occurred, with a very profuse flow of tears, lasting about one hour.
Subsequently, sometimes after an interval of several weeks, violent
spasms of the same muscles re-occurred, accompanied by the secretion of
tears, together with primary or secondary redness of the eye. Mr.
Bowman informs me that he has occasionally observed closely analogous
cases, and that, in some of these, there was no redness or inflammation
of the eyes.
I was anxious to ascertain whether there existed in any of the lower
animals a similar relation between the contraction of the orbicular
muscles during violent expiration and the secretion of tears; but there
are very few animals which contract these muscles in a prolonged
manner, or which shed tears. _The Macacus maurus_, which formerly wept
so copiously in the Zoological Gardens, would have been a fine case for
observation; but the two monkeys now there, and which are believed to
belong to the same species, do not weep. Nevertheless they were
carefully observed by Mr. Bartlett and myself, whilst screaming loudly,
and they seemed to contract these muscles; but they moved about their
cages so rapidly, that it was difficult to observe with certainty. No
other monkey, as far as I have been able to ascertain, contracts its
orbicular muscles whilst screaming.
The Indian elephant is known sometimes to weep. Sir E. Tennent, in
describing these which he saw captured and bound in Ceylon, says, some
lay motionless on the ground, with no other indication of suffering
than the tears which suffused their eyes and flowed incessantly.
Speaking of another elephant he says, When overpowered and made fast,
his grief was most affecting; his violence sank to utter prostration,
and he lay on the ground, uttering choking cries, with tears trickling
down his cheeks. [620] In the Zoological Gardens the keeper of the
Indian elephants positively asserts that he has several times seen
tears rolling down the face of the old female, when distressed by the
removal of the young one. Hence I was extremely anxious to ascertain,
as an extension of the relation between the contraction of the
orbicular muscles and the shedding of tears in man, whether elephants
when screaming or trumpeting loudly contract these muscles. At Mr.
Bartlett s desire the keeper ordered the old and the young elephant to
trumpet; and we repeatedly saw in both animals that, just as the
trumpeting began, the orbicular muscles, especially the lower ones,
were distinctly contracted. On a subsequent occasion the keeper made
109