The act of frowning—Reflection with an effort, or with the perception
of something difficult or disagreeable—Abstracted
meditation—Ill-temper—Moroseness—Obstinacy Sulkiness and
pouting—Decision or determination—The firm closure of the mouth.
The corrugators, by their contraction, lower the eyebrows and bring
them together, producing vertical furrows on the forehead—that is, a
frown. Sir C. Bell, who erroneously thought that the corrugator was
peculiar to man, ranks it as “the most remarkable muscle of the human
face. It knits the eyebrows with an energetic effort, which
unaccountably, but irresistibly, conveys the idea of mind.” Or, as he
elsewhere says, “when the eyebrows are knit, energy of mind is
apparent, and there is the mingling of thought and emotion with the
savage and brutal rage of the mere animal.”[901] There is much truth in
these remarks, but hardly the whole truth. Dr. Duchenne has called the
corrugator the muscle of reflection;[902] but this name, without some
limitation, cannot be considered as quite correct.
A man may be absorbed in the deepest thought, and his brow will remain
smooth until he encounters some obstacle in his train of reasoning, or
is interrupted by some disturbance, and then a frown passes like a
shadow over his brow. A half-starved man may think intently how to
obtain food, but he probably will not frown unless he encounters either
in thought or action some difficulty, or finds the food when obtained
nauseous. I have noticed that almost everyone instantly frowns if he
perceives a strange or bad taste in what he is eating. I asked several
persons, without explaining my object, to listen intently to a very
gentle tapping sound, the nature and source of which they all perfectly
knew, and not one frowned; but a man who joined us, and who could not
conceive what we were all doing in profound silence, when asked to
listen, frowned much, though not in an ill-temper, and said he could
not in the least understand what we all wanted. Dr. Piderit[903] who
has published remarks to the same effect, adds that stammerers
generally frown in speaking, and that a man in doing even so trifling a
thing as pulling on a boot, frowns if he finds it too tight. Some
persons are such habitual frowners, that the mere effort of speaking
almost always causes their brows to contract.
Men of all races frown when they are in any way perplexed in thought,
as I infer from the answers which I have received to my queries; but I
framed them badly, confounding absorbed meditation with perplexed
reflection. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Australians, Malays,
Hindoos, and Kafirs of South Africa frown, when they are puzzled.
Dobritzhoffer remarks that the Guaranies of South America on like
occasions knit their brows.[904]
From these considerations, we may conclude that frowning is not the
expression of simple reflection, however profound, or of attention,
however close, but of something difficult or displeasing encountered in
a train of thought or in action. Deep reflection can, however, seldom
be long carried on without some difficulty, so that it will generally
be accompanied by a frown. Hence it is that frowning commonly gives to
the countenance, as Sir C. Bell remarks, an aspect of intellectual
energy. But in order that this effect may be produced, the eyes must be
clear and steady, or they may be cast downwards, as often occurs in
deep thought. The countenance must not be otherwise disturbed, as in
the case of an ill-tempered or peevish man, or of one who shows the
effects of prolonged suffering, with dulled eyes and drooping jaw, or
who perceives a bad taste in his food, or who finds it difficult to
perform some trifling act, such as threading a needle. In these cases a
frown may often be seen, but it will be accompanied by some other
expression, which will entirely prevent the countenance having an
appearance of intellectual energy or of profound thought.
We may now inquire how it is that a frown should express the perception
of something difficult or disagreeable, either in thought or action. In
the same way as naturalists find it advisable to trace the
embryological development of an organ in order fully to understand its
structure, so with the movements of expression it is advisable to
follow as nearly as possible the same plan. The earliest and almost
sole expression seen during the first days of infancy, and then often
exhibited is that displayed during the act of screaming; and screaming
is excited, both at first and for some time afterwards, by every
distressing or displeasing sensation and emotion,—by hunger, pain,
anger, jealousy, fear, &c. At such times the muscles round the eyes are
strongly contracted; and this, as I believe, explains to a large extent
the act of frowning during the remainder of our lives. I repeatedly
observed my own infants, from under the age of one week to that of two
or three months, and found that when a screaming-fit came on gradually,
the first sign was the contraction of the corrugators, which produced a
slight frown, quickly followed by the contraction of the other muscles
round the eyes. When an infant is uncomfortable or unwell, little
frowns—as I record in my notes—may be seen incessantly passing like
shadows over its face; these being generally, but not always, followed
sooner or later by a crying-fit. For instance, I watched for some time
a baby, between seven and eight weeks old, sucking some milk which was
cold, and therefore displeasing to him; and a steady little frown was
maintained all the time. This was never developed into an actual
crying-fit, though occasionally every stage of close approach could be
observed.
As the habit of contracting the brows has been followed by infants
during innumerable generations, at the commencement of every crying or
screaming fit, it has become firmly associated with the incipient sense
of something distressing or disagreeable. Hence under similar
circumstances it would be apt to be continued during maturity, although
never then developed into a crying-fit. Screaming or weeping begins to
be voluntarily restrained at an early period of life, whereas frowning
is hardly ever restrained at any age. It is perhaps worth notice that
with children much given to weeping, anything which perplexes their
minds, and which would cause most other children merely to frown,
readily makes them weep. So with certain classes of the insane, any
effort of mind, however slight, which with an habitual frowner would
cause a slight frown, leads to their weeping in an unrestrained manner.
It is not more surprising that the habit of contracting the brows at
the first perception of something distressing, although gained during
infancy, should be retained during the rest of our lives, than that
many other associated habits acquired at an early age should be
permanently retained both by man and the lower animals. For instance,
full-grown cats, when feeling warm and comfortable, often retain the
habit of alternately protruding their fore-feet with extended toes,
which habit they practised for a definite purpose whilst sucking their
mothers.
Another and distinct cause has probably strengthened the habit of
frowning, whenever the mind is intent on any subject and encounters
some difficulty. Vision is the most important of all the senses, and
during primeval times the closest attention must have been incessantly:
directed towards distant objects for the sake of obtaining prey and
avoiding danger. I remember being struck, whilst travelling in parts of
South America, which were dangerous from the presence of Indians, how
incessantly, yet as it appeared unconsciously, the half-wild Gauchos
closely scanned the whole horizon. Now, when any one with no covering
on his head (as must have been aboriginally the case with mankind),
strives to the utmost to distinguish in broad daylight, and especially
if the sky is bright, a distant object, he almost invariably contracts
his brows to prevent the entrance of too much light; the lower eyelids,
cheeks, and upper lip being at the same time raised, so as to lessen
the orifice of the eyes. I have purposely asked several persons, young
and old, to look, under the above circumstances, at distant objects,
making them believe that I only wished to test the power of their
vision; and they all behaved in the manner just described. Some of
them, also, put their open, flat hands over their eyes to keep out the
excess of light. Gratiolet, after making some remarks to nearly the
same effect,[905] says, “Ce sont là des attitudes de vision difficile.”
He concludes that the muscles round the eyes contract partly for the
sake of excluding too much light (which appears to me the more
important end), and partly to prevent all rays striking the retina,
except those which come direct from the object that is scrutinized. Mr.
Bowman, whom I consulted on this point, thinks that the contraction of
the surrounding muscles may, in addition, “partly sustain the
consensual movements of the two eyes, by giving a firmer support while
the globes are brought to binocular vision by their own proper
muscles.”
As the effort of viewing with care under a bright light a distant
object is both difficult and irksome, and as this effort has been
habitually accompanied, during numberless generations, by the
contraction of the eyebrows, the habit of frowning will thus have been
much strengthened; although it was originally practised during infancy
from a quite independent cause, namely as the first step in the
protection of the eyes during screaming. There is, indeed, much
analogy, as far as the state of the mind is concerned, between intently
scrutinizing a distant object, and following out an obscure train of
thought, or performing some little and troublesome mechanical work. The
belief that the habit of contracting the brows is continued when there
is no need whatever to exclude too much light, receives support from
the cases formerly alluded to, in which the eyebrows or eyelids are
acted on under certain circumstances in a useless manner, from having
been similarly used, under analogous circumstances, for a serviceable
purpose. For instance, we voluntarily close our eyes when we do not
wish to see any object, and we are apt to close them, when we reject a
proposition, as if we could not or would not see it; or when we think
about something horrible. We raise our eyebrows when we wish to see
quickly all round us, and we often do the same, when we earnestly
desire to remember something; acting as if we endeavoured to see it.
_Abstraction. Meditation_.—When a person is lost in thought with his
mind absent, or, as it is sometimes said, “when he is in a brown
study,” he does not frown, but his eyes appear vacant. The lower
eyelids are generally raised and wrinkled, in the same manner as when a
short-sighted person tries to distinguish a distant object; and the
upper orbicular muscles are at the same time slightly contracted. The
wrinkling of the lower eyelids under these circumstances has been
observed with some savages, as by Mr. Dyson Lacy with the Australians
of Queensland, and several times by Mr. Geach with the Malays of the
interior of Malacca. What the meaning or cause of this action may be,
cannot at present be explained; but here we have another instance of
movement round the eyes in relation to the state of the mind.
The vacant expression of the eyes is very peculiar, and at once shows
when a man is completely lost in thought. Professor Donders has, with
his usual kindness, investigated this subject for me. He has observed
others in this condition, and has been himself observed by Professor
Engelmann. The eyes are not then fixed on any object, and therefore
not, as I had imagined, on some distant object. The lines of vision of
the two eyes even often become slightly divergent; the divergence, if
the head be held vertically, with the plane of vision horizontal,
amounting to an angle of 2° as a maximum. This was ascertained by
observing the crossed double image of a distant object. When the head
droops forward, as often occurs with a man absorbed in thought, owing
to the general relaxation of his muscles, if the plane of vision be
still horizontal, the eyes are necessarily a little turned upwards, and
then the divergence is as much as 3°, or 3° 5’: if the eyes are turned
still more upwards, it amounts to between 6° and 7°. Professor Donders
attributes this divergence to the almost complete relaxation of certain
muscles of the eyes, which would be apt to follow from the mind being
wholly absorbed.[906] The active condition of the muscles of the eyes
is that of convergence; and Professor Donders remarks, as bearing on
their divergence during a period of complete abstraction, that when one
eye becomes blind, it almost always, after a short lapse of time,
deviates outwards; for its muscles are no longer used in moving the
eyeball inwards for the sake of binocular vision.
Perplexed reflection is often accompanied by certain movements or
gestures. At such times we commonly raise our hands to our foreheads,
mouths, or chins; but we do not act thus, as far as I have seen, when
we are quite lost in meditation, and no difficulty is encountered.
Plautus, describing in one of his plays[907] a puzzled man, says, “Now
look, he has pillared his chin upon his hand.” Even so trifling and
apparently unmeaning a gesture as the raising of the hand to the face
has been observed with some savages. Mr. J. Mansel Weale has seen it
with the Kafirs of South Africa; and the native chief Gaika adds, that
men then “sometimes pull their beards.” Mr. Washington Matthews, who
attended to some of the wildest tribes of Indians in the western
regions of the United States, remarks that he has seen them when
concentrating their thoughts, bring their “hands, usually the thumb and
index finger, in contact with some part of the face, commonly the upper
lip.” We can understand why the forehead should be pressed or rubbed,
as deep thought tries the brain; but why the hand should be raised to
the mouth or face is far from clear.
_Ill-temper_.—We have seen that frowning is the natural expression of
some difficulty encountered, or of something disagreeable experienced
either in thought or action, and he whose mind is often and readily
affected in this way, will be apt to be ill-tempered, or slightly
angry, or peevish, and will commonly show it by frowning. But a cross
expression, due to a frown, may be counteracted, if the mouth appears
sweet, from being habitually drawn into a smile, and the eyes are
bright and cheerful. So it will be if the eye is clear and steady, and
there is the appearance of earnest reflection. Frowning, with some
depression of the corners of the mouth, which is a sign of grief, gives
an air of peevishness. If a child (see Plate IV., fig. 2)[908] frowns
much whilst crying, but does not strongly contract in the usual manner
the orbicular muscles, a well-marked expression of anger or even of
rage, together with misery, is displayed.
Ill-temper. Plate IV
If the whole frowning brow be drawn much downward by the contraction of
the pyramidal muscles of the nose, which produces transverse wrinkles
or folds across the base of the nose, the expression becomes one of
moroseness. Duchenne believes that the contraction of this muscle,
without any frowning, gives the appearance of extreme and aggressive
hardness.[909] But I much doubt whether this is a true or natural
expression. I have shown Duchenne’s photograph of a young man, with
this muscle strongly contracted by means of galvanism, to eleven
persons, including some artists, and none of them could form an idea
what was intended, except one, a girl, who answered correctly, “surely
reserve.” When I first looked at this photograph, knowing what was
intended, my imagination added, as I believe, what was necessary,
namely, a frowning brow; and consequently the expression appeared to me
true and extremely morose.
A firmly closed mouth, in addition to a lowered and frowning brow,
gives determination to the expression, or may make it obstinate and
sullen. How it comes that the firm closure of the mouth gives the
appearance of determination will presently be discussed. An expression
of sullen obstinacy has been clearly recognized by my informants, in
the natives of six different regions of Australia. It is well marked,
according to Mr. Scott, with the Hindoos. It has been recognized with
the Malays, Chinese, Kafirs, Abyssinians, and in a conspicuous degree,
according to Dr. Rothrock, with the wild Indians of North America, and
according to Mr. D. Forbes, with the Aymaras of Bolivia. I have also
observed it with the Araucanos of southern Chili. Mr. Dyson Lacy
remarks that the natives of Australia, when in this frame of mind,
sometimes fold their arms across their breasts, an attitude which may
be seen with us. A firm determination, amounting to obstinacy, is,
also, sometimes expressed by both shoulders being kept raised, the
meaning of which gesture will be explained in the following chapter.
With young children sulkiness is shown by pouting, or, as it is
sometimes called, “making a snout.”[910] When the corners of the mouth
are much depressed, the lower lip is a little everted and protruded;
and this is likewise called a pout. But the pouting here referred to,
consists of the protrusion of both lips into a tubular form, sometimes
to such an extent as to project as far as the end of the nose, if this
be short. Pouting is generally accompanied by frowning, and sometimes
by the utterance of a booing or whooing noise. This expression is
remarkable, as almost the sole one, as far as I know, which is
exhibited much more plainly during childhood, at least with Europeans,
than during maturity. There is, however, some tendency to the
protrusion of the lips with the adults of all races under the influence
of great rage. Some children pout when they are shy, and they can then
hardly be called sulky.
From inquiries which I have made in several large families, pouting
does not seem very common with European children; but it prevails
throughout the world, and must be both common and strongly marked with
most savage races, as it has caught the attention of many observers. It
has been noticed in eight different districts of Australia; and one of
my informants remarks how greatly the lips of the children are then
protruded. Two observers have seen pouting with the children of
Hindoos; three, with those of the Kafirs and Fingoes of South Africa,
and with the Hottentots; and two, with the children of the wild Indians
of North America. Pouting has also been observed with the Chinese,
Abyssinians, Malays of Malacca, Dyaks of Borneo, and often with the New
Zealanders. Mr. Mansel Weale informs me that he has seen the lips much
protruded, not only with the children of the Kafirs, but with the
adults of both sexes when sulky; and Mr. Stack has sometimes observed
the same thing with the men, and very frequently with the women of New
Zealand. A trace of the same expression may occasionally be detected
even with adult Europeans.
We thus see that the protrusion of the lips, especially with young
children, is characteristic of sulkiness throughout the greater part of
the world. This movement apparently results from the retention, chiefly
during youth, of a primordial habit, or from an occasional reversion to
it. Young orangs and chimpanzees protrude their lips to an
extraordinary degree, as described in a former chapter, when they are
discontented, somewhat angry, or sulky; also when they are surprised, a
little frightened, and even when slightly pleased. Their mouths are
protruded apparently for the sake of making the various noises proper
to these several states of mind; and its shape, as I observed with the
chimpanzee, differed slightly when the cry of pleasure and that of
anger were uttered. As soon as these animals become enraged, the shape
of the month wholly changes, and the teeth are exposed. The adult orang
when wounded is said to emit “a singular cry, consisting at first of
high notes, which at length deepen into a low roar. While giving out
the high notes he thrusts out his lips into a funnel shape, but in
uttering the low notes he holds his mouth wide open.”[911] With the
gorilla, the lower lip is said to be capable of great elongation. If
then our semi-human progenitors protruded their lips when sulky or a
little angered, in the same manner as do the existing anthropoid apes,
it is not an anomalous, though a curious fact, that our children should
exhibit, when similarly affected, a trace of the same expression,
together with some tendency to utter a noise. For it is not at all
unusual for animals to retain, more or less perfectly, during early
youth, and subsequently to lose, characters which were aboriginally
possessed by their adult progenitors, and which are still retained by
distinct species, their near relations.
Nor is it an anomalous fact that the children of savages should exhibit
a stronger tendency to protrude their lips, when sulky, than the
children of civilized Europeans; for the essence of savagery seems to
consist in the retention of a primordial condition, and this
occasionally holds good even with bodily peculiarities.[912] It may be
objected to this view of the origin of pouting, that the anthropoid
apes likewise protrude their lips when astonished and even when a
little pleased; whilst with us this expression is generally confined to
a sulky frame of mind. But we shall see in a future chapter that with
men of various races surprise does sometimes lead to a slight
protrusion of the lips, though great surprise or astonishment is more
commonly shown by the mouth being widely opened. As when we smile or
laugh we draw back the corners of the mouth, we have lost any tendency
to protrude the lips, when pleased, if indeed our early progenitors
thus expressed pleasure.
A little gesture made by sulky children may here be noticed, namely,
their “showing a cold shoulder.” This has a different meaning, as, I
believe, from the keeping both shoulders raised. A cross child, sitting
on its parent’s knee, will lift up the near shoulder, then jerk it
away, as if from a caress, and afterwards give a backward push with it,
as if to push away the offender. I have seen a child, standing at some
distance from any one, clearly express its feelings by raising one
shoulder, giving it a little backward movement, and then turning away
its whole body.
_Decision or determination_.—The firm closure of the mouth tends to
give an expression of determination or decision to the countenance. No
determined man probably ever had an habitually gaping mouth. Hence,
also, a small and weak lower jaw, which seems to indicate that the
mouth is not habitually and firmly closed, is commonly thought to be
characteristic of feebleness of character. A prolonged effort of any
kind, whether of body or mind, implies previous determination; and if
it can be shown that the mouth is generally closed with firmness before
and during a great and continued exertion of the muscular system, then,
through the principle of association, the mouth would almost certainly
be closed as soon as any determined resolution was taken. Now several
observers have noticed that a man, in commencing any violent muscular
effort, invariably first distends his lungs with air, and then
compresses it by the strong contraction of the muscles of the chest;
and to effect this the mouth must be firmly closed. Moreover, as soon
as the man is compelled to draw breath, he still keeps his chest as
much distended as possible.
Various causes have been assigned for this manner of acting. Sir C.
Bell maintains[913] that the chest is distended with air, and is kept
distended at such times, in order to give a fixed support to the
muscles which are thereto attached. Hence, as he remarks, when two men
are engaged in a deadly contest, a terrible silence prevails, broken
only by hard stifled breathing. There is silence, because to expel the
air in the utterance of any sound would be to relax the support for the
muscles of the arms. If an outcry is heard, supposing the struggle to
take place in the dark, we at once know that one of the two has given
up in despair.
Gratiolet admits[914] that when a man has to struggle with another to
his utmost, or has to support a great weight, or to keep for a long
time the same forced attitude, it is necessary for him first to make a
deep inspiration, and then to cease breathing; but he thinks that Sir
C. Bell’s explanation is erroneous. He maintains that arrested
respiration retards the circulation of the blood, of which I believe
there is no doubt, and he adduces some curious evidence from the
structure of the lower animals, showing, on the one hand, that a
retarded circulation is necessary for prolonged muscular exertion, and,
on the other hand, that a rapid circulation is necessary for rapid
movements. According to this view, when we commence any great exertion,
we close our mouths and stop breathing, in order to retard the
circulation of the blood. Gratiolet sums up the subject by saying,
“C’est là la vraie théorie de l’effort continu;” but how far this
theory is admitted by other physiologists I do not know.
Dr. Piderit accounts[915] for the firm closure of the mouth during
strong muscular exertion, on the principle that the influence of the
will spreads to other muscles besides those necessarily brought into
action in making any particular exertion; and it is natural that the
muscles of respiration and of the mouth, from being so habitually used,
should be especially liable to be thus acted on. It appears to me that
there probably is some truth in this view, for we are apt to press the
teeth hard together during violent exertion, and this is not requisite
to prevent expiration, whilst the muscles of the chest are strongly
contracted.
Lastly, when a man has to perform some delicate and difficult
operation, not requiring the exertion of any strength, he nevertheless
generally closes his mouth and ceases for a time to breathe; but he
acts thus in order that the movements of his chest may not disturb,
those of his arms. A person, for instance, whilst threading a needle,
may be seen to compress his lips and either to stop breathing, or to
breathe as quietly as possible. So it was, as formerly stated, with a
young and sick chimpanzee, whilst it amused itself by killing flies
with its knuckles, as they buzzed about on the window-panes. To perform
an action, however trifling, if difficult, implies some amount of
previous determination.
There appears nothing improbable in all the above assigned causes
having come into play in different degrees, either conjointly or
separately, on various occasions. The result would be a
well-established habit, now perhaps inherited, of firmly closing the
mouth at the commencement of and during any violent and prolonged
exertion, or any delicate operation. Through the principle of
association there would also be a strong tendency towards this same
habit, as soon as the mind had resolved on any particular action or
line of conduct, even before there was any bodily exertion, or if none
were requisite. The habitual and firm closure of the mouth would thus
come to show decision of character; and decision readily passes into
obstinacy.