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.
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.[1320] 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;[1321] 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.
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
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