120 SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS: Chap. V. 



Sir W. Scott's famous Scotch greyhound, Maida, had 

 this habit, and it is common with terriers. I have also 

 seen it in a Spitz and in a sheep-dog. Mr. Riviere, who 

 has particularly attended to this expression, informs me 

 that it is rarely displayed in a perfect manner, but is quite 

 common in a lesser degree. The upper lip during the 

 act of grinning is retracted, as in snarling, so that the 

 canines are exposed, and the ears are drawn backwards; 

 but the general appearance of the animal clearly shows 

 that anger is not felt. Sir C. Bell 3 remarks " Dogs, in 

 their expression of fondness, have a slight eversion of 

 the lips, and grin and sniff amidst their gambols, in a 

 way that resembles laughter." Some persons speak of 

 the grin as a smile, but if it had been really a smile, we 

 should see a similar, though more pronounced, move- 

 ment of the lips and ears, when dogs utter their bark of 

 joy; but this is not the case, although a bark of joy often 

 follows a grin. On the other hand, dogs, when playing 

 with their comrades or masters, almost always pretend 

 to bite each other; and they then retract, though not 

 energetically, their lips and ears. Hence I suspect that 

 there is a tendency in some dogs, whenever they feel live- 

 ly pleasure combined with affection, to act through habit 

 and association on the same muscles, as in playfully bit- 

 ing each other, or their masters' hands. 



I have described, in the second chapter, the gait and 

 appearance of a dog when cheerful, and the marked 

 antithesis presented by the same animal when dejected 

 and disappointed, with his head, ears, body, tail, and 

 chops drooping, and eyes dull. Under the expectation 

 of any great pleasure, dogs bound and jump about in 

 an extravagant manner, and bark for joy. The tendency 

 to bark under this state of mind is inherited, or runs in 



3 ' The Anatomy of Expression,' 1844, p. 140. 



