A DESCRIPTION OF MAN.
The body attains its full height at the age of puberty, or at least
a few years after. Some young people cease growing at fourteen or
fifteen; while others continue their growth till two or three and
twenty. During this period most men are of slender make; their thighs
and legs small, and the muscular parts are as yet unfilled; but by
degrees the fleshy fibres augment, the muscles swell, the limbs assume
their figure, and become more proportioned, and before the age of
thirty the body, in men, has acquired its most perfect symmetry.
In women, the body sooner attains this symmetry; their muscles and
other parts being less strong, compact, and solid than those of men;
and being also less in size, they require less time in coming to
maturity. Hence it is that a woman is as completely formed at twenty,
as a man at thirty.
The body of a well-shaped man ought to be square, the muscles expressed
with boldness, and the lines in the face distinctly marked. In woman
superior elegance prevails; her form is more soft, and her features
more delicate. Strength and majesty belong to the former, grace and
softness are the peculiar embellishments of the latter.
In both, their external forms declare their sovereignty over every
living creature. Man supports his body erect; his attitude is that of
command; and his face, which is turned towards the heavens, displays a
superior dignity. The image of his soul is painted in his countenance;
the excellence of his nature penetrates through the material form in
which it is enclosed, and gives to his features a lively animation. His
majestic port, his firm and resolute step, announce the superiority of
his rank. He touches the earth only with his extremity, and beholds
it as if at a disdainful distance. His arms are not given to him for
pillars of support; nor does he render his hands callous by their
treading on the ground, and losing that delicacy of feeling for which
they were originally designed. His arms and hands are formed for very
different purposes; they are formed to second every intention of his
will; to defend himself, and to enable him to seize and enjoy the gifts
of Nature.
When the mind is at rest, all the features of the visage are in a state
of profound tranquillity. Their proportion, their union, their harmony,
seem to mark the sweet serenity, and to give a true information of
what passes within. When the soul, however, is agitated, the human
visage becomes a living picture, where the passions are expressed with
as much delicacy as energy; where every motion is expressed by some
corresponding feature; where every impression anticipates the will, and
betrays those hidden agitations, that he would often wish to conceal.
It is particularly in the eyes that the passions are painted, and most
readily discovered. The eye seems to belong to the soul more than any
other organ; it seems to participate of all its emotions; the softest
and most tender as well as the most violent and tumultous. These if not
only receives, but transmits by sympathy into the soul of the observer
all that secret fire with which its mind is agitated; and thus does
passion often become general. In short the eye is the lively index of
the mind, and forcibly speaks the language of intelligence.
Those who are short-sighted labour under a particular disadvantage in
this respect, being in a manner deprived of the intelligent expression
of the eye; and which frequently gives an air of stupidity to the
finest face. It is strong and violent passions alone that we ever see
marked on such countenances, and which often produce very unfavourable
prepossessions. However intelligent we may afterwards find such
persons, it is with difficulty we renounce our former prejudices. We
are so habituated to judge by external appearances that we too often
decide on men's talents by their physiognomy; and having perhaps at
first, caught up our judgments prematurely, they mechanically influence
us all our lives after; nay the colour, or cut of the clothes will
sometimes influence conclusions as to their abilities; and that not
always without reason: therefore since strangers may decide upon
understanding by so trifling an article as dress, we ought not to be
totally inattentive to it, trifling as it may appear.
The vivacity, or the languid motion of the eyes, gives the strongest
marks to the countenance; and their colour contributes still more
to enforce the expression. The different colours of the eyes are
dark-hazle, light-hazle, green, blue, grey, and whitish grey. These
different colours arise from the different colours of the little
muscles, that serve to contract the pupil, and they very often change
colour with disorder, and with age.
Those most frequent are, the hazle and the blue, and very often
both these colours are found in the same eye. Those eyes which are
called black are only dark-hazle, which may be easily seen upon close
inspection, and only appear black from the contrast with the white of
the eye; in all those which have a blue shade that colour becomes the
most predominant. Those eyes are reckoned the most beautiful where the
shade is the deepest; and either in the black or the blue, the fire,
which gives to the eye its finest expression, is most distinguishable.
For this reason, the black eyes, as they are called, have the greatest
force and vivacity; but the blue are the most delicate, and have the
most powerful effect in beauty, as they reflect a greater variety of
rays from the tints of which they are composed.
This variety in the colour of the eyes, is peculiar to man, and one
or two of the brute-creation; in other animals, the colour in any one
individual is the same in all the rest. The eyes of the ox are brown;
those of sheep of a watery colour; those of goats are grey, &c. and it
may also be remarked, that the eyes of most white animals are red; as
the rabbit, ferret, &c. "According to Aristotle, in the human species
grey eyes are the strongest; blues eyes are weak; full eyes are near
sighted, and brown ones require a good light."
Though the eye, when put in motion, seems to be drawn towards either
side, yet it only moves round its centre; by which its coloured part
moves nearer, or farther from the angle of the eye-lids, and is thus
elevated or depressed. The distance between the eye is less in man
than in any other animal; in some it is so great that it is almost
impossible that they should ever view the same object with both eyes at
once.
Next to the eyes, that which gives most character to the face are
the eye-brows, which being, in some measure, totally different from
the other features, their effect is most readily distinguished. The
eye-lashes have an effect in giving expression to the eye, particularly
when long and close, they soften its glances, and improve its
sweetness. Man and apes are the only animals that have eye-lashes both
upon the upper and lower lids, all other animals want them on the lid
below, and even man has less on the under than on the upper.
The eye-lids serve to guard the ball of the eye, and to furnish it with
a proper moisture. The upper lid rises and falls; the lower has scarce
any motion; and though their being moved depends on the will, yet the
will is unable to keep them open when sleep, or fatigue, oppresses
the mind. In birds and amphibious quadrupeds the lower lid alone has
motion; and fishes and insects have no eye-lids whatsoever.
The forehead makes a large part of the face, and chiefly contributes to
its beauty. It ought to be justly proportioned, neither too round nor
too flat, neither too narrow nor too low, and it should be regularly
surrounded with the hair. The hair tends greatly to improve the face,
and baldness takes away from beauty. Borrowed locks, however, do not
justly supply the place of real ones, as the true character cannot be
so well traced in the countenance when the one is substituted for the
other. The highest part of the head, and that immediately above the
temples, first becomes bald; the hair under the temples, and at the
back of the head, is seldom known to fail.
It has been observed by some authors that baldness was peculiar to
man, and that it never happens to women in the most advanced periods
of life. The hair is, in general, thickest where the constitution is
strongest, and more glossy and beautiful where the health is most
permanent. The ancients supposed the hair to be produced like the
nails, the part next the root pushing out that immediately contiguous.
But the moderns have found that every hair may be truly said to live
and to receive nutriment like other parts of the body. The roots do
not turn grey sooner than the extremities, but the whole hair changes
colour nearly at the same time, and we have many instances of persons
who have grown grey in one night's time. When turned white it gradually
loses its strength and falls off. Aristotle asserts, that no man ever
became bald previous to his intercourse with women.
The nose is the most prominent feature in the face, but as it has
scarce any motion, even in the strongest passions, it rather adds to
the beauty, than to the expression of the countenance. The form of this
feature, and its advanced position, are peculiar to the human visage
alone. Other animals, for the most part, have nostrils with a partition
between them, but none of them have an elevated nose. Apes themselves
have scarce any thing else of this feature but the nostrils, the rest
of the feature lying flat upon the visage, and scarce higher than the
cheek-bones. This organ serves man and most animals not only to breathe
but to enjoy odoriferous scents. Birds have merely two holes for these
purposes.
The mouth and lips, next to the eyes, are found to have the greatest
expression. The passions have great power over this part of the face,
and the mouth marks its different degrees by its different forms. The
organ of speech still more animates this part, and gives it more life
than any other feature in the face. The ruby colour of the lips, and
the white enamel of the teeth, have such a superiority over every other
feature that they seem to form the principal object of our regard.
In fact, the whole attention is fixed upon the lips of the speaker;
however rapid his discourse, and however various the subject, the mouth
takes correspondent situations, and deaf men have been often found to
_see_ the force of those reasonings, which they could not _hear_, by
attending to the motions of the lips.
Notwithstanding the opinion of Aristotle, with regard to the crocodile,
I am convinced, that in that, as well as in man, and other animals,
the under jaw alone has the power of motion. In the human embrio, and
in monkeys, the under jaw is very much advanced before the upper. In
instances of the most violent passion this jaw has often an involuntary
quivering motion; and often also pain and pleasure, as well, as languor
produces another, which is that of yawning.
When the mind is affected with ardent desire, or reflects with regret
upon some good unattained or lost, it feels an internal emotion, which
acting upon the diaphragm, elevates the lungs, and produces a sigh;
when the mind perceives no prospect of relief the sighs are repeated,
sorrow succeeds, and tears often follow; the air rushes into the
lungs, and gives rise to an inspiration stronger than sighs, termed
sobbing, in which the voice becomes more evident; from this it proceeds
to groans, which are a species of sobs continued to some length, and
are longer or shorter according to the degree of anxiety the mind is
labouring under. The plaintive shriek is a groan expressed with a sharp
tone of voice; which when violently excited, generally continues the
same tone throughout, but when moderate, usually falls at the end.
Laughter is a sound of the voice, interrupted and pursued for some
continuance. The muscles of the belly, and the diaphragm, are employed
in its weaker exertions; but those of the ribs are violently agitated
in the stronger; the head and breast are sometimes thrown forward,
in order to raise them with the greater ease. The chest remains
undisturbed, the cheeks swell, the mouth naturally opens, and the
belly becoming depressed, the air issues out with a noise, and which
in violent fits continues for some time, and is often repeated; but
in more tranquil emotions, although the cheeks swell, the lips remain
close, and in some persons dimples are formed near the corners of the
mouth. This smile is often an indication of kindness and good-will; it
is also often used as a mark of contempt and ridicule.
The cheeks are features without any particular motion, and rather
seem as an ornament to the face than for the purpose of expression,
as may also be said of the chin and temples. The former indeed may be
considered in some measure a picture of the mind, from the involuntary
paleness and redness with which they are at limes overspread. Blushing
proceeds from different passions; being produced from shame, anger,
pride, Or joy, while paleness is ever an attendant on fright, fear, and
sorrow. These alterations in the colour are entirely involuntary; all
the other expressions of the passions are, in some small degree, under
control; but blushing and paleness betray our secret thoughts, and we
might as well attempt to stop the circulation of our blood, by which
they are caused, as to prevent their appearance.
The whole head, as well as the features of the face, takes peculiar
attitudes from different passions; it bends forward to express
humility, shame, or sorrow; it is turned to one side, in languor, or in
pity; it is thrown with the chin forward, in arrogance and pride; erect
in self-conceit and obstinacy; it is thrown backwards in surprize or
astonishment; and combines its motions to the one side and the other,
to express contempt, ridicule, anger, and resentment.
The parts of the head which give least expression to the face are the
ears. These which are immoveable, and make so small an appearance in
man, are very distinguishing features in quadrupeds: they serve in
them as the principal marks of the passions, and discover their joys
or their terrors with tolerable precision. The smallest ears in men
are said to be most beautiful; but the largest are found the best for
hearing. Some savage nations bore their ears, and so draw down the tips
to rest upon their shoulders.
The different customs of men appear still more extravagant in their
manner of wearing their beards. Some, and among others the Turks, cut
the hair off their heads, and let their beards grow. The Europeans,
on the contrary, shave their beards and wear their hair. The American
savages pluck the hairs off their beards, but are proud of those on
the head; the Negroes shave their heads in figures at one time, in
stars at another, and still more commonly in alternate stripes. The
Talapoins of Siam shave the heads and the eye-brows of such children
as are committed to their care. Every nation seems to have entertained
different prejudices, at different times, in favour of one part or
another of the beard. Some have preferred the hair upon the upper lip
to that on the chin; some like the hair hanging down; some chuse it
curled; and others like it straight.
Though fashions have arisen in different countries from fancy and
caprice, yet when they have become general they deserve examination.
Mankind have always considered it as a matter of moment, and they
will ever continue desirous of drawing the attention of each other,
by such ornaments as mark the riches, the power, or the courage of
the wearer. The value of shining stones is entirely founded upon their
scarceness or their brilliancy. It is the same with respect to shining
metals, of which the weight is so little regarded when spread over our
cloaths. These ornaments are designed to draw the attention of others,
and to excite the idea of wealth and grandeur; and few there are who,
undazzled by the glitter of an outside, can coolly distinguish between
the metal and the man.
All things rare and brilliant will, therefore, continue to be
fashionable, while men derive greater advantage from riches than
virtue, and while the means of appearing considerable are more easily
acquired than the title to merit. The first impression we make on
strangers arises from our dress; and this varies in conformity to
the character we are ambitious to obtain. The modest man, or he who
would wish to be thought so, endeavours to shew the simplicity of his
mind by the plainness of his dress; the vain man, on the contrary,
takes a pleasure in displaying his superiority in finery and external
appearance.
Another object of dress is, to encrease the size of our figure, and to
take up more room in the world than Nature seems to have allotted us.
We desire to enlarge our dimensions by swelling out our cloaths and
raising our heels; but how bulky soever our dress may be, our vanities
still exceed them. The largeness of the doctor's wig arises from the
same pride as the smallness of the beau's queue. Both want to have the
size of their understanding measured by the external dimensions of
their heads.
There are some fashions that seem to have a more reasonable origin,
which is to hide or to lessen the defects of Nature. To take men
altogether, there are many more ordinary faces and deformed bodies,
than beautiful countenances and handsome figures. The former, as being
the most numerous, give laws to fashion, and their laws are generally
such as are made in their favour. Women begin to colour their checks
with red when the natural roses are faded, and the younger are obliged
to follow the example, though not compelled by the same necessity. In
all parts of the world this custom prevails more or less, and powdering
and frizzing the hair, though not so general, seems to have arisen from
a similar desire of displaying the features to most advantage.
But, leaving the draperies of the human picture, let us return to the
figure unadorned by art.
The head of man, whether considered externally or internally, is
differently formed from that of all other animals. The head of the
monkey has some similitude, but in that there are differences, which
we shall take notice of in another place. The bodies of almost all
quadrupeds are covered with hair, but the head of man alone has this
ornament before puberty, and that more abundantly than any other animal.
There is a great variety in the teeth of all animals, some have them
above and below, others have them in the under jaw only: in some they
stand separate from each other, while in others they are close and
united. The palate of some fishes is nothing but a bony substance
studded with points, which perform the office of teeth. All these
substances, that is, the teeth of men, quadrupeds, and fishes, the
saws, &c. of insects, like the nails, horns, and hoofs, derive their
origin from the nerves. We before remarked that the nerves harden by
being exposed to the air; and as the mouth gives free access to it, the
nerves that terminate therein, being thus exposed, acquire a solidity.
In this manner the teeth and nails are formed in man, and the beaks,
hoofs, horns, and talons of other animals are produced.
The neck supports the head, and unites it to the body. This part is
more considerable in the generality of quadrupeds, than in man. Fishes
and other animals that have not lungs similar to ours, have no neck.
Birds in general have the neck longer than any other kind of animal;
those of them which have short claws have also short necks, and so on
the contrary.
The human breast is larger in proportion than that of other animals;
and none but man, and those animals which make use of their fore feet
as hands, such as monkeys, squirrels, &c. have collar-bones. The
breasts, in women are larger than in men; they however seem formed
in the same, manner; and sometimes milk is found in the breasts of
the latter. Of this there have been many instances about the age of
puberty, and I have seen a young man press a considerable quantity
out of one of his breasts. Among animals there, is a great variety in
this part of the body. Some, as the ape and the elephant, have but two
teats, which are placed on each side of the breast, Bears have four.
Sheep have but two, placed between the hinder legs. Other animals,
such as the bitch and sow, have them all along the belly. Birds and
other oviparous animals have no teats; but viviparous fishes, as the
whale and the dolphin, have both teats and milk. The form also of the
teats varies in different animals, and in the same animal at different
ages. Those women whose breasts are shaped like a pear, are said to
make the best nurses. In the belly of the human race the naval makes a
conspicuous figure, but which is scarcely perceptible in other animals.
The arms of men but very little resemble the fore legs of quadrupeds,
and much less the wings of birds. The ape is the only animal that is
possessed of hands and arms; and they are fashioned more rudely, and
with less exact proportion, than in men. The shoulders are also much
larger in man than in any other animal, and of a form widely distinct.
The form of the back differs not much from that of many quadrupeds,
only that the reins are more muscular and strong. The buttock, however,
in man is different from that of all animals whatsoever. What goes by
that name in other creatures is only the upper part of the thigh, and
by no means similar: man being the only animal that can support himself
perfectly erect, the peculiar hardness of this part enables him to
sustain that position.
The human feet are also different from those of all animals, even apes
not excepted. The foot of the ape is rather a kind of aukward hand;
its toes, or rather fingers, are long, and that in the middle longest
of all; the foot also wants the heel. In man the sole of the foot is
broader and more adapted to maintain the equilibrium of the body in
walking, dancing, or running.
The nails are smaller in man than those of any animal. If they were
much longer than the extremities of the fingers, they would obstruct
the management of the hand. Such savages as suffer them to grow long,
make use of them in flaying and tearing animals, but though their nails
are considerably larger than ours, they are yet by no means to be
compared to the hoofs or the claws of other animals.
There is little known exactly with regard to the proportion of the
human figure, for the same parts do not bear similar proportions in any
two individuals; nor even in the same, for seldom is it that the right
leg or arm is of equal dimensions with the left. It is not by taking
an exact _resemblance_ that we can determine on the best proportion of
the human figure; we must seek for it in taste and sentiment, which
have exceeded the laws of mechanism in the imitation of Nature; and in
which imitation we recognize her perfections more conspicuously than
in her own productions; and by the same rule the beauty of the best
statues is much better conceived by observation than by measurement.
The ancients executed statues in so high a degree of perfection, that
they have ever been considered as exact representations of the most
perfect human figures. These statues, which were at first copied after
the human form, are now considered as the most perfect models of it;
and for this plain reason, that they were not formed after any one
individual, but from a diligent observation of the perfect symmetry
that was to be collected, as it were, from the whole species. In doing
this, these artists also considered each part of the human frame should
be of certain dimensions to become the standard of perfection; for
instance, that the body should be ten times the length of the face;
and that the face should also be divisible into three equal parts, the
first form the hair on the forehead to the nose, the second the nose,
and the third from the nose to the end of the chin. In measuring the
body they use the term nose as the third of the face, one of which they
reckon in height, from the top of the forehead to the crown of the
head, therefore from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is a
face and one third, and from the chin to the upper part of the breasts
two thirds more, which of course makes two tenths of the whole body; to
the bottom of the paps another, to the navel a fourth, and from thence
to the division of the lower extremities a fifth, or half the body;
two more faces are assigned to the thighs, half a one to the knee, two
from the knee to the top of the foot, and the other half from thence to
the sole, which completes the ten. This division does not hold good in
men of a more than ordinary size, in whom about half a face is allowed
between the paps and the commencement of the thighs, which in them is
not the middle of the body. The arms being stretched out, measure from
the ends of the middle fingers ten faces, or exactly the length of the
body. The hand is the length of the face, the thumb that of the nose,
as is also the longest toe, and the bottom of the foot, is one sixth
part of the length of the body. The space between the eyes is the
breadth of the eye: the breadth of the thickest part of the thigh is
double that of the thickest part of the leg, and treble the smallest.
Were any individual measured by these rules, those we consider as the
most perfect would be found highly deficient.
These correspondences are, however, extremely arbitrary. In infants
the upper parts of the body are larger than the lower; the legs and
thighs do not constitute any thing like half the length of the body;
as the child increases in age the inferior parts increase more than
in proportion, so that the body is not equally divided till it has
acquired its full growth. In women the anterior part of the chest is
more prominent than in men; but as in the former the chest is more
thick, so in the latter it is more broad. In women too the hips are
considerably more bulky, and so different is the conformation of those
two parts, that it is sufficient to distinguish the skeleton of a woman
from that of a man.
The total height of the human figure varies considerably. Men are said
to be tall who are from five feet eight or nine inches to six feet.
The middle stature is from five feet two to five feet seven inches;
and such as fall under these measures are said to be of small stature.
Women in general are two or three inches shorter than men. As for
giants and dwarfs, of them we shall have occasion to speak in another
place.
Though the body of a man is more externally delicate than that of any
animal, it is exceedingly muscular, and for its size perhaps more
strong. Were we to compare the strength of a lion with that of a man,
we ought to consider that the former is armed with teeth and talons,
which give a false idea of its power. The arms which man has received
from Nature are not offensive; and happy were it if Art had never
furnished him with weapons more terrible than those which arm the paws
of the lion.
But there is another, and perhaps a more just manner of comparing the
strength of man with that of animals, namely by the weights which
either can carry. We are assured that the porters of Constantinople
carry burthens 900 pounds weight; and M. Desaguliers tells us of a
man in an upright posture, who, by distributing a certain number of
weights, in such a manner that every part of his body bore its share,
was able to support a weight of 2000 pounds. By the same expedient
a horse, which is at least six or seven times our bulk, ought to be
enabled to carry a load, of 12 or 14,000 pounds; an enormous weight in
comparison of what that animal can support, even when the weight is
distributed with every possible advantage.
The strength of a man may be still further estimated by agility and
the continuance of his labour. Men accustomed to running outstrip
horses, or at least continue their speed for a greater length of time.
A man will walk down a horse if they continue together, and perform a
long journey much sooner, and with less fatigue. The royal messengers
of Ispahan, who are runners by profession, go 36 leagues in 14 or 15
hours. Travellers assure us, that the Hottentots out-run lions in the
chace, and that the savages, who live by hunting, pursue the elk and
other animals with such speed as to take them. Many other surprising
things are told of the nimbleness of savages, and of the long journeys
they accomplish on foot, over the most craggy mountains, and the
most unfavourable roads, where there is no path to direct, and every
obstacle to oppose. A thousand leagues are these people said to travel
in less than six weeks, or two months. Birds excepted, whose muscles
are indeed stronger in proportion than those of any other animal,
no other creature could support such a continuance of fatigue. The
civilized man is ignorant of his own strength; nor is he sensible how
much he loses of it by effeminacy, and how he might add to it by the
habit of vigorous exercise.
Sometimes we find men of extraordinary strength; but this gift of
Nature, which would be valuable to them in a primitive state, is of
very trifling service with the polished part of mankind, among whom
mental perfections are held in higher estimation than bodily, and
manual exertions are confined to persons of the lowest classes.
Men are much stronger than women; and this superiority they have too
often employed, by tyrannically enslaving a sex, which was formed to
partake with them the pleasures as well as the pains of life. Savage
nations subject their women to a continued series of labour. On them
is imposed every office of drudgery, while the husband indolently
reclines in his hammock. From this inactive situation he is seldom
roused but by the calls of hunger, when he is obliged to seek food
by fishing or hunting. A savage has no idea of taking pleasure in
exercise; and nothing surprises him more than to see an European walk
backwards and forward, merely for his amusement or recreation. All
men have a tendency to laziness; but the savages of hot countries are
not only lazy to an extreme, but tyrannical to their women, beyond
any other classes of men. In civilized countries men dictate laws
to women, which are the more severe, as their manners are rough and
untaught, and it is only among nations highly polished that women are
raised to that equality of condition which is naturally their due, and
so necessary to the true enjoyment of society. These refinements flow
from themselves; and to strength they oppose arms more sure to conquer,
when by modesty they teach us to pay homage to the empire of beauty; a
natural advantage, superior to strength. But much skill is requisite
to manage and increase its influence, as is evident from the different
ideas which different nations entertain of beauty. These indeed are
so widely opposite, so palpably contradictory, that there is every
reason to suppose the sex have gained more by rendering themselves
amiable, than even by this gift of Nature, about which men are so
much divided. As from the difficulty of obtaining it, the value of a
thing still increases, so beauty has always had its admirers, and its
votaries, respect necessarily increased as soon as the possessors of it
maintained a becoming dignity, and turned a deaf ear to every address
of which virtue was not the positive basis; this naturally introduced a
delicacy of sentiment, and polished manners followed of course.
So widely did the ancients disagree with us in respect of beauty, that,
with them, a small forehead, and eye-brows joined, were accounted
ornaments in the female countenance; and even to this day, in Persia,
the union of the eye-brows is held in high estimation. In several
parts of the Indies, it is necessary that the teeth should be black,
and the hair white, to form a beauty; and, in the Marian islands, it
is a principal occupation of the women, to blacken the teeth with
herbs, and to whiten the hair by certain lotions. In China and Japan,
the essential ingredients of beauty are, a large visage, small eyes,
and almost concealed, a nose flat and bulky, little feet, and a belly
enormously big. Some of the Indians of America and Asia, in order to
enlarge the countenance, compress the heads of their children between
two planks, others flatten them from the crown only, and others exert
every effort to render them round. Every nation, and every individual,
has a peculiar prejudice, or taste, with respect to beauty, which
probably originates from some pleasing impression received in infancy,
and therefore depends more, perhaps, on habit and chance than on the
disposition of our organs.
When we come to treat of the different senses, we shall perhaps be able
to determine what stress is to be laid on the ideas of beauty which
we receive from the eyes. In the mean time let us examine the human
countenance as it appears when agitated by the passions. In grief,
joy, love, shame, and compassion, the eyes swell, and overflow with
tears. The effusion of these is always accompanied with a tension of
the muscles of the face, which opens the month. The natural moisture in
the nose becomes increased by the tears flowing through the lachrymal
ducts; they do not, however, flow uniformly, but burst out by intervals.
In sorrow the corners of the mouth are lowered, the under lip raised,
the eye-lids nearly closed, the pupil elevated, and almost covered
with the eye-lid; the other muscles of the face are relaxed, so that
the space between the mouth and the eyes is larger than ordinary, and
of consequence the countenance appears lengthened. [See _fig._ 13.]
In fear, terror, or horror, the forehead is wrinkled, the eye-brow
raised, the eye-lids are extended as much as possible, and discover
a part of the white over the pupil, which is lowered, and somewhat
concealed by the lower eye-lid: the mouth, at the same time, is widely
opened, and the lips separating, both the upper and under teeth are
seen. [See _fig._ 14.]
In contempt and derision the upper lip is raised on one side, and on
the other there is a little motion, resembling a supercilious smile;
the nose is shrivelled on the same side that the lip is raised, and the
corner, of the mouth is extended; the eye on the same side is almost
shut, while the other is open as usual, but the pupils of both are
lowered as when looking from a height. [See _fig._ 15.]
In jealousy, envy, and malice, the eye-brows fall down, and are
wrinkled; the eye-lid is raised and the pupil lowered; the upper lip
is raised on each side, while the corners of the mouth are rather
lowered; and the middle of the under lip is raised, in order to join
the middle of the upper lip. [See _fig._ 16.]
In laughter the two corners of the mouth are drawn back and somewhat
raised; the upper part of the cheeks is raised; and the eyes are
more or less closed; the upper lip is raised, while the under one is
lowered; and in immoderate laughter the mouth is opened, and the skin
of the nose is shrivelled. [See _fig._ 17.]
The arms, the hands, and the body in general, likewise assist the
countenance by different gestures, in the expression of the emotions
of the soul. In joy, for example, the eyes, the head, the arms, and
the whole body, are agitated by quick and varied movements. In languor
and melancholy the eyes are sunk, the head is reclined, and the whole
body is motionless. In admiration, surprize, and astonishment, all
motion is suspended, and we remain in one and the same attitude. These
expressions of the passions are independent on the will; but there is
another sort of expression, which seems to be produced by a reflection
of the mind, by a command of the will, and by which the eyes, the head,
the arms, and the whole body, are put in action. They appear to be
so many efforts of the mind to defend the body, or at least so many
secondary signs sufficient to express particular passions. In love,
desire, and hope, we raise the head and eyes towards heaven, as if
to implore the good we wish for; we bend the head forward, as if to
hasten, by this approach, the possession of the desired object; and
we extend the arms, and open the hands, in order to embrace and seize
it. On the contrary, in fear, hatred, and horror, we advance the arms
with precipitation, as if to repel the object of our aversion; and in
order to shun it we turn aside the eyes and head, and shrink back.
These movements are so quick that they appear involuntary: but it is by
habit we are deceived, for they are motions which depend on reflection,
and which mark the perfection of the springs of the human body, by the
readiness with which each member obeys the dictates of the will.
As the passions are agitations of the mind, and as most of them have an
affinity to the impressions of the senses, they may be expressed by the
movements of the body, and especially by those of the visage. Of what
passes within we may form a judgment from the external motions of the
body, and can know the actual situation of the soul by inspecting the
changes of the countenance. But as the soul has no form which can have
any relation to that of matter we cannot judge of it by the figure of
the body, or by the features of the countenance. An ill-formed body may
contain an amiable mind; nor is the good or bad disposition of a person
to be determined by the features of the face, these features having no
analogy with the nature of the soul on which any reasonable conjectures
may be founded.
To this kind of prejudice, nevertheless, the ancients were strongly
attached; and in all ages there have been men who have attempted to
form into a science of divination their pretended skill in physiognomy;
but it is evident that this divination can only extend to the situation
of the mind when expressed by the motion of the eyes, visage, and other
parts of the body, and that the form of the nose, the mouth, and other
features, are no more connected with the natural disposition of the
person, than is the largeness or the thickness of the limbs to that of
thought. Shall a man have more genius because he has a better-shaped
nose? Shall he have less wisdom because his eyes are little, and
his mouth is large? It must be acknowledged, therefore, that the
divination of physiognomists is without foundation, and that nothing
can be more chimerical than their pretended observations.
[Illustration:
FIG. 14 FIG. 13
FIG. 15
FIG. 17 FIG. 16]