A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF FEAR. 783 



view. But if he is in a thick forest in the darkness of night, he 

 imagines vaguely and without acknowledging it that the gravest of 

 dangers may be awaiting him a step or two farther on. He may not 

 think of particular dangers, but he is simply suffering from a cause- 

 less obscure fear that can not be justified. The darkness prevents 

 him from seeing and distinguishing anything, and the mass of shade 

 around him conceals the unknown, that is, possible danger or some- 

 thing frightful. Children and nervous women, being of a more excit- 

 able nature, are more sensitive to this influence than men, who are 

 more able to check their emotions by reasoning. But I believe that 

 no one can withdraw himself completely from it. This fear is also 

 common to animals. All horsemen know that their horses are easily 

 frightened during the night, especially when they are traveling on a 

 road that is new to them. 



Another condition, which contributes greatly to augment fear, is 

 solitude. It is an abnormal condition. Man is before everything a 

 social animal, and he can not effectively protect himself unless he is 

 sustained by some of his fellows. Hence that need of society under 

 which a danger shared is confronted cheerfully and resolutely, while a 

 danger to which one is exposed alone is often intolerable. This is the 

 fact aside from the influence of self-respect and false shame, which, 

 however, do not fail to play a part in the matter. We frequently check 

 the manifestations of fear so that no one may witness our cowardice. 

 Perhaps none of us would be brave if we were not seen by anybody. 

 On the word of all men who have encountered real dangers, solitary 

 courage is the hardest and rarest. Fear is augmented in solitude, by 

 the thought that we are not protected by any one. Unless we have 

 extreme confidence in ourselves, the feeling of helplessness under such 

 circumstances becomes insupportable, and this without regard to 

 whether our fear is justified or not. The company of any one, even 

 of an infant or an infirm person, is enough to reassure us. The most 

 manifest sign of solitude is silence. A man must be really brave to 

 resist the triple trial of the unknown, darkness, and solitude with 

 silence. Let a familiar sound the song of a bird, the striking of a 

 clock, the noise of the sea or the wind, the rolling of a carriage, or a 

 human voice be heard in this solitude, and what a relief ! 



If we now look at the symptoms and causes of fear as a whole, we 

 shall be able more clearly to understand the simple law that connects 

 all the facts. All living beings are organized to live, and all their 

 emotions and actions are conformable to this great purpose. Hence 

 we have protective emotions or reflex phenomena, which cause us to 

 flee from danger without intelligence and consciousness having to in- 

 tervene, of which fear is one. 



Man, whose intelligence can reach the causes and the laws of phe- 

 nomena, knows that he must live, and the love of life is so solidly 

 planted within him, that all that offend life pain and death offer 



