Fear and cold alike cause contraction of the superficial blood-vessels, and, in man, excite the contraction of the minute rudimentary muscles inserted to the roots of the hairs. “Goose-skin” is caused by the contraction of these muscles, the condition being a functional rudiment, no longer serving to warm the skin nor to make the body appear larger. In a few exceptional cases, “goose-skin” can be produced voluntarily. In the normal condition, the rudimentary cutaneous muscles of man are immobile, and it requires some special stimulation to set them in action. Fear, which is occasionally able to excite the contraction of the involuntary muscles, also stimulates other muscles against the will. Under the influence of emotions that powerfully affect the nervous system, and particularly under that of fear, contractions of the bladder and intestines may be so violent that it is impossible to prevent the voiding of their contents. Accidents of this kind are not infrequent in the case of youthful candidates at examinations. Mosso relates of a friend, a volunteer in the war of 1866, that he was seized with terror during a battle and that the utmost efforts of his will failed to make his body endure the terrible spectacle. The involuntary action of the bladder and intestines during fear is a legacy from animals. The phenomenon is common in dogs and monkeys. Chimpanzees, when laid hold of, discharge their urine and fæces. At Madeira I had an unusually cowardly _Cercopithecus_ monkey which when at all alarmed discharged the contents of the rectum. Quite possibly such a mechanism was useful for the preservation of the individual. The emission of various kinds of excretions is of use in the struggle for existence. In that way the fox drives the badger from its earth and takes possession of it, whilst polecats and skunks defend themselves against more powerful carnivorous animals by discharging on them fœtid secretions. Instinctive fear is therefore a very powerful stimulant, awakening functions which are rudimentary and almost completely extinct. Sometimes it sets in operation mechanisms which have long been paralysed. Pausanias gives an example of a dumb young man who recovered his speech when he was terrified by seeing a lion. Herodotus relates that the son of Crœsus, who was dumb, on seeing a Persian about to kill his father, cried out: “You must not kill Crœsus,” and from that time onwards was able to talk. These ancient narratives have been confirmed by many modern observations. A woman, for instance, who had been dumb for several years, on seeing a fire, was terrified and cried out suddenly “Fire!” after which her speech was restored. Such are cases of the awakening of a function which has been arrested only for several years. But fear can bring into activity other mechanisms which have been inactive from time immemorial.