EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS IN MAN AND ANIMALS. 259 



have never been practiced. Analogous cases occur mtli 

 sensations, as in the common experiment of rolling a 

 marble beneath the tips of two crossed fingers, when it 

 feels exactly like two marbles. Every one protects himself 

 when falling to the ground by extending his arms, and as 

 Professor Alison has remarked, few can resist acting thus 

 when voluntarily falling on a soft bed. A man when 

 going out-of-doors puts on his gloves quite unconsciously ; 

 and this may seem an extremely simple operation, but he 

 who has taught a child to put on gloves knows that this 

 is by no means the case. 



When our minds are much affected, so are the move- 

 ments of our bodies. 



To those who admit the gradual evolution 

 of species, a most striking instance of the per- 

 fection with which the most difficult consensual move- 

 ments can be transmitted, is afforded by the humming- 

 bird Sphinx-moth (Macroglossa) ; for this moth, shortly 

 after its emergence from the cocoon, as shown by the 

 bloom on its unruffled scales, may be seen poised station- 

 ary in the air, with its long, hair-like proboscis uncurled 

 and inserted into the minute orifices of flowers ; and no 

 one, I believe, has ever seen this moth learning to per- 

 form its difficult task, which requires such unerring aim. 



A vulgar man often scratches his head 

 when perplexed in mind ; and I believe that 

 he acts thus from habit, as if he experienced a slightly 

 uncomfortable bodily sensation, namely, the itching of 

 his head, to which he is particularly liable, and which he 

 thus relieves. Another man rubs his eyes when perplexed, 

 or gives a little cough when embarrassed, acting in either 

 case as if he felt a slightly uncomfortable sensation in his 

 eyes or windpipe. 



