This expansion of the nostrils, as well as the snorting, and the palpitations of the heart, are actions which have become firmly associated during a long series of generations with the emotion of terror; for terror has habitually led the horse to the most violent exertion in dashing away at full speed from the cause of danger.
_Ruminants_.--Cattle and sheep are remarkable from displaying in so slight a degree their emotions or sensations, excepting that of extreme pain. A bull when enraged exhibits his rage only by the manner in which be holds his lowered head, with distended nostrils, and by bellowing. He also often paws the ground; but this pawing seems quite different from that of an impatient horse, for when the soil is loose, he throws up clouds of dust. I believe that bulls act in this manner when irritated by flies, for the sake of driving them away. The wilder breeds of sheep and the chamois when startled stamp on the ground, and whistle through their noses; and this serves as a danger-signal to their comrades. The musk-ox of the Arctic regions, when encountered, likewise stamps on the ground.[9] How this stamping action arose I cannot conjecture; for from inquiries which I have made it does not appear that any of these animals fight with their fore-legs.
Some species of deer, when savage, display far more expression than do cattle, sheep, or goats, for, as has already been stated, they draw back their ears, grind their teeth, erect their hair, squeal, stamp on the ground, and brandish their horns. One day in the Zoological Gardens, the Formosan deer (_Cervus pseudaxis_) approached me in a curious attitude, with his muzzle raised high up, so that the horns were pressed back on his neck; the head being held rather obliquely. From the expression of his eye I felt sure that he was savage; he approached slowly, and as soon as he came close to the iron bars, he did not lower his head to butt at me, but suddenly bent it inwards, and struck his horns with great force against the railings. Mr. Bartlett informs me that some other species of deer place themselves in the same attitude when enraged.
_Monkeys_.--The various species and genera of monkeys express their feelings in many different ways; and this fact is interesting, as in some degree bearing on the question, whether the so-called races of man should be ranked as distinct species or varieties; for, as we shall see in the following chapters, the different races of man express their emotions and sensations with remarkable uniformity throughout the world. Some of the expressive actions of monkeys are interesting in another way, namely from being closely analogous to those of man. As I have had no opportunity of observing any one species of the group under all circumstances, my miscellaneous remarks will be best arranged under different states of the mind.
[9] `Land and Water,' 1869, p. 152.
_Pleasure, joy, affection_--It is not possible to distinguish in monkeys, at least without more experience than I have had, the expression of pleasure or joy from that of affection. Young chimpanzees make a kind of barking noise, when pleased by the return of any one to whom they are attached. When this noise, which the keepers call a laugh, is uttered, the lips are protruded; but so they are under various other emotions. Nevertheless I could perceive that when they were pleased the form of the lips differed a little from that assumed when they were angered. If a young chimpanzee be tickled-- and the armpits are particularly sensitive to tickling, as in the case of our children,--a more decided chuckling or laughing sound is uttered; though the laughter is sometimes noiseless. The corners of the mouth are then drawn backwards; and this sometimes causes the lower eyelids to be slightly wrinkled. But this wrinkling, which is so characteristic of our own laughter, is more plainly seen in some other monkeys. The teeth in the upper jaw in the chimpanzee are not exposed when they utter their laughing noise, in which respect they differ from us. But their eyes sparkle and grow brighter, as Mr.