whether we can thus satisfactorily account for the confused state of
mind in persons whilst blushing intensely.
The true explanation apparently lies in the intimate sympathy which
exists between the capillary circulation of the surface of the head and
face, and that of the brain. On applying to Dr. J. Crichton Browne for
information, he has given me various facts bearing on this subject.
When the sympathetic nerve is divided on one side of the head, the
capillaries on this side are relaxed and become filled with blood,
causing the skin to redden and to grow hot, and at the same time the
temperature within the cranium on the same side rises. Inflammation of
the membranes of the brain leads to the engorgement of the face, ears,
and eyes with blood. The first stage of an epileptic fit appears to be
the contraction of the vessels of the brain, and the first outward
manifestation is, an extreme pallor of countenance. Erysipelas of the
head commonly induces delirium. Even the relief given to a severe
headache by burning the skin with strong lotion, depends, I presume, on
the same principle.
Dr. Browne has often administered to his patients the vapour of the
nitrite of amyl,[1322] which has the singular property of causing vivid
redness of the face in from thirty to sixty seconds. This flushing
resembles blushing in almost every detail: it begins at several
distinct points on the face, and spreads till it involves the whole
surface of the head, neck, and front of the chest; but has been
observed to extend only in one case to the abdomen. The arteries in the
retina become enlarged; the eyes glisten, and in one instance there was
a slight effusion of tears. The patients are at first pleasantly
stimulated, but, as the flushing increases, they become confused and
bewildered. One woman to whom the vapour had often been administered
asserted that, as soon as she grew hot, she grew MUDDLED. With persons
just commencing to blush it appears, judging from their bright eyes and
lively behaviour, that their mental powers are somewhat stimulated. It
is only when the blushing is excessive that the mind grows confused.
Therefore it would seem that the capillaries of the face are affected,
both during the inhalation of the nitrite of amyl and during blushing,
before that part of the brain is affected on which the mental powers
depend.
Conversely when the brain is primarily affected; the circulation of the
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