Page 312.
The tendency to blush is inherited. Dr. Burgess gives the case of a family, consisting of a father, mother, and ten children, all of whom, without exception, were prone to blush to a most painful degree. The children were grown up; “and some of them were sent to travel, in order to wear away this diseased sensibility, but nothing was of the slightest avail.” Even peculiarities in blushing seem to be inherited. Sir James Paget, while examining the spine of a girl, was struck at her singular manner of blushing: a big splash of red appeared first on one cheek, and then other splashes variously scattered over the face and neck. He subsequently asked the mother whether her daughter always blushed in this peculiar manner, and was answered, “Yes, she takes after me.” Sir J. Paget then perceived that, by asking this question, he had caused the mother to blush; and she exhibited the same peculiarity as her daughter.
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Page 318.
Mr. Washington Matthews has often seen a blush on the faces of the young squaws belonging to various wild Indian tribes of North America. At the opposite extremity of the continent, in Tierra del Fuego, the natives, according to Mr. Bridges, “blush much, but chiefly in regard to women; but they certainly blush also at their own personal appearance.” This latter statement agrees with what I remember of the Fuegian, Jemmy Button, who blushed when he was quizzed about the care which he took in polishing his shoes, and in otherwise adorning himself.
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Page 319.
Several trustworthy observers have assured me that they have seen on the faces of negroes an appearance resembling a blush, under circumstances which would have excited one in us, though their skins were of an ebony-black tint. Some describe it as blushing brown, but most say that the blackness becomes more intense.
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Page 324.