calm, now stands on end; that in front being dishevelled by the
movements of her hands. The countenance expresses great mental agony.
The skin is flushed over the face and neck, down to the clavicles, and
the veins of the forehead and neck stand out like thick cords. The
lower lip drops, and is somewhat everted. The mouth is kept half open,
with the lower jaw projecting. The cheeks are hollow and deeply
furrowed in curved lines running from the wings of the nostrils to the
corners of the mouth. The nostrils themselves are raised and extended.
The eyes are widely opened, and beneath them the skin appears swollen;
the pupils are large. The forehead is wrinkled transversely in many
folds, and at the inner extremities of the eyebrows it is strongly
furrowed in diverging lines, produced by the powerful and persistent
contraction of the corrugators.
Terror. Fig. 20
Mr. Bell has also described[1219] an agony of terror and of despair,
which he witnessed in a murderer, whilst carried to the place of
execution in Turin. On each side of the car the officiating priests
were seated; and in the centre sat the criminal himself. It was
impossible to witness the condition of this unhappy wretch without
terror; and yet, as if impelled by some strange infatuation, it was
equally impossible not to gaze upon an object so wild, so full of
horror. He seemed about thirty-five years of age; of large and muscular
form; his countenance marked by strong and savage features; half naked,
pale as death, agonized with terror, every limb strained in anguish,
his hands clenched convulsively, the sweat breaking out on his bent and
contracted brow, he kissed incessantly the figure of our Saviour,
painted on the flag which was suspended before him; but with an agony
of wildness and despair, of which nothing ever exhibited on the stage
can give the slightest conception.
I will add only one other case, illustrative of a man utterly
prostrated by terror. An atrocious murderer of two persons was brought
into a hospital, under the mistaken impression that he had poisoned
himself; and Dr. W. Ogle carefully watched him the next morning, while
he was being handcuffed and taken away by the police. His pallor was
extreme, and his prostration so great that he was hardly able to dress
194