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ICmse of Tears ; The Physiology andViVIHHHws
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kVC 'fc JSBKmM WmmlKB -f V jSBSv m. act' Tears stop flowing before the fit
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CSX
CopyriBht, 1306. by John Elfrcth Wat
kins.) TP N investigation of the psychology,
L jiliyslolosy and hygiene of crying
i the latest enterprise of the Inter
filing man-study workshop of Trofessor
G. Stanley Hall, of Worcester, Mass. Here
very phase of human life is being in
Quired Into with unique, methods. Love,
tear, hatred indeed, all of the emotions;
effects of clothing, play, animal compan
ionship and what not, upon man's life,
have all come in for a share of this highly
interesting research which, month by
month, is revealing to us no end of start
ling facts about ourselves.
In this new study of weeping Dr. Hall
has found a held practically untouched.
An Interesting feature of his research is
hat might be called a "census of weep
ers." He has sent out hundreds of ques
tion blanks to persons In various parts of
the country, asking them to furnish div
ers and sundry Information concerning
their own tearful experiences. He has
also had the co-operation of the Bureau
of American Kthnology and other scien
tific Institutions. This special research
has been placed in the hands of Alvln
Borgqulst. research assistant in Clark
Vnlverslty. of which Dr. Hall Is presi
dent, and where this man-study is all be
ing undertaken.
Effects of Age.
"Crying, far more than Its opposite,
laughing, is a neglected problem of psych
ology," said Mr. Borgquist.
Comparing the weeping of th young
tjjvzj or i i i run i ' i i i i i i i i i i v i i i i x i rv i i n - rm bvlvWV' -a
oVUCx.
and old. he discovers that the child cries
most from pain or for sympathy, where
as the adult's tears are shed over grief
or trouble. Sympathy, remorse, bereave
ment and pity are apparently absent
largely in the infant. While crying di
minishes from infancy to puberty, it In
creases again from puberty to maturity,
and then diminishes again. The cry of
the Infant is largely for the purpose of
obtaining something, and the anger cry.
"which Is essentially the child cry,"
comes earlier than the grief cry. Only
one in fifteen of the subjects examined
confesses to crying from anger since pu
berty. Weeping from fear belongs to
childhood, and both the savage and civ
ilized alike taboo crying because of pain.
As we grow out of childhood we discover
that our new desire cannot be satisfied
through tears, according to the investi
gator. We see that people about us dis
approve of weeping, and our desire for
approval leads to the abandonment of
tears, which are "a confession of Impo
tency not in keeping with growing self
respect." Shame at being seen crying
then strengthens our self-control and we
commence to distinguish between shame
ful and legitimate weeping. We learn
that physical pain must be borne with
out crying. The Indian child is trained
not to cry from pain at an earlier age
than the civilised child, and Is ashamed
to show that he Is hurt.
Crying- Season or Youth.
Between puberty and maturity we are
apt to cry from Insignificant causes or
from no cause at all some Imagined
slight or situation. Our melancholy at
this period usually cnauitu & liurg ele
THE SUNDAY
ment of pleasure. Our crying spells grow
shorter as we grow older. Thus both the
quality and quantity of our crying change
with age.
The child cries from helplessness and
the adult from hopelessness. In the
adult's cry there is no call for help, as In
the child's, but a realization of the hope
lessness of help. Hatred, envy and sullen
rage do not take on tears as a form of
expression. The man who shoots his
rival is not in a crying frame of mind.
Those states in which laughter and cry
ing alternate are similar In nature, as
when one Is severely tickled or tantalized.
In the cry of Joy the mind goes back to
the time before it was freed from its
strain and the suffering of the past is
heightened by contrast with the pleasure
of the present. In a deep stage of grief
the adult cries with a quietness of ex
pression and In seclusion, with a prone
attitude of body. The child's cry. mostly
for Inner needs, is. on the other hand,
noisy and Intended to attract attention.
Race Differences.
Weeping depends largely upon race.
The Latin races appear to be unusually
prone to tears, and our teachers report
Italian children as especially tearful.
The English shed tears much less fre
quently than continental Europeans,
according to Darwin. Tears are more
frequently shed among the lower races
than among the civilized people, and
there Is more use of voice in the crying-
of primitive people than in that of
the more civilized. According to tra
dition, our Indian brave never weeps,
but as a matter of fact he sheds tears
freely upon the death of. at parting
OREGOXIAN, POKTEAND,
from or at meeting after long absence
one whom he loves. He remains sto
ical, however, during- physical suffer
ing or in his relations wilfti his ene
mies. Indian children cry as loud and
long as others, though not as often.
Samoan women cry principally from
anger, while weeping for Joy is com
mon among negroes. The Maori woman
cries upon meeting her friend, while
the Hawaiians do the same as well as
at parting.
Each Painful State Has Its Own Cry.
Crying is not merely a shedding of
tears, it is due to the action of five
different nerves, and the secretion of
tears alone to only two of these, one
of which causes us to flush and grow
pale, alternately. There is also a gen
eral stimulation of the breathing center
of the brain resulting in sobs and con
vulsive movements. Cold hands also
result from disturbance of the sympa
thetic nerves. After-effects are some
times bloodshot eyes, burning eyeballs,
mottled complexion, parched and dis
tended lips. In crying fits from anger,
fear and pain, there is more body
movement and facial contortion than
In those from grief. These movements
cause suspension of the breath and
black or purple discolorations of the
face result as characteristics of the
pain and anger cries only. In the cry
of Borrow there is the attitude of lassi
tude, especially preceding the spell.
Lying down appears to Increase the
tendency to cry, and standing up to
decrease It.
There Is a marked language in the
inarticulate sounds of weeping. In the
child there are specific cries of hunger,
pain, fear or anger. Voice enters the
crying of the infant much more than
that of the adult, and that of the sav
age much more than that of civilized
man. The lump in the throat experi
enced during weeping, and affecting
the breath and voice, seems to be due
to disturbances of the digestive tract.
The sob is the climax of weeping in
the. child, while in the adult crying
often begins with the sob. It appears
to be absent in the young infant and
commences to appear at about the end
of the fifth week. It appears to belong
especially to deep grief and typically to
adult grief. The sob in the adult seems
to be the remnant of the unrestrained
"a-ha-ha" of the child cry, and to
come after and to relieve the lump In
JULY 8, 1906.
Tears, of all elements of crying, are
the least under control of the will.
Actors testify that they are the most
difficult to successfully simulate. A
well-known actor, questioned on the
subject, confided that in order to weep
at will he always called up the image
of his dead father. Although Mr. Borg
quist did not so state, the writer might
add in this connection that there is a
drug muscarine nitrate which, when
injected under the skin, causes a
copious flow of tears. This is well
known to French emotional actresses,
who use It in weeping scenes of such
plays as "Camille." It is made from a
deadly fungus "fly agaric" which
poisons those who mistake it for the
mushroom.
That "tears are women's most effective
weapon" Mr. Borgquist is continually re
minded in his returned question blanks-.
Ninety-six per cent of those reporting on
the questions agree upon the great effect
iveness of tears to conquer a stubborn will
or subdue a passion, when everything else
fails. Tears although more common In
women than in men, are more frequent in
proportion among males of some races
than of our own. Of the sexes generally
those who cry from anger shed few tears.
In the most intense fear there is neither
movement nor crying, the next stage be
ing screaming, tears commencing to flow
only after the shock is passed. Indeed,
great intensity of any emotion, even of
sadness, seems to suppress tears. Those
who feel most deeply seem to be least
demonstrative and feeling in these tem
peraments which do not allow it to spend
Itself in expression "remains like a quies
cent volcano."
That crying is beneficial, that a baby
who cries much is healthy, that crying is
a good means of exercise for the infant
strengthening its lungs and vocal chords,
and that It is a "safety valve" for older
persons are some of the notions expressed
In the returns of the census of weepers.
In all kinds of crying, except the angry
cry. the mental relief is great at all pe
riods of life, although the immediate phy
sical results are sometimes unpleasant.
The combined effect's of physical exhaus
tion and mental relief result often in
sleep. Compared with the great distress
of the previous mental strain the physi
cal exhaustion is pleasant if not carried
too far. A too prolonged crying fit may
result. however, in loss of appetite, great
physical weakness and unusual activity of
the heart, headache, stupor, nausea or
sore eyes.
Cry and Keep Youthful.
Recently crying has come to be recom
mended as a means of physical develop.
ment of deep breathing and tone expres
sionaccording to Mr. Borquist. It is
useful in relieving the mental strain of
the insane, and it is claimed that women
who are able to And relief in tears keep
their youth longer than those who repress
them. Crying aids a sluggish circulation
and affords relief to overcharged nerves.
Among the subjects of the inquiry are
two sisters who lost their mother. One
broke down at once and could not control
her grief. After the grief had expended
itself she rapidly grew cheerful, and liked
to talk about her mother. The other sister
shed no tears, but went about her neces
sary duties for a week, when she broke
down and was 111 for several weeks. When
the grief victim is left to himself, with
sluggish circulation and slow vital pro
cesses, energy becomes lower and lower
until there breaks out of this "nerve
storm" of weeping, improving respiration
and circulation, increasing nutrition and
resting the fatigued centers of the brain
cartex.
The "Crying Face."
When we cry there are violent ex
pirations from the lungs, distending the
blood vessels of the eye. To prevent the
eyes becoming gorged with blood the eye
lid contracts and squeezes the eye tightly
against Its socket. This contraction
causes the tear glands to overflow. These
movements rtfise the inner ends of eye
brows and send the corners of the mouth
downward and outward.
Three Minute Musings
BY MARCUS W. ROBBINS.
THE more civilized we become, the
closer does the bottom of a straw
berry box approach the top;
which is certainly a sad commentary
on civilization and modern business
methods. But then there has to be an
occasional fly in the ointment, or we
should wlshto live forever.
Really, now, have you ever noticed
how rapidly the bottom of strawberry
boxes are approaching the top? They
used to be flat; then half an Inch, an
inch. Inch and a half, and now a few
enterprising growers claim that five
berries fill a box. Thus it is with
everything. The world is but a straw
berry box.
Pick up an empty beer bottle or a
full one, for that matter, and notice
that strange depression at the lower
end. What Is its purpose in life and is
it of any benefit to humanity? These
things demand investigation. Some
novelist should take this as his theme
and write of the horrors of the mod
ern beer bottle. Here is a suggestion
to Bryan: Let his rallying cry for
190S be: "Every bottle of beer shall
contain a "full quart." Think what en
thusiasm that would arouse. Every
voter would comprehend the meaning,
there would be no dry statistics, and
the dullards could find out by experi
ments what It all meant. Even the
New York Evening Post could call it
safe and sane.
See what we have today. When the
poor workingman takes his noonday
beer, the bartender holds the schooner
a foot away from the faucet, and this
makes a little more foam. This may
be from purely humanitarian motives
and a desire to save the laboring man
from fatty degeneration of the heart.
We should always judge our fellow
creatures with charity.
On one of these hot Summer days
you go to a Methodist Sunday school
picnic, and off in one corner of the
grove you will find one of those fa
mous blue-painted barrels of Standard
Oil filled with lemonade. A few slices
of lemon float suspiciously on top, but
several ounces of citric acid does the
rest.
They find wheat that was placed In
mummies 4000 years ago, and bread
has been dug out of the ruins of Pom
peii, but think of the excitement on this
earth some 2000 years hence when a Man
churlan professor of archaeology digs up
a beef trust sausage and a can or two
of boneless chicken in the ruins of Chi
cago. The automatic intelligence dis
pensors which tako the place of our
V,
Tears are solutions of salt and phos
phate of lime, according to another in
vestigator to whom the writer is in
debted. This solution is nature's eye
wash, so to speak, and Its function Is to
keep the seeing orbs thoroughly cleansed,
soft and limpid. Thus women who shed
tears more freely have brighter eyes than
others. A teardrop dried upon a bit of
glass appears to the naked eye as a mere
frosted patch, but when highly magni
fied is seen to contain myriad crystals
resembling ferns, crosses and stars.
Some of the higher animals shed tears.
Darwin reports that the Indian elephant
is known sometimes t'o weep tears. One
species of monkey Is also known to shed
copious tears, but it appears that the
ape, although man's nearest relative, has
no tear glands and therefore cannot give
aqueous expression to his emotional per
turbations. '
JOHN' ELFRETH WATKINS.
newsjfepers will then be repeating:
"Square meal off of boneless chicken 2000
years old. Just as good as the day It
was canned. The only deterioration no
ticeable being a slight discoloration In
the label pasted on the can."
That is really about the only trouble
with a few otherwise very estimable gen
tlemen known to the public. Their labels
are slightly discolored, so they boll them
off, put on a fresh, new one and the old
goods go forth again as chipper as ever.
This strawberry-box philosophy is get
ting into politics. Here you have Demo
cratic politicians claiming that there Is
not any difference between them and the
Republicans. Now this is a gross fraud
on the public, for who of us relishes the
idea of buying a can of French sardines
at a fancy price and then having a lurk
ing suspicion that they are nothing but
New England herring canned In Maine?
It is the same In politics. We elect a man
because he is a good fellow and it then
turns out that he Is nothing but a rabid
partisan.
The public demands a change. It has
been patient and long suffering, -but l,t
refuses to eat any more head cheese made
out of ham skins.
ONLY A TRACE OF JENKINS
Chemist Inquires Anxiously for a
Friend of Long Ago.
San Francisco Argonaut.
A chemist who for many years was
the manager of a concern in Massa
chusetts manufacturing various high
grade explosives recently visited the
place of his former employment.
During a talk with his old friends of
the institution, he made inquiry with
reference to a certain colleague of the
name of Jenkins.
"By the way," said the chemist,
"what has become of Jenkins? Fin
fellow."
"Fine chap, indeed!" agreed the fore
man, "and very skillful in the use
of chemicals. But a little absent-minded
Jenkins. See that discoloration on
the wall over there?"
"Why. yes; but what has that to do
with Jenkins?"
"That Is Jenkins."
A Layman's Impression.
"Father," said the small boy, "what is
a scientist?"
"A scientist, my son. Is a man who can
tell you things yor already know in such
unfamiliar language that you regard It
as something brand new.'