Chap. VI. WEEPING. 155 



ysms of violent crying or blubbering, in the midst of 

 their incoherent ravings. We must not, however, lay too 

 much stress on the copious shedding of tears by the in- 

 sane, as being due to the lack of all restraint; for cer- 

 tain brain-diseases, as hemiplegia, brain-wasting, and 

 senile decay, have a special tendency to induce weep- 

 ing. Weeping is common in the insane, even after a 

 complete state of fatuity has been reached and the power 

 of speech lost. Persons born idiotic likewise weep; 9 

 but it is said that this is not the case with cretins. 



Weeping seems to be the primary and natural expres- 

 sion, as we see in children, of suffering of any kind, 

 whether bodily pain short of extreme agony, or mental 

 distress. But the foregoing facts and common experi- 

 ence show us that a frequently repeated effort to restrain 

 weeping, in association with certain states of the mind, 

 does much in checking the habit. On the other hand, 

 it appears that the power of weeping can be increased 

 through habit; thus the Eev. E. Taylor, 10 who long re- 

 sided in Xew Zealand, asserts that the women can volun- 

 tarily shed tears in abundance; they meet for this pur- 

 pose to mourn for the dead, and they take pride in cry- 

 ing " in the most affecting manner." 



A single effort of repression brought to bear on the 

 lacrymal glands does little, and indeed seems often to 

 lead to an opposite result. An old and experienced phy- 

 sician told me that he had always found that the only 

 means to check the occasional bitter weeping of ladies 

 who consulted him, and who themselves wished to de- 

 sist, was earnestly to beg them not to try, and to assure 



9 See, for instance, Mr. Marshall's account of an idiot 

 in Philosoph. Transact. 1864, p. 526. With respect to 

 cretins, see Dr. Piderit, ' Mimik mid Phvsiog-nomik,' 1867, 

 s. 61. 



10 'Xew Zealand and its Inhabitants,' 1S55, p. 175. 



