the same old man, with the platysma contracted, the eyes and mouth
opened, and the eyebrows rendered oblique, by means of galvanism. The
expression thus induced is very striking (see Plate VII. fig. 2); the
obliquity of the eyebrows adding the appearance of great mental
distress. The original was shown to fifteen persons; twelve answered
terror or horror, and three agony or great suffering. From these cases,
and from an examination of the other photographs given by Dr. Duchenne,
together with his remarks thereon, I think there can be little doubt
that the contraction of the platysma does add greatly to the expression
of fear. Nevertheless this muscle ought hardly to be called that of
fright, for its contraction is certainly not a necessary concomitant of
this state of mind.
A man may exhibit extreme terror in the plainest manner by death-like
pallor, by drops of perspiration on his skin, and by utter prostration,
with all the muscles of his body, including the platysma, completely
relaxed. Although Dr. Browne has often seen this muscle quivering and
contracting in the insane, he has not been able to connect its action
with any emotional condition in them, though he carefully attended to
patients suffering from great fear. Mr. Nicol, on the other hand, has
observed three cases in which this muscle appeared to be more or less
permanently contracted under the influence of melancholia, associated
with much dread; but in one of these cases, various other muscles about
the neck and head were subject to spasmodic contractions.
Dr. W. Ogle observed for me in one of the London hospitals about twenty
patients, just before they were put under the influence of chloroform
for operations. They exhibited some trepidation, but no great terror.
In only four of the cases was the platysma visibly contracted; and it
did not begin to contract until the patients began to cry. The muscle
seemed to contract at the moment of each deep-drawn inspiration; so
that it is very doubtful whether the contraction depended at all on the
emotion of fear. In a fifth case, the patient, who was not
chloroformed, was much terrified; and his platysma was more forcibly
and persistently contracted than in the other cases. But even here
there is room for doubt, for the muscle which appeared to be unusually
developed, was seen by Dr. Ogle to contract as the man moved his head
from the pillow, after the operation was over.
As I felt much perplexed why, in any case, a superficial muscle on the
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