A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF FEAR. 775 



circumstances of pursuit, instead of fleeing, remains still, for the sight 

 of the dog's ardent eyes has inspired in it a fear of a character that 

 will not permit it to withdraw its gaze. It is nearly paralyzed, and is 

 incapable of running away, and fear, instead of making it run, pre- 

 vents its running. Thus the same emotion is translated by an inhibi- 

 tion in one case, and by an excitation in another. 



Very intense fear is generally inhibitory, or paralyzing in its 

 effect, while a lighter fear works an increase of strength. It is known 

 that anger develops muscular force to an extraordinary intensity. 

 This is still more true of fear. A person who is running in fright will 

 leap over obstacles which he would be wholly incapable of overcoming 

 in his normal condition. Numerous experiments show that the brain 

 exercises an inhibitory action over the reflex movements, and that the 

 more active that organ, the more they are under control. It is the 

 will that exercises this power. Fear, likewise, may be modified and 

 regulated, to a certain extent, by the will ; and this is one of the most 

 curious and mysterious phenomena in the history of the emotion. 



We have said that psychical reflex emotions do not depend solely 

 ol the exterior excitation that disturbs the organism, but largely 

 upon the elaboration of that excitation by the intelligence. The 

 whistling of the bullet that makes the soldier dodge, the roaring of 

 the lion which makes the dog tremble, the smell of the elephant which 

 terrifies the horse, are in themselves indifferent excitations. They 

 have power over the emotions only when they fall upon an intelligent 

 organism which comprehends, with more or less of knowledge, what 

 they mean. Hence the intensity of the fear does not depend upon the 

 excitation itself, but upon the response of the organism to it. It de- 

 pends upon our individual excitability, which is variable. Some men 

 are naturally brave, others are naturally timid. Children are gener- 

 ally timid, women not so brave as men, and nervous persons less brave 

 than phlegmatic ones. There are also bold and timid animals. 



It is probably wrong to use, in distinguishing between individuals, 

 the terms bravery and timidity. A nervous, timorous, and impres- 

 sionable person may be extremely brave. He may, besides, be all the 

 more deserving for that ; but his temperament makes it easy to startle 

 him ; and it is hard to find a word to express his exact character. An 

 extremely nervous woman may be capable of performing deeds of 

 extraordinary bravery ; but that does not prevent her suffering from 

 fear. It is necessary, then, to distinguish between the emotion, of 

 which we are not masters, and the acts which it commands. There 

 are two elements in fear : the sensational element, or the emotion 

 provoked in the consciousness ; and the active element, or the series of 

 acts which it induces. But in these acts it is necessary to distinguish 

 between real actions performed by ourselves, and organic, visceral, 

 and involuntary motions. The famous saying attributed to Turenne 

 expresses a profound psychological truth bearing upon this point. 



