OBSERVATIONS ON MAMMALS 251 



manner exactly similar to that seen in the weaker and 

 domesticated creatures of its kind. 



(3) ANGER, RAGE 



Anger and rage, so frequently associated with fear, 

 are expressed in a very similar manner. The body 

 again crouches and, if the animal is savage, may be 

 lowered completely to the ground. The trunk and 

 limbs are rigid, the claws thrust out and the tail usually 

 stiff, though it may be curled from side to side. These 

 actions have a purpose ; they are the characteristics of 

 an animal about to struggle for its prey. The crouch- 

 ing and rigidity maintain every muscle tense and ready 

 instantaneously for the spring. The claws are projected 

 for the fatal blow. Possibly no cause excites the anger 

 of a carnivorous animal so intensely and so frequently 

 as the prospect of a coming battle, and consequently 

 those characteristics, which are of direct service to 

 an enraged animal about to fight, have become so 

 engrained into its nature as to be instinctively associated 

 with its anger under all conditions, even when there is 

 no suggestion of a fight. The rigidity of the tail is 

 due to the muscles of that organ acting in harmonious 

 contraction with those of the rest of the body, and 

 the occasional curling motion may be an involuntary 

 liberation of that great excess of muscular energy 

 which must be effervescing through its bodily system. 



The angles of the mouth are elevated, the nostrils 

 drawn together, but the whole face appears less con- 

 tracted and pinched than when the animal is expressing 

 true fear. The canine teeth are displayed in an open 

 mouth and, when the anger amounts to rage, the whole 

 row of teeth becomes clearly seen. The face is directed 



