Chap. XIII. BLUSHING. 329 



lessly moving them from side to side, probably follows 

 from each glance directed towards those present, bring- 

 ing home the conviction that he is intently regarded; 

 and he endeavours, by not looking at those present, and 

 especially not at their eyes, momentarily to escape from 

 this painful conviction. 



Shyness. — This odd state of mind, often called 

 shamefacedness, or false shame, or mauvaise honte, ap- 

 pears to be one of the most efficient of all the causes of 

 blushing. Shyness is, indeed, chiefly recognized by the 

 face reddening, by the eyes being averted or cast down, 

 and by awkward, nervous movements of the body. Many 

 a woman blushes from this cause, a hundred, perhaps 

 a thousand times, to once that she blushes from having 

 done anything deserving blame, and of which she is truly 

 ashamed. Shyness seems to depend on sensitiveness to 

 the opinion, whether good or bad, of others, more espe- 

 cially with respect to external appearance. Strangers 

 neither know nor care anything about our conduct or 

 character, but they may, and often do, criticize our ap- 

 pearance: hence shy persons are particularly apt to be 

 shy and to blush in the presence of strangers. The con- 

 sciousness of anything peculiar, or even new, in the 

 dress, or any slight blemish on the person, and more 

 especially on the face — points which are likely to at- 

 tract the attention of strangers — makes the shy intoler- 

 ably shy. On the other hand, in those cases in which 

 conduct and not personal appearance is concerned, we 

 are much more apt to be shy in the presence of acquaint- 

 ances, whose judgment we in some degree value, than 

 in that of strangers. A physician told me that a young 

 man, a wealthy duke, with whom he had travelled as 

 medical attendant, blushed like a girl, when he paid him 

 his fee; yet this young man probably would not have 

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