other action.
Although in accordance with this view we must look at weeping as an
incidental result, as purposeless as the secretion of tears from a blow
outside the eye, or as a sneeze from the retina being affected by a
bright light, yet this does not present any difficulty in our
understanding how the secretion of tears serves as a relief to
suffering. And by as much as the weeping is more violent or hysterical,
by so much will the relief be greater, on the same principle that the
writhing of the whole body, the grinding of the teeth, and the uttering
of piercing shrieks, all give relief under an agony of pain.
CHAPTER VII. LOW SPIRITS, ANXIETY, GRIEF, DEJECTION, DESPAIR.
General effect of grief on the system Obliquity of the eyebrows under
suffering On the cause of the obliquity of the eyebrows On the
depression of the corners of the mouth.
After the mind has suffered from an acute paroxysm of grief, and the
cause still continues, we fall into a state of low spirits; or we may
be utterly cast down and dejected. Prolonged bodily pain, if not
amounting to an agony, generally leads to the same state of mind. If we
expect to suffer, we are anxious; if we have no hope of relief, we
despair.
Persons suffering from excessive grief often seek relief by violent and
almost frantic movements, as described in a former chapter; but when
their suffering is somewhat mitigated, yet prolonged, they no longer
wish for action, but remain motionless and passive, or may occasionally
rock themselves to and fro. The circulation becomes languid; the face
pale; the muscles flaccid; the eyelids droop; the head hangs on the
contracted chest; the lips, cheeks, and lower jaw all sink downwards
from their own weight. Hence all the features are lengthened; and the
face of a person who hears bad news is said to fall. A party of natives
in Tierra del Fuego endeavoured to explain to us that their friend, the
captain of a sealing vessel, was out of spirits, by pulling down their
cheeks with both hands, so as to make their faces as long as possible.
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