How and why is it that an excessive
amount of feeling always finds its first expression
in the eye? One kind of emotion seems to widen
the pupil, another kind to contract it. TO be
noticed in future, how particular emotions affect
the eye.
"6 P. M.--I met a plover on the beach this
afternoon. By imitating his cry, I induced him
to come within a few feet of me. The plover,
as his cry indicates, is a very melancholy bird.
In fact I believe the melancholy temperament to
be prevailing among the wading birds, as the
phlegmatic among birds of prey. The singing
birds are choleric or sanguine. Tease a thrush,
or even a lark, and you will soon be convinced.
A snipe, or plover, as far as my experience goes,
seldom shows anger; you cannot tease them.
To be considered, how far the voice of a bird may
be indicative of its temperament.
"August 5, 9 P. M.--Since the unfortunate
meeting yesterday morning, when my intense
pre-occupation with my linnet, which had torn
its wound open again, probably made me commit
some breach of etiquette, Miss Augusta
avoids me.
"August 7--I am in a most singular state.
My pulse beats 85, which is a most unheard-of
thing for me, as my pulse is naturally full and
slow. And, strangely enough, I do not feel at
all unwell. On the contrary, my physical well-
being is rather heightened than otherwise.
The life of a whole week is crowded into a day,
and that of a day into an hour."
Inga, who, at several points of this narrative,
had been struggling hard to preserve her gravity,
here burst into a ringing laugh.
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