Identifier: expressionofemot1872darw (find matches)
Title: The expression of the emotions in man and animals
Year: 1872 (1870s)
Authors: Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882
Subjects: Expression Emotions
Publisher: London, John Murray

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rhaps from the young themselves loving-each other and playing together. Another and verydifferent gesture, expressive of pleasure, has alreadybeen described, namely, the curious manner in whichyoung and even old cats, when pleased, alternately pro-trude their fore-feet, with separated toes, as if pushingagainst and sucking their mothers teats. This habit isso far analogous to that of rubbing against something,that both apparently are derived from actions performedduring the nursing period. Why cats should showaffection by rubbing so much more than do dogs, thoughthe latter delight in contact with their masters, andwhy cats only occasionally lick the hands of their 128 SPECIAL expressions: ClIAP. V. friends, whilst dogs always do so, I cannot say. Catscleanse themselves by licking their own coats moreregularly than do dogs. On the other hand, theirtongues seem less well fitted for the work than thelonger and more flexible tongues of dogs. Oats, when terrified, stand at full height, and
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Fig. 15. Cat terrified at a dog. From life, by Jlr. Wood, arch their backs in a well-known and ridiculousfashion. They tpit, hiss, or growl. The hair over the Chap. V. HORSES. 129 Avliole body, and especially on the tail, becomes erect.In the instances observed by me the basal part of thetail was held upright, the terminal part being thrownon one side; but sometimes the tail (see fig. 15) is onlya little raised, and is bent almost from the base to oneside. The ears are drawn back, and the teeth exposed.When two kittens are playing together, the one oftenthus tries to frighten the other. From what we naveseen in former chapters, all the above points of expres-sion are intelligible, except the extreme arching of tlieback. 1 am inclined to believe that, in the same manneras many birds, whilst they ruffle their feathers, spreadout their wings and tail, to make themselves look asbig as possible, so cats stand upright at their full height,arch their backs, often raise the basal part of the

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