THE RELIGION OF NATURE 



anguish," shows how difficult it is for us to think 

 on new lines. 



Of course, if the bullock's tears were tears of 

 conscious anguish, there is an end to the argu- 

 ment ; but, as I have been at some pains to show, 

 all our human expressions of emotion are utilita- 

 rian in origin. Our smiles are by origin merely 

 the relaxation of muscles previously taut in readi- 

 ness for self-defense with the teeth; and our 

 frowns merely the automatic drawing down of 

 shaggy eyebrows to protect the eyes in combat. 



Our tears are utilitarian also by origin, and 

 probably analogous to perspiration. They relieve 

 the brain from sudden pressure, as perspiration 

 relieves the body. We, human beings, associate 

 them with " anguish," because that is ordinarily 

 our conscious feeling when tears are flowing, but 

 we may also shed tears from laughter, or from 

 sneezing, or from a bad cold. In each case they 

 give relief from pressure on the brain by emptying 

 the space from which they come; 'and the tears 

 shed by the bullock in the story served the same 

 purpose. To describe them, however, as " tears of 

 anguish " is to beg the whole question. 



Some correspondents go even further and 

 attribute to animals not only the consciousness of 

 trouble, but also some mysterious foreknowledge 

 of it. Thus one writes : " Have you, Sir, ever 



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