PRODUCED BY MENTAL CAUSES. 267 



cases the respiratory muscles are affected : respiration is 

 suspended ; there is inability to breathe as well as to utter 

 sounds of any kind for instance, in the cat (Pierquin). Loss 

 of voice silence instead of barking may be caused also by 

 exuberance of feeling of any kind in the dog (Cobbe). 



The paralysis resulting from /ear, fright, or other emo- 

 tions, though usually of a general, may also be of a special 

 character, confined to a limited group of muscles. Thus one 

 of its forms is relaxation of the sphincter muscles, and involun- 

 tary escape of various evacuations. 



We have not yet done, however, with the motor pheno- 

 mena resulting from emotional disturbance. 



1. One of the most singular of the physical effects of 

 emotion is the falling to pieces of the ophiocoma, one of the 

 so-called brittle stars, and the dismemberment of other star- 

 fish, such as the spiny star, the casting of their rays or limbs 

 under sudden alarm or irritation, as may be seen in the 

 Brighton or other aquaria. Hartwig dwells on the ( facility 

 with which the Crustacea cast off their legs, and even 

 their heavy claws, when they have been .... alarmed at 

 thunder.' Somewhat similar seems to be the case of the 

 porcupine, in which, c if strongly excited when the quills are 

 loose and ready for moulting, the violent jerks with which 

 it manifests anger have the effect of dislodging the most 

 loose among them, and they are then mechanically thrown 

 to some distance from the animal ' (Sclater). 



2. A more familiar motor phenomenon is the erection of 

 the frill of the neck or head, of feathers, or of other ap- 

 pendages of head, neck, or throat, under fear, fright, anger, 

 fury, or the desire to fight a phenomenon considered in the 

 chapter on ' Non-vocal Language.' The bristling of the hair 

 in the cat belongs to this category. 



3. Another motor form of physical effect is to be found 

 in vomiting, as exhibited by the palmiped birds, such as the 

 sea-maw (Houzeau), the frightened canary, and other ani- 

 mals under fear or fright. And intimately associated there- 

 with, and provocative thereof, is nausea sickness which is 

 manifested now and then in exceptional cases from grief, 

 joy, or other forms of excited or depressed feeling. Various 



