answered my inquiry on this head. Lastly, I must add that the Rajah Brooke
has never observed the least sign of a blush with the Dyaks of Borneo;
on the contrary under circumstances which would excite a blush in us,
they assert "that they feel the blood drawn from their faces."

[13] Transact. of the Ethnological Soc. 1870, vol. ii. p. 16.

Several trustworthy observers have assured me that they have
seen on the faces of negroes an appearance resembling a blush,
under circumstances which would have excited one in us, though their
skins were of an ebony-black tint. Some describe it as blushing brown,
but most say that the blackness becomes more intense. An increased supply
of blood in the skin seems in some manner to increase its blackness;
thus certain exanthematous diseases cause the affected places in the negro
to appear blacker, instead of, as with us, redder.[16] The skin, perhaps,
from being rendered more tense by the filling of the capillaries,
would reflect a somewhat different tint to what it did before.
That the capillaries of the face in the negro become filled with blood,
under the emotion of shame, we may feel confident; because a perfectly
characterized albino negress, described by Buffon,[17] showed a faint
tinge of crimson on her cheeks when she exhibited herself naked.
Cicatrices of the skin remain for a long time white in the negro,
and Dr. Burgess, who had frequent opportunities of observing a scar of this
kind on the face of a negress, distinctly saw that it "invariably became
red whenever she was abruptly spoken to, or charged with any trivial
offence."[18] The blush could be seen proceeding from the circumference
of the scar towards the middle, but it did not reach the centre.
Mulattoes are often great blushers, blush succeeding blush over their faces.
From these facts there can be no doubt that negroes blush, although no
redness is visible on the skin.


[14] Humboldt, `Personal Narrative,' Eng. translat. vol. iii. p. 229.

[15] Quoted by Prichard, Phys. Hist. of Mankind,
4th edit 1851, vol. i. p. 271.

[16] See, on this head, Burgess, ibid. p. 32. Also Waitz, `Introdnction
to Anthropology,' Eng. edit. vol. i. p. 139. Moreau gives
a detailed account (`Lavater,' 1820, tom. iv. p. 302) of the blushing
of a Madagascar negress-slave when forced by her brutal master to exhibit
her naked bosom.

I am assured by Gaika and by Mrs. Barber that the Kafirs of South Africa never
blush; but this may only mean that no change of colour is distinguishable.
Gaika adds that under the circumstances which would make a, European blush,
his countrymen "look ashamed to keep their heads up."

It is asserted by four of my informants that the Australians,
who are almost as black as negroes, never blush. A fifth
answers doubtfully, remarking that only a very strong blush
could be seen, on account of the dirty state of their skins.
Three observers state that they do blush;[19] Mr. S. Wilson adding
that this is noticeable only under a strong emotion, and when the skin
is not too dark from long exposure and want of cleanliness.
Mr. Lang answers, "I have noticed that shame almost always excites
a blush, which frequently extends as low as the neck." Shame is
also shown, as he adds, "by the eyes being turned from side to side."
As Mr. Lang was a teacher in a native school, it is probable
that he chiefly observed children; and we know that they blush
more than adults. Mr. G. Taplin has seen half-castes blushing,
and he says that the aborigines have a word expressive of shame.
Mr. Hagenauer, who is one of those who has never observed
the Australians to blush, says that he has "seen them looking
down to the ground on account of shame;" and the missionary,
Mr. Bulmer, remarks that though "I have not been able to detect
anything like shame in the adult aborigines, I have noticed
that the eyes of the children, when ashamed, present a restless,
watery appearance, as if they did not know where to look."


[17] Quoted by Prichard, Phys. Hist. of Mankind, 4th edit.
1851, vol. i. p. 225.

[18] Burgess, ibid. p. 31. On mulattoes blushing, see p. 33. I have
received similar accounts with respect to, mulattoes.

[19] Barrington also says that the Australians of New South Wales blush,
as quoted by Waitz, ibid. p. 135.

The facts now given are sufficient to show that blushing,
whether or not there is any change of colour, is common to most,
probably to all, of the races of man.

_Movements and gestures which accompany Blushing_.--Under a keen sense of
shame there is a, strong desire for concealment.[20] We turn away the whole
body, more especially the face, which we endeavour in some manner to hide.
An ashamed person can hardly endure to meet the gaze of those present,
so that he almost invariably casts down his eyes or looks askant.
As there generally exists at the same time a strong wish to avoid
the appearance of shame, a vain attempt is made to look direct at
the person who causes this feeling; and the antagonism between these
opposite tendencies leads to various restless movements in the eyes.
I have noticed two ladies who, whilst blushing, to which they are very liable,
have thus acquired, as it appears, the oddest trick of incessantly blinking
their eyelids with extraordinary rapidity. An intense blush is sometimes
accompanied by a slight effusion of tears;[21] and this, I presume,
is due to the lacrymal glands partaking of the increased supply of blood,
which we know rushes into the capillaries of the adjoining parts,
including the retina.


[20] Mr. Wedgwood says (Dict. of English Etymology, vol. iii. 1865, p.
155) that the word shame "may well originate in the idea of shade
or concealment, and may be illustrated by the Low German _scheme_,
shade or shadow." Gratiolet (De la Phys. pp. 357-362) has a good
discussion on the gestures accompanying shame; but some of his
remarks seem to me rather fanciful. See, also, Burgess (ibid. pp.
69, 134) on the same subject.

Many writers, ancient and modern, have noticed the foregoing movements;
and it has already been shown that the aborigines in various
parts of the world often exhibit their shame by looking
downwards or askant, or by restless movements of their eyes.
Ezra cries out (ch. ix. 6), "O, my God! I am ashamed,
and blush to lift up my head to thee, my God." In Isaiah
(ch. I. 6) we meet with the words, "I hid not my face from shame."
Seneca remarks (Epist. xi. 5) "that the Roman players hang down
their heads, fix their eyes on the ground and keep them lowered,
but are unable to blush in acting shame." According to Macrobius,
who lived in the filth century (`Saturnalia,' B. vii.
C. 11), "Natural philosophers assert that nature being moved
by shame spreads the blood before herself as a veil, as we
see any one blushing often puts his hands before his face."
Shakspeare makes Marcus (`Titus Andronicus,' act ii, sc. 5) say to
his niece, "Ah! now thou turn'st away thy face for shame."
A lady informs me that she found in the Lock Hospital a girl whom
she had formerly known, and who had become a wretched castaway,
and the poor creature, when approached, hid her face under
the bed-clothes, and could not be persuaded to uncover it.
We often see little children, when shy or ashamed, turn away,
and still standing up, bury their faces in their mother's gown;
or they throw themselves face downwards on her lap.


[21] Burgess, ibid. pp. 181, 182. Boerhaave also noticed
(as quoted by Gratiolet, ibid. p. 361) the tendency
to the secretion of tears during intense blushing.
Mr. Bulmer, as we have seen, speaks of the "watery eyes"
of the children of the Australian aborigines when ashamed.


_Confusion of mind_.--Most persons, whilst blushing intensely,
have their mental powers confused. This is recognized in such
common expressions as "she was covered with confusion."
Persons in this condition lose their presence of mind,
and utter singularly inappropriate remarks.
They are often much distressed, stammer, and make awkward
movements or strange grimaces. In certain cases involuntary
twitchings of some of the facial muscles may be observed.
I have been informed by a young lady, who blushes excessively,
that at such times she does not even know what she is saying.
When it was suggested to her that this might be due to her
distress from the consciousness that her blushing was noticed,
she answered that this could not be the case, "as she had
sometimes felt quite as stupid when blushing at a thought
in her own room."

I will give an instance of the extreme disturbance of mind
to which some sensitive men are liable. A gentleman,
on whom I can rely, assured me that he had been an eye-witness
of the following scene:--A small dinner-party was given in honour
of an extremely shy man, who, when he rose to return thanks,
rehearsed the speech, which he had evidently learnt by heart,
in absolute silence, and did not utter a single word;
but he acted as if he were speaking with much emphasis.
His friends, perceiving how the case stood, loudly applauded
the imaginary bursts of eloquence, whenever his gestures
indicated a pause, and the man never discovered that he had
remained the whole time completely silent. On the contrary,
he afterwards remarked to my friend, with much satisfaction,
that he thought he had succeeded uncommonly well.

When a person is much ashamed or very shy, and blushes intensely,
his heart beats rapidly and his breathing is disturbed.
This can hardly fail to affect the circulation of the blood
within the brain, and perhaps the mental powers.
It seems however doubtful, judging from the still more powerful
influence of anger and fear on the circulation, whether we can
thus satisfactorily account for the confused state of mind
in persons whilst blushing intensely.

The true explanation apparently lies in the intimate
sympathy which exists between the capillary circulation
of the surface of the head and face, and that of the brain.
On applying to Dr. J. Crichton Browne for information,
he has given me various facts bearing on this subject.
When the sympathetic nerve is divided on one side of the head,
the capillaries on this side are relaxed and become filled
with blood, causing the skin to redden and to grow hot, and at
the same time the temperature within the cranium on the same
side rises. Inflammation of the membranes of the brain leads
to the engorgement of the face, ears, and eyes with blood.
The first stage of an epileptic fit appears to be the contraction
of the vessels of the brain, and the first outward manifestation is,
an extreme pallor of countenance. Erysipelas of the head commonly
induces delirium. Even the relief given to a severe headache
by burning the skin with strong lotion, depends, I presume,
on the same principle.

Dr. Browne has often administered to his patients the vapour
of the nitrite of amyl,[22] which has the singular property of
causing vivid redness of the face in from thirty to sixty seconds.
This flushing resembles blushing in almost every detail:
it begins at several distinct points on the face, and spreads till it
involves the whole surface of the head, neck, and front of the chest;
but has been observed to extend only in one case to the abdomen.
The arteries in the retina become enlarged; the eyes glisten,
and in one instance there was a slight effusion of tears.
The patients are at first pleasantly stimulated, but, as the
flushing increases, they become confused and bewildered.
One woman to whom the vapour had often been administered asserted that,
as soon as she grew hot, she grew MUDDLED. With persons just
commencing to blush it appears, judging from their bright eyes and
lively behaviour, that their mental powers are somewhat stimulated.
It is only when the blushing is excessive that the mind grows confused.
Therefore it would seem that the capillaries of the face
are affected, both during the inhalation of the nitrite of amyl
and during blushing, before that part of the brain is affected
on which the mental powers depend.

Conversely when the brain is primarily affected;
the circulation of the skin is so in a secondary manner.
Dr. Browne has frequently observed, as he informs me, scattered red
blotches and mottlings on the chests of epileptic patients.
In these cases, when the skin on the thorax or abdomen is gently
rubbed with a pencil or other object, or, in strongly-marked cases,
is merely touched by the finger, the surface becomes
suffused in less than half a minute with bright red marks,
which spread to some distance on each side of the touched point,
and persist for several minutes. These are the _cerebral
maculae_ of Trousseau; and they indicate, as Dr. Browne remarks,
a highly modified condition of the cutaneous vascular system.
If, then, there exists, as cannot be doubted, an intimate sympathy
between the capillary circulation in that part of the brain
on which our mental powers depend, and in the skin of the face,
it is not surprising that the moral causes which induce intense
blushing should likewise induce, independently of their own
disturbing influence, much confusion of mind.


[22] See also Dr. J. Crichton Browne's Memoir on this subject
in the `West Riding Lunatic Asylum Medical Report,' 1871, pp. 95-98.


_The Nature of the Mental States which induce Blushing_.--These consist
of shyness, shame, and modesty; the essential element in all
being self-attention. Many reasons can be assigned for believing
that originally self-attention directed to personal appearance,
in relation to the opinion of others, was the exciting cause;
the same effect being subsequently produced, through the force
of association, by self-attention in relation to moral conduct.
It is not the simple act of reflecting on our own appearance,
but the thinking what others think of us, which excites a blush.
In absolute solitude the most sensitive person would be quite
indifferent about his appearance. We feel blame or disapprobation
more acutely than approbation; and consequently depreciatory
remarks or ridicule, whether of our appearance or conduct,
causes us to blush much more readily than does praise.
But undoubtedly praise and admiration are highly efficient:
a pretty girl blushes when a man gazes intently at her,
though she may know perfectly well that he is not depreciating her.
Many children, as well as old and sensitive persons blush,
when they are much praised. Hereafter the question will be discussed,
how it has arisen that the consciousness that others are attending
to our personal appearance should have led to the capillaries,
especially those of the face, instantly becoming filled with blood.

My reasons for believing that attention directed to personal appearance,
and not to moral conduct, has been the fundamental element
in the acquirement of the habit of blushing, will now be given.
They are separately light, but combined possess, as it appears
to me, considerable weight. It is notorious that nothing makes
a shy person blush so much as any remark, however slight, on his
personal appearance. One cannot notice even the dress of a woman
much given to blushing, wihout causing her face to crimson.
It is sufficient to stare hard at some persons to make them,
as Coleridge remarks, blush,--"account for that he who can."[23]

With the two albinos observed by Dr. Burgess,[24] "the slightest attempt
to examine their peculiarities invariably" caused them to blush deeply.
Women are much more sensitive about their personal appearance than men are,
especially elderly women in comparison with elderly men, and they blush
much more freely. The young of both sexes are much more sensitive on this
same head than the old, and they also blush much more freely than the old.
Children at a very early age do not blush; nor do they show those other signs
of self-consciousness which generally accompany blushing; and it is one of
their chief charms that they think nothing about what others think of them.
At this early age they will stare at a stranger with a fixed gaze
and un-blinking eyes, as on an inanimate object, in a manner which we
elders cannot imitate.


[23] In a discussion on so-called animal magnetism in `Table Talk,' vol. i.

[24] Ibid. p. 40.

It is plain to every one that young men and women are highly sensitive
to the opinion of each other with reference to their personal appearance;
and they blush incomparably more in the presence of the opposite sex
than in that of their own.[25] A young man, not very liable to blush,
will blush intensely at any slight ridicule of his appearance from
a girl whose judgment on any important subject lie would disregard.
No happy pair of young lovers, valuing each other's admiration and love
more than anything else in the world, probably ever courted each
other without many a blush. Even the barbarians of Tierra del Fuego,
according to Mr. Bridges, blush "chiefly in regard to women, but certainly
also at their own personal appearance."

Of all parts of the body, the face is most considered and regarded,
as is natural from its being the chief seat of expression and
the source of the voice. It is also the chief seat of beauty and
of ugliness, and throughout the world is the most ornamented.[26]
The face, therefore, will have been subjected during many generations
to much closer and more earnest self-attention than any other part
of the body; and in accordance with the principle here advanced
we can understand why it should be the most liable to blush.
Although exposure to alternations of temperature, &c., has probably much
increased the power of dilatation and contraction in the capillaries
of the face and adjoining parts, yet this by itself will hardly
account for these parts blushing much more than the rest of the body;
for it does not explain the fact of the hands rarely blushing.
With Europeans the whole body tingles slightly when the face
blushes intensely; and with the races of men who habitually go
nearly naked, the blushes extend over a much larger surface than with us.
These facts are, to a certain extent, intelligible, as the self-attention
of primeval man, as well as of the existing races which still
go naked, will not have been so exclusively confined to their faces,
as is the case with the people who now go clothed.


[25] Mr. Bain (`The Emotions and the Will,' 1865, p. 65) remarks on "the
shyness of manners which is induced between the sexes .... from the influence
of mutual regard, by the apprehension on either side of not standing well
with the other."

[26] See, for evidence on this subject, `The Descent of Man,'
&c., vol. ii. pp. 71, 341.

We have seen that in all parts of the world persons who feel shame for
some moral delinquency, are apt to avert, bend down, or hide their faces,
independently of any thought about their personal appearance.
The object can hardly be to conceal their blushes, for the face is
thus averted or hidden under circumstances which exclude any desire
to conceal shame, as when guilt is fully confessed and repented of.
It is, however, probable that primeval man before he had acquired
much moral sensitiveness would have been highly sensitive about
his personal appearance, at least in reference to the other sex,
and he would consequently have felt distress at any depreciatory
remarks about his appearance; and this is one form of shame.
And as the face is the part of the body which is most regarded,
it is intelligible that any one ashamed of his personal appearance
would desire to conceal this part of his body. The habit having
been thus acquired, would naturally be carried on when shame from
strictly moral causes was felt; and it is not easy otherwise to see
why under these circumstances there should be a desire to hide
the face more than any other part of the body.

The habit, so general with every one who feels ashamed, of turning away,
or lowering his eyes, or restlessly moving them from side to side,
probably follows from each glance directed towards those present,
bringing home the conviction that he is intently regarded; and he endeavours,
by not looking at those present, and especially not at their eyes,
momentarily to escape from this painful conviction.


_Shyness_.--This odd state of mind, often called shamefacedness,
or false shame, or _mauvaise honte_, appears to be one of the most
efficient of all the causes of blushing. Shyness is, indeed,
chiefly recognized by the face reddening, by the eyes being averted
or cast down, and by awkward, nervous movements of the body.
Many a woman blushes from this cause, a hundred, perhaps a
thousand times, to once that she blushes from having done
anything deserving blame, and of which she is truly ashamed.
Shyness seems to depend on sensitiveness to the opinion,
whether good or bad, of others, more especially with respect
to external appearance. Strangers neither know nor care anything
about our conduct or character, but they may, and often do,
criticize our appearance: hence shy persons are particularly
apt to be shy and to blush in the presence of strangers.
The consciousness of anything peculiar, or even new, in the dress,
or any slight blemish on the person, and more especially, on the face--
points which are likely to attract the attention of strangers--
makes the shy intolerably shy. On the other hand, in those cases
in which conduct and not personal appearance is concerned,
we are much more apt to be shy in the presence of acquaintances,
whose judgment we in some degree value, than in that of strangers.
A physician told me that a young man, a wealthy duke, with whom
he had travelled as medical attendant, blushed like a girl,
when he paid him his fee; yet this young man probably would not have
blushed and been shy, had he been paying a bill to a tradesman.
Some persons, however, are so sensitive, that the mere act of speaking
to almost any one is sufficient to rouse their self-consciousness,
and a slight blush is the result.

Disapprobation or ridicule, from our sensitiveness on this head,
causes shyness and blushing much more readily than does approbation;
though the latter with some persons is highly efficient.
The conceited are rarely shy; for they value themselves much
too highly to expect depreciation. Why a proud man is often shy,
as appears to be the case, is not so obvious, unless it
be that, with all his self-reliance, he really thinks much
about the opinion of others although in a disdainful spirit.
Persons who are exceedingly shy are rarely shy in the presence
of those with whom they are quite familiar, and of whose
good opinion and sympathy they are perfectly assured;--
for instance, a girl in the presence of her mother.
I neglected to inquire in my printed paper whether shyness can
be detected in the different races of man; but a Hindoo gentleman
assured Mr. Erskine that it is recognizable in his countrymen.

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