Chap. XL SHRUGGING THE SHOULDERS. 271 



cannot doubt, in the principle of unconscious antithesis. 

 This principle here seems to come into play as clearly as 

 in the case of a dog, who, when feeling savage, puts him- 

 self in the proper attitude for attacking and for making 

 himself appear terrible to his enemy; but as soon as he 

 feels affectionate, throws his whole body into a directly 

 opposite attitude, though this is of no direct use to him. 



Let it be observed how an indignant man, who re- 

 sents, and will not submit to some injury, holds his head 

 erect, squares his shoulders, and expands his chest. He 

 often clenches his fists, and puts one or both arms in the 

 proper position for attack or defence, with the muscles 

 of his limbs rigid. He frowns, — that is, he contracts 

 and lowers his brows, — and, being determined, closes 

 his mouth. The actions and attitude of a helpless man 

 are, in every one of these respects, exactly the reverse. 

 In Plate VI. we may imagine one of the figures on the 

 left side to have just said, " What do you mean by in- 

 sulting me ? " and one of the figures on the right side 

 to answer, " I really could not help it." The helpless 

 man unconsciously contracts the muscles of his forehead 

 which are antagonistic to those that cause a frown, and 

 thus raises his evebrows: at the same time he relaxes 

 the muscles about the mouth, so that the lower jaw 

 drops. The antithesis is complete in every detail, not 

 only in the movements of the features, but in the position 

 of the limbs and in the attitude of the whole body, as 

 may be seen in the accompanying plate. As the helpless 

 or apologetic man often wishes to show his state of mind, 

 he then acts in a conspicuous or demonstrative manner. 



In accordance with the fact that squaring the elbows 

 and clenching the fists are gestures by no means uni- 

 versal with the men of all races, when they feel indig- 

 nant and are prepared to attack their enemy, so it ap- 

 pears that a helpless or apologetic frame of mind is ex- 



