more earnest self-attention than any other part of the body; and in
accordance with the principle here advanced we can understand why it
should be the most liable to blush. Although exposure to alternations
of temperature, &c., has probably much increased the power of
dilatation and contraction in the capillaries of the face and adjoining
parts, yet this by itself will hardly account for these parts blushing
much more than the rest of the body; for it does not explain the fact
of the hands rarely blushing. With Europeans the whole body tingles
slightly when the face blushes intensely; and with the races of men who
habitually go nearly naked, the blushes extend over a much larger
surface than with us. These facts are, to a certain extent,
intelligible, as the self-attention of primeval man, as well as of the
existing races which still go naked, will not have been so exclusively
confined to their faces, as is the case with the people who now go
clothed.
We have seen that in all parts of the world persons who feel shame for
some moral delinquency, are apt to avert, bend down, or hide their
faces, independently of any thought about their personal appearance.
The object can hardly be to conceal their blushes, for the face is thus
averted or hidden under circumstances which exclude any desire to
conceal shame, as when guilt is fully confessed and repented of. It is,
however, probable that primeval man before he had acquired much moral
sensitiveness would have been highly sensitive about his personal
appearance, at least in reference to the other sex, and he would
consequently have felt distress at any depreciatory remarks about his
appearance; and this is one form of shame. And as the face is the part
of the body which is most regarded, it is intelligible that any one
ashamed of his personal appearance would desire to conceal this part of
his body. The habit having been thus acquired, would naturally be
carried on when shame from strictly moral causes was felt; and it is
not easy otherwise to see why under these circumstances there should be
a desire to hide the face more than any other part of the body.
The habit, so general with every one who feels ashamed, of turning
away, or lowering his eyes, or restlessly moving them from side to
side, probably follows from each glance directed towards those present,
bringing home the conviction that he is intently regarded; and he
endeavours, by not looking at those present, and especially not at
their eyes, momentarily to escape from this painful conviction.
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