DISTANCE CEPTORS EMOTIONS 125 



to act and no longer retain the contents of the body. 

 . . . Men, during numberless generations, have en- 

 deavored to escape from their enemies or danger by 

 headlong flight, or by violently struggling with them ; 

 and such great exertions will have caused the heart 

 to beat rapidly, the breathing to be. hurried, the chest 

 to heave, and the nostrils to be dilated. As these 

 exertions have often been prolonged to the last ex- 

 tremity, the final result will have been utter prostra- 

 tion, pallor, perspiration, trembling of all the muscles, 

 or their complete relaxation. And now, whenever 

 the emotion of fear is strongly felt, though it may not 

 lead to any exertion, the same results tend to reap- 

 pear, through the force of inheritance and association.' 7 

 (Fig. 7.) 



Phylogenetic Origin of Emotions 



That fear had its phylogenetic origin in the motor 

 activity of efforts to escape from injury is the conclu- 

 sion also of Herbert Spencer, who in his " Principles 

 of Psychology" says: "Fear, when strong, expresses 

 itself in cries, in efforts to escape, in palpitations, 

 in tremblings, and these are just the manifestations 

 that go along with an actual suffering of the evil 

 feared. The destructive passion is shown in a gen- 

 eral tension of the muscular system ; in gnashing of 

 the teeth and protrusion of the claws ; in dilated eyes 

 and nostrils ; in growls ; and these are weaker forms 

 of the actions that accompany the killing of prey." 



This likeness of the gross phenomena of fear and rage 

 to muscular activity is further substantiated by com- 

 paring the aspect of men and animals in the grip of 



