The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals typically accompanies blushing. A German translation of "The Expression" appeared in 1872; Dutch and French versions followed in 1873 and 1874. A second edition of the book, with only minor alterations, was published in 1890. Before Darwin, human emotional life had posed problems to the western philosophical categories of "mind" and "body". Darwin's interest can be traced to his time as a medical student and the 1824 reprint of Sir Charles Bell's "Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression" which argued for a spiritual dimension to the subject. In contrast, Darwin's biological approach links mental states to the coordination of movement, and
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex to the forces of sexual selection. While debates on the subject continues, in January 1871 Darwin started on another book, using left over material on emotional expressions, which became "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals". In recent years controversy also involved the peacock tail, the most famous symbol of the principle of sexual selection. A seven-year Japanese study of free-ranging peafowl came to the conclusion that female peafowl do not select mates merely on the basis of their trains. Mariko Takahashi found no evidence that peahens expressed any preference for peacocks with more elaborate trains, such as