panting does not breathe through his open mouth, but through his
nostrils; and these consequently have become endowed with great powers
of expansion. This expansion of the nostrils, as well as the snorting,
and the palpitations of the heart, are actions which have become firmly
associated during a long series of generations with the emotion of
terror; for terror has habitually led the horse to the most violent
exertion in dashing away at full speed from the cause of danger.
_Ruminants_. Cattle and sheep are remarkable from displaying in so
slight a degree their emotions or sensations, excepting that of extreme
pain. A bull when enraged exhibits his rage only by the manner in which
he holds his lowered head, with distended nostrils, and by bellowing.
He also often paws the ground; but this pawing seems quite different
from that of an impatient horse, for when the soil is loose, he throws
up clouds of dust. I believe that bulls act in this manner when
irritated by flies, for the sake of driving them away. The wilder
breeds of sheep and the chamois when startled stamp on the ground, and
whistle through their noses; and this serves as a danger-signal to
their comrades. The musk-ox of the Arctic regions, when encountered,
likewise stamps on the ground.[509] How this stamping action arose I
cannot conjecture; for from inquiries which I have made it does not
appear that any of these animals fight with their fore-legs.
Some species of deer, when savage, display far more expression than do
cattle, sheep, or goats, for, as has already been stated, they draw
back their ears, grind their teeth, erect their hair, squeal, stamp on
the ground, and brandish their horns. One day in the Zoological
Gardens, the Formosan deer (_Cervus pseudaxis_) approached me in a
curious attitude, with his muzzle raised high up, so that the horns
were pressed back on his neck; the head being held rather obliquely.
From the expression of his eye I felt sure that he was savage; he
approached slowly, and as soon as he came close to the iron bars, he
did not lower his head to butt at me, but suddenly bent it inwards, and
struck his horns with great force against the railings. Mr. Bartlett
informs me that some other species of deer place themselves in the same
attitude when enraged.
_Monkeys_. The various species and genera of monkeys express their
feelings in many different ways; and this fact is interesting, as in
some degree bearing on the question, whether the so-called races of man
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