The Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression: As Connected with the Fine Arts  

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The Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression: As Connected with the Fine Arts (1890) is an essay by the Scottish anatomist Charles Bell. It is a augmented version of Essays on the Anatomy of Expression in Painting (1806), the first treatise on notions of anatomy and physiology of facial expression for painters and illustrators.

In a remarkable passage, Bell claims that the male figure in Laocoön and His Sons could not have produced a roar (clamores horrendos), as Virgil proposed in his poem the Aeneid and must have "suffered in silence".

"that most terrible silence in human conflict, when the outcry of terror or pain is stifled in exertion; for during the struggle with the arms, the chest must be expanded or in the act of rising; and therefore the voice, which consists of the expulsion of the breath by the falling or compression of the chest, is suppressed. The first sound of fear is in drawing, not expelling, the breath."[1]

Bell includes an illustration of the Laocoon marble here[2] where it accompanies a description of bodily pain:

In bodily pain the jaws are fixed, and the teeth grind ; the lips are drawn laterally, the nostrils dilated ; the eyes are largely uncovered and the eyebrows raised ; the face is turgid with blood, and the veins of the temple and forehead distended ; the breath being checked, and the descent of blood from the head impeded by the agony of the chest, the cutaneous muscle of the neck acts strongly, and draws down the angles of the mouth. But when joined to this, the man cries out, the lips are retracted, and the mouth open ; and we find the muscles of his body rigid, straining, struggling. If the pain be excessive, he becomes insensible, and the chest is affected sudden spasms. On recovering consciousness, he is incoherent, till again roused by suffering. In bodily pain conjoined with distress of mind, the eyebrows are knit, while their inner extremities are raised; the pupils are in part concealed by the upper eyelids, and the nostrils are agitated.

Regarding the Laocoon's expression, Bell concludes that "Laocoon suffers in silence", because the sculptor's design was "to represent corporeal exertion, the attitude and struggles of the body and of the arms", an act which would have prevented a roar and permitted nothing more than "a low or hollow groan". (William Schupbach)[3]

Full text[4]

THE


ANATOMY


AND


PHILOSOPHY


OF


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EXPRESSION



AS CONNECTED WITH THE FINE ARTS


BY


SIR CHARLES BELL, K.H


SftirU IBUttion, tnlargetr.


LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET


M.DCCC.XLIV.


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PREFACE.


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These Essays formed the earliest and the latest occupation of the lamented author's leisure hours ;

and they now appear under the disadvantages which must attend a posthumous publication.

It was the habit of the author, in his literary com- positions, to sketch his first ideas as they arose ; and parts of this work were found, evidently intended to be revised

They are faithfully added to the text of


and corrected.


the last edition, where they bear upon the subject.

The following prefatory remarks are from the pen


of the late Professor Bell,* to whom


the warmth of


brotherly affection, the second edition of the work had been inscribed.


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The Essays which are now presented to the public their enlarged form, were originally composed, as the



George Joseph Bell, Professor of the Law of Scotland in the


University of Edinburgh. He died September 23, 1843.


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IV


PREFACE.


author fondlv said in his dedication, " when we studied together before the serious pursuits of life began ;" but were not published till the year 1806, after the author had left Edinburgh and fixed his residence in London.


/


A second edition appeared in 1824; but he resisted every call for a new impression, until he should have had an opportunity of verifying in Italy the principles of criticism in art, by the study of the works of the great masters in painting and sculpture.

With this view he visited the Continent in 1840;

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and on his return he recomposed the whole for a new edition, introducing occasional extracts from his journal, sometimes to enforce the text and sometimes to shew from what authority he drew his conclusions.

In a declining state of health he had taken advantage of a recess in his professorial duties in the University of


Edinburgh


his friends in England. He hoped


in the leisure of the country to give this work a final revisal for the press ; but before he had fulfilled his wishes in this respect, his life was terminated by an access of his illness at Hallow Park, in Worcestershire, on the Sgth of April, 1842.

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In the speculations


of which this work


the result


and in the interesting inquiries to which they led, Sir

' Charles Bell was accustomed to seek relief from the

wearing anxiety which, from his exquisite sensibility to

ever attended the practice of his


hum



an suffering, had





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PREFACE.


V


was to follow


It


profession: but a still greater effect

was from these investigations that he

make those discoveries in the system of the nerves, which


was first led to


con-


are now acknowledged to be the most important tributions of modern times to the science of Physiology.

s time, the nerves, which per


Before Sir Charles Bell


ade


every the minutest portion of our fram


seemed


in the studies of anatomists


a mass of inextricable


fusion and a subj


believed that


of hopeless obscurity; but he


in the works of the Creator there


IS


othing imperfect or unnecessarily complex, and that the

apparent confusion was not beyond the


solution of this


reach of human inquiry. In tracing the causes of move-

n the frame of the body


ments in the countenance and under the influence of passion


or emotion, he engaged


m a destin


very careful inquiry into the ition of the nerves ; and cons(


orign quent


course, and


g'


led him to those fundamental truths, hitherto unperceived



hav


which he, and those who have followed his e revealed to the medical world the beautiful


course.


Sim


phcity of this part of the animal economy


olog


To the phy- be particularly interesting to trace in this


work the steps by which the author was led to the com


prehen


of that most intricate portion of the


system, the class of


tory J views


a


ubi


so difficult, th


which he has named respira-

it it was long before his


acknowledged by the medical profession


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PREFACE.


Meanwhile his labours and his


relieved


bv the variety of his pursuits


He was a true lover of


nature, and to trace the proofs of perfe


and desig


in all the works of the Creator was to him a source


of


new delight


Constantly he had some useful


some


noble purpose in view, whether in following up scientific inquiry, or in enthusiastically pursuing nature


or art.


Those who knew him best, and had


him


in the most trying circumstances of life, were most sen-


sible that there


man whose mind


more


uniformly attuned to grateful happiness


n





CONTENTS.




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PAGE

Introduction.— Comparison of Ancient and Modem Art- Studies of the Italian Masters 1

Essay I. Theory of Beauty in the Countenance— Of the Form

and Proportions of the Head and Face 19

Essay II. Changes from Infancy to Age 45

Of the Skull, as a Protection to the Brain 50

Characteristic Forms of the Lower Animals 53

Characteristic Organs of Man 57

Theories of Ideal Beauty 63

National PecuHarities in the Form of the Head 71

Essay III. Of those Sources of Expression in the Countenance

which cannot be explained on the idea of a

direct Influence of the Mind upon the Features 82

Blushing 95

Essay IV. Of the Muscles of the Face in Man 97

Muscles of the Forehead and Eyebrow 98

Expression of the Human Eye 101

Muscles of the Nostrils 107

Muscles of the Lips and Cheeks 108

Beard n^

Expression in the Lips and Moustaches 116

Essay V. Of the Expression of Passion, illustrated by a Com- parison of the Muscles of the Face in Man and in Animals ; and of the Muscles peculiar to Man, and their eiFects in bestowing Human

Expression 220

Expression in Animals 12I

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The Muscles of Animals 139


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viii CONTENTS.

PAGE

Essay VI. Of Expression in the Human Countenance 142

Laughter 146

Weeping 148

Grief 150

Essay VII. Of Pain 156

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Demoniacs 159

Convulsions 161

Fear 163

Terror 168

Despair 169

Admiration 171

Joy 172

Jealousy 173

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Rage 175

Madness . 179

Death 183

Essay VIII. Of Expression in reference to the Body 189

The Emotions modified by controlling Expression 199

Essay IX. The Study of Anatomy^ as necessary to Design . . . 201

Of the Genius and Studies of Michael Angelo

Buonarotti 204

The Study of Anatomy 210

Essay X, Uses of Anatomy to the Painter 212

Faults into which the Artist may be betrayed in

Studying the Antique 214

or in Drawing from the Academy Figure .... 219 Anatomy^ as conducting to Truth of Expression

and of Character 221

APPENDIX.

Of the Nerves^ by Alexander Shaw 231

Explanation of the Plates 259







ON


EXPRESSION.


INTRODUCTION.


It is not an easy task to reconcile two subjects so far apart in the minds of most readers as anatomy and the fine arts ; but if prejudices, early imbibed, be thrown off, it


be found that there is no science, taken


hensive


compr


sense, more fruitful of instruction, or leading to more interesting subjects of inquiry, than the knowledge of the animal body.

The academies of Europe, instituted for the improve- ment of painting, stop short of the science of anatomy, which is so


well suited to enlarge the mind, and


the eye for observing the forms of


or


if they


enforce the study at all, it is only in its more obvi


ppl


th


fig


of assisting the drawing of the human


But my design in this volume


farther


I


purpose to direct attention to the characteristic forms of man and brutes by an inquiry into the natural functions, with a view to comprehend the rationale of those changes in the countenance and figure which are indicative of passion.

A just feeling in the fine arts is an elegant ment, and capable of cultivation. Drawing is i


acquire


y


many pursuits and useful


Locke has included


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INTRODUCTION.



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amongst the accomplishments hecoming a gentleman, and, we may add, it is much more useful to the artisan.


Good


taste and


xecution in design are necessary to manufac- tures ; and consequently they contribute to the resources of a country,

I am not without hope that a new impulse may be given to the cultivation of the fine arts, by explaining their relation to the natural history of man and animals, and by shewing how a knowledge of outward form, and the accuracy of drawing which is a consequence of it, are related to the interior structure and functions.

Anatomy, in its relation to the arts of design, is, in truth,

the grammar of that language in which they address us. The expressions, attitudes, and movements of the human figure are the characters of this language, adapted to con- vey the effect of historical narration, as well as to shew the working of human passion, and to give the most striking and lively indications of intellectual power and energy. The art of the painter, considered with a view to these

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representations, assumes a high character. Every lesser embellishment and minuteness of detail


interesting


IS


igarded



an artist who has those


more enlarged


views


of h


s profession as foreign to the main design, distracting and hurtful to the grand effect, admired only as accurate imitations, almost appearing to he what they are not.


Th


distinction must be felt, or we shall


never see the grand style in painting receive that en- couragement which results from public feeling and good

taste. The painter must not be satisfied to copy and represent what he sees ; he must cultivate this talent of imitation merely as bestowing those facilities which are to give scope to the exertions of his genius j as the instru- ments and means only which he is to employ for com-




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INTRODUCTION.


3


municating his thoughts, and presenting to others the


of his fancy


by his creative powers alone


that he can become truly a painter j and for these he is to trust to original genius, cultivated and enriched by a con- stant observation of nature. Till he has acquired a poet's eye for nature, and can seize with intuitive quickness the appearances of passion, and all the effects produced upon the body by the operations of the mind, he has not raised himself above the mechanism of his art, nor does he rank with the poet or historian.

It is a happy characteristic of the present times, that a

d more preva-


mere


love of the fine arts is becoming more

lent among the affluent; but still, rich furnit ornamental painting and gilding, usurp the place of art properly so called. The mansion of an English nobleman and that of a Roman of the same rank present a singular contrast. The former exhibits carpets, silk hangings, lamps, mirrors, china, and perhaps books. The palazzo, on the other hand, in its general aspect, may betray antiquity and

yet respect for ancestry retains on its walls the


decay

proofs of former grandeur and taste pictures, each of which would purchase an English villa

LUce of


there hang many


furnish a London mansion


fash


Vulg


all the extravag


ity may seek admittance to the


finery of the one, while princes are gratified by admission


the other


Original genius seems peculiarly necessary to excellence design. Good taste may be acquired by familiarity with


statues and paintings, and by the genious ; but the power of


of the


depends


deep


sources. In reading Vasari, we are struck by the diffi


culties with which the fam



Th


painters had to


•gle


is hardly one of them who had not to combat


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INTRODUCTION.


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parental autliority before obtaining leave to give up his day


painting


surprising that there should be an


gness to permit a youth to dedicate his life


art so little gainful, where


aordinary excellence alone


obtains notice, and hardly ever an adequate reward speak of the higher department of art.

Much has been done at home by the force of ge


I


alon


O


native artists have vindicated us from the

US for the fine arts is a notion which has so


aspersion of Winckelman, that g< stinted in these northern climes, extensively prevailed, as even to have influenced our own


Milton :


" Unless an age too late, or cold Climate, or years, damp my intended wing.


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Winckelman, in his history of ancient art, seems to attribute all to climate j not only the perfection of form of the inhabitants of Greece, but their serenity of mind, sweetness, and love of beauty. Such a theory would imply that the people of Sparta and Athens must have had the same qualities. But when Sparta triumphed, it was in pride and rapacity : neither the general inter- course between nations, nor commerce, nor intellectual nor moral excellence, derived any benefit from her ascend- ancy.* Athens has been the mistress of the world, leaving the examples of the greatest virtues and excellence in phi- losophy, eloquence, poetry, and art j yet she has also left

humiliating instances of tyranny, cruelty, and blood. The history of Greece is the record of incessant wars, where towns were sacked and citizens inhumanly massacred j and in Athens, war was always justified if it promised

misfortune, she was found


advantage.


When tried



i


  • Arnold's " History of Rome.





' I


INTRODUCTION.


5


wanting : during pestilence, every affection was blunted ; and licentiousness abounded to such a degree, tbat history


informs us the people became brutalised.


It


is strange


that Winckelman should give so much to the influence of climate, seeing that where the olive still ripens, in the long summer of Greece, there exists not a vestige of those virtues which were the admiration of the world ; and cen- turies have passed without a poet or philosopher appearing in the country of Homer and Plato.

In the soil and climate of Italy, there have existed together states of society the most dissimilar. The arts and civilisation of Egypt and Phoenicia had taken root among the Etruscans, and the cities of Central Italy had made a great advance in civilisation, and certainly in the arts, when Rome* arose to crush them. Her policy, and the leaning of her most virtuous citizens, were adverse to


  • A more just estimate is now made than formerly of the early

Romans, and of the virtues of the surrounding tribes. (Dr. Arnold's " History of Rome.") The remains discovered in the tombs of Tar- quinii, Tuscania, Argyllae, Veii, and Clusium, leave no doubt of the high advancement of art in these cities, centuries before the founda- tion of Rome — at least of its fabled rise under Romulus. These


• . •


Cities were the adversaries of the early Romans ; and, though subdued, furnished to their masters the elements of government and of civil policy. Rome had conquered the surrounding states, and sought to blot out all memory of them ; when new settlements of Greeks (giving name to the district of Magna Grtecia) again offered to her a more extended field of enterprise, in which the arts of peace were once more subjugated under her iron sway.

If I did not believe that Providence rules in the march of nations, I should say, that the world would have more rapidly advanced in phi- losophy, literature, and art, but for that stern, remorseless people, ob- stinate against instruction. We are biassed in favour of Rome from her language containing the only record of much that, but for her conquests, would have earlier, and with happier influence, spread over the western world.



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INTRODUCTION


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the ar

soften


They feared that whilst they refined, they should


away Koman soldi


those


gged and sterner qualit


of th


which were


hestowing


on


the


m


the


empire of the world. But the old virtues at length de- clined, and the Romans came to covet the luxuries of conquered nations, whom they could not rival in refine- ment or the arts ; so that Rome became the centre and the common receptacle of the spoils of Egypt, Greece, and

Italy.

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The inquiry into the effects of climate were an idle one, if it did not lead to the conviction, that institutions, much more than climate, influence the faculties of man. Indolence steals upon communities as well as individuals. In the same regions, and in the same climate, the in- habitants are at one time overwhelmed in ignorance and superstition, and at another, elevated to the most admired


intellectual


When the energies of a peopl


roused, there is an improvement in the arts of peace, however gloomy and foreboding the struggle may at first

public events does not


appear


The mind excited



subside into indolence. In Athens the struggle for power, and the desire of independence, forced the highest talents

station.* It was during the contests of the


the highest


free states of Italy that the arts revived


Perhap


we should attribute the cultivation of lite


rature and the arts in


Italy


mor


to the smallness of


r

the states than to the forms of their governments, for


of every kind. While in Rome the Pop


an


absolute


g


Venice the nobility had raised


an oligarchic authority on the necks of the peopl


d




  • See Roscoe's introductory chapter to the "Life of Lorenzo


di


Medici




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INTRODUCTION.


7


both were distinguished from the democratic turbulence of Florence.

In the great kingdoms of Modern Europe, princes are surrounded by a dense body of courtiers, political agents, and soldiers, numerous and clamorous in proportion to the


offices of command and pi

are distinguished by excellence

jostled aside, and the prince knows little of men of g far less does h


be bestowed. All who in liberal studies are


think of making them friends


But


in the smaller states of Italy, princes sought the acquaint- ance of men remarkable for their talents, for the cultivation of philosophy, of the language of Greece, or of Ancient Rome, for the improvement of their native Italian, and of


poetry, or of the fine arts ; easily the presence or ab


and it is pleasant to notice how

ence of such men affected the


Amidst the more than barbari


of modern courts.


tainly of


men would be


splendour of the court, magnificence and riches

our own, the exit or entrance of such unmarked.

Perhaps the circumstance that all m ^ formerly conducted in Latin, and the conse°quent necessity for courtiers being acquainted with the learned languages.


g


were


gave a liberal


the men of influence in the several


es, and a disposition to promote hterature and science. Some authors have attributed the genius of the Greeks, and their love of philosophy and art, to the conformation

On this subject But does not


of the brain,— to the form of the skull ! I may have occasion to touch hereafter history determ


the


extirpated people


que



the Roman


The Greeks were -not quests. The skulls of a


» do not change. During all the period of the -Byzantine Empire, between the reigns of Constantino and




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INTRODUCTION.


PalsBologus, luxury, sloth, and efFeminacy prevailed, whilst the people of the West of Europe were rising in moral and intellectual energy, and in the cultivation of the mind.*

During the latter periods of Ancient Rome


fashion arose w


hich


nduced much


the advancement

The


of art, and filled the city with its thousand statues. Romans, like the Greeks, sought a species of immortality

the erection of their husts and statues ; they con-



g up


secrated their friends

temples. These heing g

whom they worshipped, were preserved

personag


their busts in their


in honour of the divinity

even when the


they represented had incurred the odium of the people, and when their statues placed in public


cast down. This desire of obtamm


the busts of illus


ment explains the reason of the multitude of those

are chiefly in mar-


found collected in the Vatican


they


ble ; for the statues and busts in bronze and other metals, tempted the cupidity of men in the middle ages, and

We are struck, too, with the number


melted down


of the busts of celebrated men in propor of princes, which Visconti beheves to have been


those


the desire which, in the better ag


both of Greece and


Rome, prevailed among private citizens to have them copied, as appropriate ornaments for their libraries,

porticos, and gardens.

The remains of antiquity in Italy, the presence, though


in ruins, of temples, statues.


pha


altars, and re-


lievos, account for the earlv revival of art in that country


^1


  • See Prichard's " Physical History of Man." He justly controverts


the idea of Blumenbach.


t On this subject, see the Preface to Visconti's " Iconographie.


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INTRODUCTION.


9


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These must have been the studies of Donatello * and Ghiberti, as afterwards of Buonarotti ; for sculpture led the way to painting. Our countrymen, pursuing their tudies there, are placed under similar influences, and give proof that it is neither genius nor devotion to the imitative arts which is wanting in the north. But the time is past when the people knelt down before the works of a sculp- tor's hands ; when the Amphictyons, the council of all Greece, gave him solemn thanks, and assigned him a dwelling at the public expense in every city ! t

It is in vain that we dream of equalling the great works of antiquity ; they were raised under tyranny and false religions. We must hope for excellence, in a dif- ferent condition, as the fruit of a religion of love, joy, and peace. If the arts of design bear no relation to that which has the greatest influence on mankind j if


  • If all the great works of Grecian art had been at once disclosed, it

might not have produced the happy effect of the successive exhumation of the splendid works of antiquity; the excitement or, as Cicognara has expressed it, ^' un certo fermento," kept up by the contest of princes for these works of art, gave importance to all who sought to imitate them, and raised them in the estimation of even the most vulgar minds. The progress in the history of art seems to have been — First, the esta- blishment of new families; then, the erection of splendid palaces and the necessity or convenience of digging for materials in the foundation of ancient buildings ; next, the exhumation of fine statues, and the emulation thence arising; lastly, the desire of having professors and universities arose, and this took place at a time when the pontiffs were banished from Rome,

t Tiraboschi refers to an ancient chronicle regarding the Dominican church of Reggio, erected in 1233, for an example of the enthusiasm under which great edifices w^ere built, and where all grades of society wrought as common labourers, like emmets in an ant- hill. Tarn parvi, quam magni, tam nobiles, quam pedites, tarn rustic!, quam cives, ferebant lapides, sablonem, et caleinam, supra dorsum eorum .... et beatus ille qui plus portare poterat," &c,

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INTRODUCTION.


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they stand related neithe of history, nor to the pro


el


b


the records


xress of empire, — they must be

associated with ancient times;

d with us, nothing more than a handmaid to domestic


ever.


dead


ornament and individual refinement and


Our artists should be brought to consider the changed


No one in these modern times, however

de of mankind, is exalted,

the


frame of society

much he mav deserve th

as they would desire to see the proficient in art.



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madden themselves by the contemplation of tiquity, v/hich leads to disappointment and repining age.


The last


I had with Flaxman, whose g


better estimated abroad than at home, was whilst the


old man was elevated o: studio (Anglice, a shed)



block of marble


his


Ay


j>


says he, '* we shall see


hat is thought of these things two hundred years hence


Y


but thev will h


the


d of these thing


eotyp


not in marble. Printing banished sculpt


d no man now, or hei 11. like Fabius Maximu


addr


es


g the peopl


Scipio, point to the


ofh


Without cherishing vain regrets, th


a source


of


iltivated among us ; and


infinite dehght in art, even as c

we may hold the remains of antiquity as supei


mo


del


Gods and goddesses we shall not again see in


marble, but the human figure in its perfection we certainly may. The Greeks gave prizes for excelling beauty. Among them a youth might be celebrated for the perfection of his evebrow j and the proportions of an Aspasia were trans- ferred to the statue of a goddess. The forms of strength

of the victor in the games were sci-

it was for wrest-


and the proportions


fically noted


d


lin


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g, or pitch


ded, whether the discus.


Here, th


were


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INTRODUCTION.


11



Studies for the sculptor, and a public to judge of the per

fection of his naked figure,


k


O


connoisseurs never see


the


or, if they do, it is


demy fi


probably some hired artisan, developed by the labour of h


dth h


nequally


pale and shiver


and offer


g


none of those fine carnations which mon xposure gives to the body, as we see in the face


nor having that elegant freedom of hmb, which youth


under a


g


climate and the various exercises of th


gymnasium, acquired



For the improvement of art, there


be a feel


»


the public in correspondence with the artist's aspirations.!


In visiting the Sistine Chapel


I


d to the celebrated


ompanied me, "How could Michael Angelo


venture to do such thing


\^


such


man to arise


among us, he would meet with ridicule, or live in neglect


  • So conscious were some of the Grecian states of the advantages

derived from exercise, that they denied them to their slaves.

t I cannot withhold the following instance of public feeling in

England


When X^KJLKX X^l^XL, K.xv^..^


the figures of the


-.-ing.anu . rriicii x^w^va ^.^-.x. ^.^..^.^•. .« _- ^ ^

beautiful frieze from the Parthenon of Athens, and while they renmmed in his court-yard in Piccadilly, he proposed a great treat to his friends. Pie had entertained an ingenious notion that, by exposing the natural figures of some of our modern athletics in contrast with the marbles, the perfection of the antique would be felt, and that we should see that^the sculptors of the best time of Greece did not deviate from nature. The noblemen and gentlemen whom he conceived would take an interest in this display were invited. He had the boxers, the choice men of what is termed - the fancy." They stripped and sparred before the ancient statues, and for one instant it was a very fine exhibition ; but no sooner was the bulky form of Jackson, no longer young, opposed to the fine elastic figure of the champion of all England, than a cry arose, and

and ancient art and the M-orks of Phidias were forgotten. Such I fear is the feeling of even the better part of the English public. Let not the young sculptor be too sanguine of support.


"the


??


ring" pressed forward


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12


INTRODUCTION.



J I


But my friend said, " Do you not remember the impa- tience of Julius to see these paintings


durinof


their


exe-


cution? For Michael Angelo being unwilling to let his unfinished work be seen, the Pope threatened to break down the whole scaffolding on which the painting was


raised." It was by such enthusiasm, and the consequent encouragement of art, that Julius has justly participated in the fame of those who made his days an era in the

world.

It is, perhaps, favourable to painting, that it has not to

contend with the excellence of antiquity. In visiting the


schools of Florence and Bologna, and the galleries of


the Vatican, we can trace the successive works of the early painters and the progress of modern painting. In the commencement, the subjects are such as could only be suggested by monkish superstition and enthusiasm. They are the representations of the wasted figures of anchorites, or if of women, they are suffering martyrdom. Even the Saviour, represented so full of beauty in after-time, is


painted from the dead of the lazar-house or hospital, purpose must have been to subdue the mind.*


The With


better times the influence of the Church was more


happily exercised, and finer feelings prevailed.


The sub-


1 1 ^




  • In the old library in Basle there is a remarkable painting of Christ

by the younger Holbein. The painter must have been where anatomy was to be learned ; for I am much mistaken if he has not painted from the dead body in an hospital. It is horribly true. " There is here the true colour of the dead body : (the Italian painters generally paint the dead of an ivory white). Here is the rigid, stringy appearance of the muscles about the knee. The w^ounds where the nails have penetrated, the hands and feet are dark red, with extravasation round the wound, and the hand itself of the livid colour of mortification. The eyes, too, shew from whence he drew ; the eyelids are open, the pupil raised, and a little turned out. Holbein born here in 1489." — Note from Journal.


I



-T-




»-


J


INTRODUCTION.


13



jects were from the Script


and noble efforts were


made, attesting a deep feeling of every condition of hu-


manity. What we see in the churches of Italy, and almost in every church, is the representation of innocence and tenderness in the Madonna and Child, and in the young St. John. Contrasted with the truth, and beauty, and innocence of the Virgin, there is the mature beauty

In the dead Christ, in the swooning of the Mother of the Saviour, and in the Marys, there is the utmost scope painter. We see there, also, the grave character of mature years in the Prophets and Evangelists, and the grandeur

of expression in Moses. In short, we have the whole range of human character and expression, from the divine


and abandonment of the Magdalen.


for the genius of the


loveliness and purity of the Infant S


of ang


d


■\


the strength, fierceness, and brutality of th


cutioners. There, also, we may


the effort made, the


g


of all, in imitation of the ancients, to infuse


divinity into the human beauty of that countenance, which,

y, was superior to passion, and


though not without feelin in which benevolence was human infirmity. These


be represented unclouded by


the subj


to


forth


the exertions of genius, while the rewards were the riches


of the church, and


the


public exhibition


th


deep feelings of the people. Thus did


later period tend to restore what it had almost destroyed


on the overthrow of Pagan idolatry


For the


born


zeal of the first Christians s(

ment of the antique religion,

destroying the mosaics and pictures, effacing- everv me


ught to efface every monu throwing down the statues


every


morial, and razing the ancient temples, or converting them

into Christian churches.

The Church of Rome has favoured the arts in a


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14


INTRODUCTION.


J




remarkable manner. The ceremonial and decorations of the altar have been contrived with great felicity. He is insensible to beauty who, being a painter, does not there catch ideas of light and shade, and colour. The Gothic or rich Roman architecture, the carved skreen, the


statues softened



a


subdued


te>


ht, form altogether a


The effects of light and colour are


The painted glass of the high


magnificent scene, not matters of accident window represents to the superficial observer no more than the rich garments of the figures painted there. But the combination of colours evinces science ; the yellows and greens, in due proportion with the crimsons and blues, throw beams of an autumnal tint among the shafts and pillars, and colour the volumes of rising in- cense. The officials of the altar, the priests in rich vest- ments, borrowed from the Levites under the old law, are somewhat removed from the spectator and obscured the smoke of the incense.* The young men flinging

the silver censers, in

the volumes of incense rise, give the effect of a tableau,



themselves beautiful, and making


defying imitation


?


for where can there be such a com-


bination to the eye, joined to the emotions inspired by the pealing organ, the deep chant, and the response


of the youthful choristers, whose voices seem to come from the vaulted roof?


There is something too in the


  • If the painter requires to know these vestments, he will find an

account of them in Eustace's " Classical Tour through Italy," vol. ii. Antiquity characterises every thing in the Roman Church; and to the English traveller this affords additional interest. The ceremonies are ancient ; the language of the service is that which prevailed at the period of the introduction of Christianity ; the vestments are Jewish

at all events very ancient and majestic. Like every thing else in painting, the artist should know the origin and uses of the drapery, or his lines and folds will be unmeaning, — (See Preface to Vasari.)







^


INTRODUCTION.


15


— .


belief that tlie chant of the psalms is the early Jewish


measure.


It

Reforo jecting monial


was


ircely possible, during the str to keep the middle course ;


'g


of th


e


d


m re-


the


pt and superstiti


P


of its cere-


al, to retain the better part of the Roman Church.

r

Enthusiasm would have the recesses of each man's breast to be the only sanctuary; that, even while on earth, and burdened with the weakness, and subject to the influences, of an earth-born creature, he should attain that state of purity and holiness, when, as in the Apocalypse, there is " no temple." Philosophy came to countenance the po- verty and the meanness of our places of public worship. Climate, it was inferred, influenced the genius of a people and, therefore, their government, and mode of worship.


The offices of religion in hot climates were said to require


some


ble object before the eyes, and hence the ve-


neration paid to statues and pain


whilst in the


colder climes we were to substitute internal contemplation and the exercise of reason for passion.*

We trust, or hope, that in the breasts of those who fill the family pew, in these northern churches, there may be more genuine devotion j but to appearance all is pale and cold : while to the subject we are now considering, at least, no aid is aff'orded. What a contrast is offered to the eye of the painter by the figures seen in the churches of the


Roman Catholic cc those in our own !


of the south, as compared with There are seen men in the remote


aisles


or


chapels, cast down in prayer, and abandoned


  • Some such thoughts must have come early into my mind, in trying

my pencil on the ruins of an ancient abbey ; and when, afterwards within the kirk, I looked to the rafters, as of a barn, and saw the swallows flying about during divine service.




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16


INTRODUCTION


their feelings with that unrestrained expression which belongs to the Italian from his infancy : and even the beggars who creep about the porches of the churches are like nothing we see nearer home. In them we recognise the figures familiar to us in the paintings of the great masters. In visiting the church of the Annunziata in Genoa, I found a beggar lying in my way, the precise figure of the lame man in the cartoon of Raphael. He lay extended at full length upon the steps, crawling with the aid of a short crutch, on which he rested with both his hands. In Roman Catholic countries the church-door is open, and a heavy curtain excludes the light and heat ; and there lie about those figures in rags, singularly picturesque.


In short, the priests in


th


rich habiliments, stu-


diously the o


ged for effect


the costume of the monks of


J


der of St. Francis and the Capuchin


the


men


and women from the country, and the mendicants prostrate in the churches, and in circumstances as to light and shade, and colour, nowhere else to be seen, — have been,

r

and are, the studies of the Italian painters.


Again, in passin


from th


g


of Rome to th


country and villages around, we cannot doubt where Ra- phael and Dominichino found their studies and prettiest

r

models. The holyday dress of the young women in the


IS


the and


same with that which we see in their


as


each village has something distin


and characteristic, and still picturesque in its


villages

painting

guishing

costume, much is left for good taste to select and

combine.

When a man of genius, nurtured in his art at Rome^

where every thing conspires to make him value his occu- pations, returns home to comparative neglect, he is not to be envied. He wants sympathy and associates. David


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1,


INTRODUCTION.


17


Allan, the Scottisli Hogarth,* in a letter to Gi milton, whom he had left in Rome, laments the


Ha


of


g models, and the defective sensibility of his coun-


I


trymen. He says, nance like that of


! rarely see in this country a c( Franciscan or an Italian begg


full of character, so useful to the study of history painting


But, he adds, we have


and with the assistance of


models and casts from the Greek statues, much


may be accomplished


  • See his beautiful edition of the " Gentle Shepherd." While a

child, I remember him as a kind and somewhat facetious old gentleman, but chiefly because he gave me drawings to copy and called me " Brother Brush."


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OF THE PERMANENT FORM OF THE HEAD AND FACE, IN

CONTRADISTINCTION TO EXPRESSION.


Much has been written, and gracefully and agreeably written, on the sources of Beauty ; yet I cannot help


thinking that, by losing sight of nature, and what may


be justly called the philosophy of the subject, the right principle has not been attained.

Beauty of countenance may be defined in words, as well as demonstrated in art.

A face may be beautiful in sleep, and a statue without expression may be highly beautiful. On the other hand,

face the most ordinary.

the


expression may g


charm


Hence it appears that our inquiry divides itself


permanent form of the head and face the features, or the expression.


d the motion of


But it will be said, there is expression in the sleeping


fi


&


or m


the


Is it not rather that


these the capacity for expression? that our minds are active in imagining what may be the motions of these fea-


tures when awake or animated


Thus


ipeak of


expressive face before we have seen a movement g cheerful, or any indication in the features of what prevails


in the heart. Avoiding


mei


distinction in words, let


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20


FORM OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


US consider first, Why a certain proportion and form of face is beautiful, and conveys the notion of capacity of expression ; and, secondly, the movements or the actual expression of emotion. I believe that it is the confusion between the capacity of expression, and the actual indica- tion of thought, which is the cause of the extraordinary difficulty in which the subject is involved, and which has made it be called a mystery : La beaute est un des plus g7'ands mystdres de la nature,


A countenance may


be distinguished by being ex-


pressive of thought 5 that is, it may indicate the possession of the intellectual powers. It is manly, it is human ; and

A,

yet not a motion is seen to shew what feeling or senti- ment prevails. On the other liand, there may be a move- ment of the features, and the quality of thought,


af


fection, love, joy, sorrow, gratitude, or sympathy with suf


fering


■J

mmediately declared


A countenance which


may


in ordinary conditions, has nothing remarkable, become beautiful in expression. It is expression which raises affection, which dwells pleasantly or painfully on


the memory


When we look forward to the meeting with


those we love, it is the illuminated face we hurry to meet


and that


r ■

who bave lost a friend but must acknowledg


it is


the


expression, more than the per


manent form, which is painfully dear to them.

It is a prevailing opinion that beauty of countenance consists in the capacity of expression, and in the harmony

- . '

of the features consenting to that expression.* The author



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  • Great names may be quoted — Plato, Cicero, and St. Augustin,


down to our own professors.


a


Et ut corporis est qusedam apta


■^


figura membrorutn, cum coloris quadam suavitate, eaque dicitur pul- chritudo: Sic in animo opinionum judiciorumque sequabilitas, et con- stantia, cum firmitate quadam et stabilitate pulchritude



4



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FORM OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


21


of the " Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste "

positive beauty to the human


denies


any


original or


countenance.


Those who have professedly written on the antique say, that, to arrive at the perfection of the ancient statue, the artist must avoid what is human, and aim at the divine.* But we speak of what stands materially before


us, to be seen, touched, and measured.


With what divine


essence is the comparison to be made? When the artist models his clay, he must have recourse to some abstract idea of perfection in his own mind j whence has he drawn his idea of perfection ? This brings us to the right path in the inquiry : the idea of representing divinity is palpably absurd ; we know nothing of form but from the contemplation of man.

The only interpretation of divinity in the human figure, as represented by the ancient sculptors, is, that the artists avoided individuality; that they studied to keep free of resemblance to any individual; giving no indica- tion of the spirit, or of the sentiments or affections ; ceiving that all these movements destroy the unity of the features, and are foreign to beauty in the abstract.

In proceeding to define beauty, all that the writers on art have been able to affirm is, that it is the reverse of


con-


deformity.


Albert Durer so expresses himself.


If we


xoc^imr-Cicero. Burton, in the Objects of Love, quotes thus : « Pulchritudo est perfeetio compositi, ex congruente ordine, mensura et

ratione parti um consurgens."

  • " Se la figura era huraana, vi facevano tutto quello, que appartiene

alia proprieta, e qualita dell' uomo. Se poi era divina, esse tralasciavano la qualita umane e sceglievano unicamente le divine. -Meng^' Again, Winckelman, « La beaut§ supreme reside en Dieu. L xdee de la beaute humaine se perfectionne a raison de sa conformite et de son harmonie


avec FEtre Supreme," &c.


Winckelman, Histoire


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FORM OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


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intend the representation of beauty, then let us mark de- formity, and teach ourselves to avoid it. The more remote from deformity, the nearer the approach to beauty. So Mengs : " La hellezza e Vopposito della hruttezza" Leonardo da Vinci, attributed much to comparison.


searched for ugliness


If he saw an uncommon


He

-if


it were a


of expression, — he would follow it, and contrive to look at the individual in all aspects. He would pursue a ci


riosity of this kind for a whol


day, until he was able to go home and draw it.



We


hav


here the practical


of the theory, which is


to study the deformities, in order to learn to avoid them ; and certainly the effect was admirable, since we know, as his biographer has written, that his painting of beauty raised love in all beholders.t


n


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  • " Piglio tanto gusto nel dipingere cose bizzarre et alterate, che

s'egli s'imbatteva in qualche villano che con viso strano et alquanto fuor del ordinario, dasse un poco nel ridiculo invaghito dalla bizzarria dell'ob- bietto, I'haverebbe sequitato un giorno intiero, fin a tanto c'havendone una perfetta idea, ritornato a casa lo disegnava come se I'havesse havuto


presente


?>


VasarL


-j- This great painter ascribed much importance to contrast in paint- ing, bringing extremes together, — cKil brutto sia vicina al bello^ et il vecchio al giovane^ et il dehole al forte ; and such appears, on many occasions, to have been the principle which directed the old masters, " The statue of Venus may stand alone ; but not so the painting of the goddess by Titian, — there are two hideous old women introduced


for contrast. — The Florentine Gallery. We may take a further illus- tration from the finest picture in Italy —


the Archangel Michael sub-


duing Satan, which is in the convent of the Capuchins in Rome, painted by Guido. The beauty of the angel is perfect; the face is undisturbed by passion. It conveys to us with how little effort the superior nature subdues the monster who lies howling, and on which he puts his feet. The expansion of the wings is grand; and the manner in which the drapery encircles him indicates the motion of descent, — that he has alighted I We have all the contrast between a face convulsed by bad passion, and the serenity and beauty of virtue." — Notes from Journal.



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FORM OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


Q3


If a painter entertains the idea that there is some undefined beauty, distinct from nature, which is in his

mind, his works will want that variety which is


own


m


nature, and we shall see in his paintings the same

We are informed


countenance continually reproduced

that Raphael, in painting the head of Galatea, found


beauty deserving to be his model; he is reported to have said, that there is nothing so rare as perfect

beauty


m woman


and that he substituted for nature



his own fancy



th


a certain idea inspired mistake : painters have nothi has been put there. There engage ourselves from material thmg sphere of intellectual ideas," and least


This is a


heads but what


no power in us " to dis


and

of a


what


gards man


I


the Palazzo Farnesina, there are frescoes



Raphael and his scholars, demonstrating to me


the


abled him to that he first


nature of those studies which at length ei

compose, not to copy, the beautiful Galatea :

drew from what he saw, and finally avoided imperfections,

and combined excellencies.*

We shall arrive at a better understanding of this subject, by inquiring into the peculiar form and beauty of the antique.


  • "Palazzo Farnesina. Saw the Frescoes of Raphael. Some, finished


by his scholars from his outline


only one finished by himself.


Wh


most admire is the beauty and variety of his female heads, especially the different manner in which he has bound up the hair and let it flow about the neck and shoulders ; and yet he may have found all this, selecting from what may be seen in the streets. Here is the Galatea I"— iV^ofe from JoiirnaL



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24


OF THE PERMANENT FORM OF THE HEAD, AND THE

PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


Pleased as all are with the variety in the human coun- tenance, and desirous of discovering why, in the antique statue, that is beautiful, which is not found in nature, we •seek for some means of more accurate survey, some rule by which we may measure proportions.


The scientific principle is deducible from this.


that


the outward forms result from the degree of developement of the contained organs. The most obvious plan, and that which has been most generally adopted, of examining the


proportions, is



a comparison of the size of the head


with that of the face ; understanding by the head, the brain-case, as containing the organ of intellect; and by the face, the seat of the collected organs of the senses.

But we are not prompted, naturally, to institute this comparison, or estimate the dimensions of the whole head. Both nature and custom teach us, every moment,

to scan the features ; and to look there for what is to ani- mate, to charm, or to grieve us. Every scheme by which it shall be proposed to elicit the reasons of our feelings of admiration, love, or disgust, by measuring the comparative areas of the head and face, will fail.

Nor will that comparison enable us to mark the grada- tions in the heads of animals ; because the peculiarities in the skulls of brutes either result from, or are connected with, the developement of particular organs. Those organs


have relation to the


of the animal, to its means


of procuring nourishment, the pursuit of its prey, or the mode of avoiding its enemies j and the difference in the relative size of their instruments of prehension, or in that of their ears, eyes, or organs of smelling, will entirely


»





PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


25


disturb the line of demarcation between the^brain-case and


the face


The vast mass of the brain in man, must have effect on the'conformation of the whole head : it causes


the upperipart of the face to be thrown forward


th


once


distinguishing him from the brute, and marking


periority of intellect. But when we consider the condition of the lower animals, we must take into our calculation,


properties, but the instincts of brutes


and


the measurement of the face of the brain, fails us altogethe


as compared with the


I must speak with respect of this


g.


of mea


suring the face against the head, since it has been enter tained by John Hunter, Camper, Blumenbach, and Cuvier I shall, however, direct what I have to say on the subjec principally to the works of Camper.

If we are to study the form of the human head, seen ii profile, we must obtain a line, which shall be permanent on which we can raise a perpendicular, and so commence £ more accurate survey than by the unassisted eye.



If we present a skull in profile, or draw it thus with the pen, we may begin by tracing a horizontal line, which shall pass through the foramen of the ear and the alveoli or sockets of the front or incisor teeth of the upper jaw. On





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PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


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this we can raise an oblique line, touching the sockets of the teeth and the most prominent point of the forehead, or of the frontal bone. This is the facial line of Camper ;


and by its obliquity it will be, to a certain degree, the measure of the relative proportion of the areas or spaces occupied by the brain and the face. Another line may be drawn, which will divide the brain-case from the face ; commencing at the foramen of the ear, it will touch the upper margin of the orbit.



On looking to these illustrations of Albert Durer, it is


pparent th


he


tained and practised this mode of


distinguishing the forms of the head.

But the idea of the facial line was suggested to Camper on examining certain antique gems. He observed that, in imitating these, the artists failed, from neglecting to throw forward the head, so as to make the line which touched the forehead and teeth nearly perpendicular. For by this line he thought that he had got the key to the whole difficulty, as marking the distinctions in the natural head, compared




•it^-





PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


27


with the antiq


He conceived that wh


profile


he drew a


that the forehead and lips touched the


dicular line, he obtained the charact


of


perpen- antique



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head


I


If, on the other hand, he let this line fall back, and


accommodated the outline of the head to it, he diminished


the beauty and perfection of the form


For exampl


if


the Ime formed an angle of seventy, it became the head of Negro J if declining backwards still farther, bv the


dep


of the brain


sa\'


sixty, it declared the


face of an orang-outang '; and so, down to the dog

To a certain extent, this ingenious mode will be found

Had the Count Caylus been guided by it in his


useful


great work on Antiquities, his figures, in many


would have been better drawn


But even in respect to the



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28


PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


state of the human brain, this line does not fully answer the purpose. In the skulls of certain nations the depression of the forehead is so great, that the line drawn from the alveolar processes to the frontal sinus, does not even touch

the frontal bone.

Camper's position is this, — that as, by the diminution of the cranium and the further inclination of the facial line, the head is depressed in character to that of the Negro ;


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SO, by raising and throwing the skull upwards and for- wards, until the facial line reaches the perpendicular, as in the preceding page, the great object is attained of resemblance to the antique head.

But his own figures contradict his conclusion j for,



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PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


29


even


although he has thrown the head forward in them, beyond the perpendicular of the facial line, yet, as he has

preserved the features of common nature, we refuse to


I


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I


acknowledge their similarity to the beautiful forms of the antique marbles. It is true, that, by advancing the forehead, it is raised ; the face is shortened, and the eye brought to the centre of the head. But with all this, there is much wanting, — that which measurement or a mere line will not shew us.

The truth is, that we are more moved by the features than bv the form of the whole head. Unless there be a


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30


PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


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conformity in every feature to the general shape of the head, throwing the forehead forward on the face produces deformity;* and the question returns with full force:


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How is it that we are led to concede that the antique head of the Apollo or of the Jupiter is beautiful, when the facial line makes a hundred degrees with the horizontal line? In other words, How do we admit that to be beautiful which is not natural ? Simply for the same reason that if we discover a broken portion of an antique, a nose, or a chin, of marble, we can say, without deliberation, this must have belonged to a work of antiquity ; which proves that the character is distinguishable in every part, each feature, as well as in the whole head.


m


We must assume a new principle, and it is this


that


  • I have here sketched the profile of a poor begging Negro in con-

trast with the head of M. Agrippa, in which the artist has dignified the character on the principle stated by Camper; but, it is here apparent that the manly dignity results from the character of each feature, even more than from the facial line. It is seen in the eye, in the nose, mouth, and chin ; each of which are in as much contrast with those of the Negro, as is the shape of the whole head.


m


•*



4



I



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-^


PROPORTIONS OF THE HEAD AND FACE.


31





^


n



i


^ ^


in the face there is a character of nohleness observable, depending on the developement of certain organs which indicate the prevalence of the higher qualities allied to thought, and therefore human. A great mistake has pre- vailed in supposing that the expansion of some organs in the face of man, marks a participation in the character of the brute : that the fully developed nose indicates the grovelling propensities, and the extended mouth, the fero- city, of the lower animals. Let us correct this misconcep- tion by considering the properties or uses of the mouth. It is for feeding certainly, but it is also for speech. Extend

project the teeth, widen the mouth, and a


the


jaws


carnivorous propensity is declared ; but concentrate the mouth, give to the chin fulness and roundness, and due form to the lips ; shew through them the quality of elo- quence, of intelligence, and of human sentiments, — and the nobleness is enhanced, which was only in part indicated,

by the projection of the forehead. Now, look to the antique head and say, is the mouth for masticating, or for speech and expression of sentiment ? So of the nose. Here, even Cuvier mistook the principle. The nose on a man's face has nothing in common with the snout of a beast. The prominence of the nose, and of the lower part of the fore- head, and the developement of the cavities in the centre of the face, ai e all concerned in the voice.


This


IS ascer-


tained by the manliness of voice coming with the full de- velopement of these parts.* Nothing sensual is indicated by the form of the human nose j although, by depressing it and


joining it to the lip, — the condition of the brute, - the satyr, the idea of something sensual is conveyed.


as m


A


comparison


of the eve


and the ear brings out the


principle more distinctly. Enlarge the orbit, magnify the

  • These cavities do not exist in the child, and only attain their full

size in the adult.


I I


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32


FORM AND PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL,


eyes ; let them be full, clear, piercing, full of fire, still they


combine with the animated human countenance.


They


imply a capacity consistent with human thought, a vivacity and intelligence partaking of mind. But large pendulous ears, or projecting and sharp ears, belong to the satyr ; for man is not to be perpetually watchful, or to be startled and alarmed by every noise.

If we consider for a moment what is the great mark of distinction between man and brutes, we shall perceive that it is SPEECH : for it corresponds to his exalted intellectual and moral endowments. Speech implies certain inward

propensities, a conformity of internal organs, and a peculi- arity of nervous distribution ; but it also implies a par-

ticular outward character or physiognomy, a peculiar form of the nostrils, jaws, mouth, and lips. These latter are the visihle signs of this high endowment.


Then, again, as to sentiment.


laughter and


weep-


ing, and sympathy with those in pleasure or in pain, characterise human heings, and are indicated by the same organs. Hence, the capacity of expression in the nostril and mouth, are peculiar attributes of the human countenance.


SOME FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE FORM AND PROPOR- TIONS OF THE SKULL, AND BONES OF THE FACE.

Let US return with more just principles to the study of the lines marking the regions of the face and head.

A line drawn from the tube of the ear to the evebrow, or prominence of the frontal bone, and one from the

r

same point to the chin, include the face in a triangle. If another line be drawn to the lowest point of the

the lower


nose,


we divide the face into two regions :


occupied by the masticating apparatus of teeth, jaws, and their muscles. If this alone be enlarged, the eifect is an







3



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•^


AND BONES OF THE FACE.


33


encroachment on the nose and orhit, and the face loses all

dignity and form. The eye is especially diminutive, and

r

the nose misshapen.


•^



i t

f


It will he found that the


J


pond with the


general skeleton j very tall men, especially if gig


have large j


and comparatively small heads


In


1



f


1



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-I


ricketty deformity of the hones, the character of the face is exhibited, as in this sketch, by a defect in the size of


E



34


FORM AND PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL,


the jaw-bones, which have yielded to the action of their muscles. The qualities of mind, evinced in


may redeem any de


of deformity


b


m expression, the peculiarity


of the countenance here, is that of rickets ; the prominence of the forehead arises merely from the acci


mulation of


bone, and not from a superior developement of the brain.

!r opportunity of observing that the


We have a furth


projection of the facial line, unaccompanied with due conformity of features, only adds to the deformity.*

Blumenbach, dissatisfied with the facial line of Camper, contrived a different mode of distinguishing the capacities of the head and face. He selected two bones of the skull ; the frontal bone cranium or brain-


as


representing the developement of the e J and the superior maxillary bone, as the seat of the organs of sense, which are considered as

opposite to the intellectual properties. He placed the



^




^


  • "In visiting the Villa Albani, among the indescribable beauties

which are every where around us, the party was amused with my atten- tion being fixed upon the statue of a deformed person. I was indeed struck with the truth of the representation : the manner in which the ribs are distorted, the head sunk upon the breast, and the exaggeration of certain muscles, consequent upon displacement of the bones. I was thinking of the accurate conception which the ancients had of human anatomy, and the precision with which they copied from nature.

" This is said to be a statue of Esop, and on referring to Visconti, where he treats of the fabulist, I see that his engraving of the statue, beautiful as it is, is deficient in what appeared to me a due correspondence in the countenance, and the distortion of the body. On comparing it with a sketch I had made, I find that I have marked more distinctly the position of the head, the projection of the chin, and the fulness of the forehead characteristic of that defect in the face which arises from the jaw yielding to the action of the muscles during the age when the bones are soft,

" Visconti discovers in the face a spirituality quite in contrast with that expression which the ancients give to buflfoons, and dwarfs, whose physiognomy they always make ridiculous." — Note from Journal.







i


I

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AND BONES OF THE FACE.


35


>


,j—


vertex of the skull towards him, so as to look over the hrow or forehead ; and then he noted how much the hones of the cheek, the nose, and the upper jaw projected beyond tha level of the frontal bone. This method he used as better suited to mark the peculiarities of the national head ; and to be employed in the skull rather than in the living head. It may be useful, but it is manifestly imperfect. The breadth of the face may be noted in this manner ; but it will better serve the purpose of the artist to draw the face in front, and to apply the principle already explained, in the profile.


It was observed in the preced


pages, that the


different plans of measuring the head might assist in


pointing


the


the form of th


e


head


but


that for distinguishing what is acknowledged by all to be beautiful in the antique, none of them proceeded on a just principle. A circumstance to which Professor Gibson, of Philadelphia, then my pupil, first drew my attention, con- vinced me that the methods which physiologists had prac-


tised were verj' of an Europea]


Drrect. He placed before me the skull d of a Negro ; and resting them both


the condyles of the


pital bone, as the head is sup


ported on the spine, it appeared that the European fell forward, and the African backward. This seemed re- markable, when both physiologists and physiognomists were describing the greater comparative size of the face,


was


as the grand peculiarity of the African head. I desirous of investigating this matter further.

The difficulty of finding a line by which to measure the inclination of the face would be removed, if we were to take the head as fairly balanced on the articulating surfaces of the atlas, or first bone of the spine ; but in the



I



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36


FORM AND PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL,


the


living body, it will not be easy to fix tbe head equipoise. Something may be attained by comparing the general position of the head, in the European and the

but nothing approaching to the accuracy which observation pretending to science, requires.

To find a line which should not vary, but enable us to measure with correctness the angles both of the facial line, and of the line intermediate between the


Negro J


cranium


and the face, I poised the skull upon a perpendicular rod, by passing the point through the foramen magnum


mto the interior of the skull


the cranium rested


the point


that the upper part of

shifting the skull



till the rod was exactly betwixt the condyles of the occi- pital bone, and in the centre of the foramen magnum, I procured the line which was wanted.

I now divided into degrees, or equal parts, the great convexity of the cranium, from the setting on of the nose on the fore part, to the margin of the foramen magnum behind ; and having so prepared several skulls for adjust- ment on the rod, I began to make my observations.

In comparing the European skull with that of the


Neg


the point of the rod in the latter, touched th


inside of the cranium several degrees nearer to the bones of the face, or more forward on the cranium, than the former.

On measuring the angle of the facial line of Camper with this perpendicular line, in a European skull the most perfect in form of any I possessed, I found the difference

to be ten degrees.

The cause of the difference being much greater between the European and African skull, in this way of measuring.


than



Camp



is, that here the facial line ha


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AN1> BONES OF THE FACE.


37


•^


reference to the whole form and proportion of the head ; whereas in Camper's measurement it marks only the inclination of the face.



\



^ 1



We have now an explanation of the peculiarity in the position of the Negro's head, the upward inclination of the face, and the falling hack of the occiput. And here too we have it proved, that it is an error to suppose the Negro head to be remarkable in character on account of any increase in the proportion of the bones of the face, to the


1




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38


FORM AND PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL,


this


Negro bore


a


cranium ; for the area of the bones of the face is in way shewn to bear a less proportion to that of the bones of the cranium, in the Negro than in the European head.

My next object of inquiry was to find on what the distinctive character of the Negro face really depends. For to the eye the Negro face appears larger, while in fact it is proved to be smaller than the European, considered in relation to the cranium. I took off the lower jaw-bones from both the European and the Negro skull ; and then, in order to poise the skulls on the perpendicular rod, it was required to move both forward on the point of the

rod. But it was found necessary to shift the Negro skull considerably farther forward than the European : the point of the rod thus indicating by its removal backward on the scale, that the lower jaw of the greater proportion to the skull than that of the European. The facial line was of course thrown farther backwards in both skulls on taking away the jaw ; but the jaw of the Negro being larger than that of the European, the in- clination backward was greater in the Negro skull. Pro- ceeding to take away the upper jaws, and then the whole bones of the face, the index on the surface of the cranium shewed that the jaw-bones of the Negro bore a much greater proportion to the head and the other bones of the face, than those of the European skull j and that the apparent magnitude of the bones of the Negro face resulted from the size and form of the jaw-bones alone, while the upper bones of the face, and indeed all that had not relation to the teeth and mastication, were less than those of the European skull.

In proceeding with these experiments, I changed the


manner


of noting the


the inclination of the




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AND BONES OF THE FACE.


39


cranium ; because I perceived that


index, marked on



the convexity of the skull, varied according to the form of the head. Preserving the principle, I measured the in- clination of the cranium by an angle formed by the per- pendicular line (a b) and a line (a c) intermediate between the cranium and the face. On poising the cranium on the rod, after taking away all the bones of the face, it appeared that the Negro cranium had the line elevated nearly ten degrees more than the European. I also found, on comparing the cranium of a child with that of an adult, that it was deficient in the relative proportions of weight and capacity on the forepart — that the line was depressed

the size of the forehead increasing in proportion to the advance in maturity.

On looking attentively to these skulls, it was evident that there were distinctions to be observed in the form of the cranium itself, independently of the proportions between the face and cranium; that these varieties de- pended on the form of the brain, and proceeded (I think we may conclude) from the more or less complete deve- lopement of the organ of the mind. In the infant there is a deficiency of weight, and a less ample area in the higher and anterior part of the brain-case. I say less ample, only m comparison with that which we may estimate as the standard, viz. the adult European. In the Negro, besides the greater weakness and lightness in the bones of the whole skull, there is a remarkable deficiency of length in the head forward, producing a narrow and depressed forehead; whereas a large capacious forehead is allowed to be the least equivocal mark of perfection in the head.

w '

Having been brought by this more accurate method of



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40


FORM AND PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL,


measuring the skull, to observe distinctions not only in the cranium and bones of the face, but in the face itself, and in the cranium independently of the face, I wished, in the


pi


consider more




the varieties in the


form of the face, and the cause of the secret influence of certain forms on our judgment of beauty.

From the examination of the heads, both of men and


brutes there


, and of the skulls of a variety of animals, I think is reason to conclude, that the external character

in the relative proportions of the parts of


more


O


the face to each other, than has been admitted.

first consideration we are apt to say, that in the beautiful

form of the human countenance the likeness of the brute


is inadmissible ; that where


we see a resemblance to


or m But


the brute in the form of the whole countenance, the particular features, it implies degradation, this is true to a limited extent only: and how far it •extends, the examination of the inform us.


uses of the parts will


We have therefore again to inquire, which are the nobler features of the face, and what belong to the inferior functions.


In examining the mouth and


of animals we shall


be convinced that the form of the bones


is adapted to


the necessities of the creature, independently altogether

sense of taste j that in man, whose jaw-bones are


of the


sm


th


those of other animals, this sense is most


perfect, most exquisite in degree, and suited to the greatest


riety


its exercise. T


Qg to the skulls of the that the one is fitted for


horse and the lion, we shall see powerful mastication, and the other for tearing and lacer- ating, not for cutting or grinding ; and if we examine the




1

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If



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AND BONES OF THE FACE.


41


form of the teeth more narrowly, we shall perceive that there must necessarily be a form of the jaw corresponding


these


In the lion, the tiger, and


\


animals, much of the character of the face lies in the depth of the jaw forward ; because this depth is necessary for the socketing of the long canine teeth. When, on the contrary, the jaw is deep and strong towards the back part, it is for the firm socketing of the grinding teeth, and is characteristic of the form of the head of the horse, and of all graminivorous animals. There is also a peculiar form of the head and distinct expression, in the rodentia, and such animals as have to pierce shells for their food, as the monkeys, which is produced by their cutting teeth being placed at right angles in their jaws, for the action of gnawing.

Now it certainly is by that unconscious operation of the fancy, that associating power which has a constant in- fluence on our opinions, that a human face with pro- tuberant jaws seems degraded to the brutal character; that the projection of the incisor teeth especially gives a remarkable expression of meanness ; while we see that the enlargement of the canine teeth, as in the demons of the

^

Last Judgment of Michael Angelo, produces an air of savageness and ferocity.*

When we consider further the muscles appropriated to the motions of the jaws, we may comprehend why it should be thought a deformity when the zygoma (the arch of bone on the temple) is remarkably prominent. It is en- larged to permit the massy temporal muscle by which the jaw is closed to act freely, and its form corresponds with the size of the jaw, and with the canine teeth. This will


T»Vl


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h



  • Fairy Queen, Book IV. cant. vii. 5.


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42


FORM AND PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL


be very evident if we place the human skull beside the skull of the horse, the lion, the bull, the tiger, the sheep,

the dog, &c.

It has already been said that a comparison of the area of the bones of the head and face in different animals will not inform us of the relative perfection


of the brain


its exercise.


But still we may recognise, in the form of the


and bill, the beast or bird of rapine


jaws

and extent of the


the


the breadth


tral cavities of the face, the seat of


■gan of smelling, tribes which hunt th


prey


m


the prominent eye placed more laterally, timid animals which are the objects of the chase j and in the large socket and great eyeball, the character of such as prowl by


ght


With these variations in the perfection of the


d senses, there are, no doubt, corresponding changes m the brain, and therefore, in the instincts and habits of

h

animals .

In obtaining a line which shews with precision the

bearings of all the parts of the head, I think that I have reduced this subject to greater simplicity ; and have been


able to make observations more correctly than



the


methods hitherto


I have shewn that the relative


capacity of the cranium or brain-case to that of the face, as containing the organs of the senses, is insufficient to mark


the scale of intellect, or to



the distinctions of


character in the human head :— That the perfection of th human head greatly consists in the increase of the cranium


forward cranium


the full and capacious forehead


and that the


of the Neo-ro, when compared with the perfect


cranium of a European, has less capacity at the fore-part



J -

  • In comparing the skulls of men with those of brutes, e. g


the


chimpanzee, it cannot be just to measure the proportions of the cranium

behind the foramen of the occipital bone ; for that foramen must corre-



f


14 « 



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3









AND BONES OF THE FACE.


43


It has been shewn that in the Negro the whole of the face


IS


tually


sm


instead of being g


when


com


pared with the brain


but that the face, are lar


than that of the European


J


contrasted with the other parts of the The conclusion to which these views


lead


is, that some principle must be sought for, not yet acknowledged, which shall apply not onlv to the form of


the whole head, b


principl


I


also to the individual parts


This


imagine, is to be found in the form of the


face as bearing relation to its various functions ; nc of the senses merely, but of the parts contained attached to the face — the organs of mastication, the


those


m or


to


6


of speech, and the organs of expression.

And here it is to be observed, that it is not necessarily a deformity that a feature resembles that of a lower animal. In our secret thoughts the form has a reference to the func-

r

If the function be allied to intellect, or is connected


tion.


with mind


the


eye


pecially


then there is no


incompatibility with the human


though the


organ should bear a resemblance to the same


brut


pai


a


e


whereas, if


has a relation to the meaner


cessities of animal life, as the jaws, or the teeth, the effect


IS


patible, and


igether


th human


physiognomy.

If we take the antique as the model of beauty in the human head, we shall confess that a prominent cheek-bone, or a jaw-hone large and square behind, is a defect ; that


the


great depth of face, produced by the length of the


teeth, is also a deformity ; that the projecting jaws are still worse J and, above all, that the monkey-like protrusion of

spond with the spine on which the head rests ; and the position of the animal, monkey, or quadruped, must determine the connexion of the spine and skull.

F


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FORM AND PROPORTIONS OF THE SKULL, ETC.


ay


from the dignity of human


the fore teeth takes av

expression.

When the principles that sway our secret thoughts are discovered, and when by a comparison of the parts of the head anatomically, a secure foundation is laid for the

nature, the lines of Camper and


accurate observation of nature, Blumenbach will aid us in the examination of character ; but these methods of measurement are, of themselves, imperfect, and, being founded on a mistaken principle, they lead to unsatisfactory conclusions.


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ESSAY


II.


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CHANGES FROM INFANCY TO AGE.


OF THE SKULL, AS PRO-


TECTING THE BRAIN. OF THE CHARACTERS OF BRUTES NATIONAL PECULIARITIES.



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The bones, and the parts which cover them, or are contained within them, grow, as it were, by one impulse, so that they correspond together j the fleshy lips of the Negro




M.





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46


CHANGES FROM INFANCY TO AGE.


are suited to his large protuberant teeth. Among our-


s


elves, a square jaw-b


attended b\


thickness and


heaviness of the cheeks and lips ; and if the canine teeth, the strong corner teeth, be unusually long and prominent, there is not only a coarseness and heaviness of a different kind, but a certain irascibility of expression. In women and young persons \


ith large


incisor teeth, there is a


pretty fulness and ripeness of the lips.

The whole character of the face of a child results from the fleshy parts and integuments being calculated, if I may use such a term, for the support of larger bones than they


possess in early


The features are provided for the


growth and developement of the b


- %-


of the face, and


hence the fulness, roundness, and chubbiness of infancy


Th


are some


oth


pie : the head is of


peculiarities in infancy, elongated and oval form


For


greatest length being in the direction from the forehead to the occiput; the forehead is full, but flat at the eye- brows, and the whole part which contains the brain is re- latively large ; the jaw-bones, and the other bones of the face, are diminutive ; the neck is small compared with the size of the head, owing to the peculiar projection of the back

of the head (or occiput).


Compare th


of the infant's head with that of


the boy, and the eifect of the expansion of the bones of the face in bestowing the characteristic form of youth, will be apparent. The face in the youth is lengthened, and is


round than that of the infant. The brow, h


not


■ged in propor


to the increase of the lo


part of the face ; though the form is so far changed that a prominent ridge is now developed along the course of the

eye-brows.

This ridge (the supra-orbitary) is caused by a cavity


i


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CHANGES FROM INFANCY TO AGE.


47



which is formed in this part of the head by the layers of the frontal bone (or os frontis). It is the enlargement of this cavity (called the frontal sinus) that makes the prominence over the eyes which is peculiar to manhood.



^



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f -■


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From, infancy to adolescence, there is a great increase the size of the upper jaw-bone (the superior maxillary


bone)


This is chiefly owing to its containing within


another cavity (the maxillary


)


which, like the


frontal sinus, becomes greatly developed with advancing

And there are several new characters given to the

the enlargement of the upper jaw-bone.



years.

countenance

which may be regarded as the

face.


of the bones of the


It has the effect of raising and lengthening the bones of the nose, and of making the cheek-bones (or ossa malse) project farther.*


  • The cavities in the frontal and maxillary bones communicate with

the nose, and assist in giving the sonorous, manly tones to the voice. They are very small in women as they are in children.





\


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48



CHANCES FROM INFANCY TO AGE.


^


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J



The growtli of the large teeth in the adult, contrasted with the child, adds to the depth, as well as length, of both the upper and lower jaw-hones, and the whole face becomes consequently longer. Another necessary eifect is, that the angle of the lower jaw recedes more towards the ear, and acquires more distinctness. Thus it is, that by the growth of the teeth and of those processes of the bones which sup- port and fix them (the alveolar processes), and by the


1


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CHANGES FROM INFANCY TO AGE.


49



  • ^l


i


i


lengtliening and receding of the angle of the jaw, a manly squareness of the chin and lower part of the face takes the place of the fulness and roundness of childhood.

This view of the skull at different periods of life sug- gests another ohservation, relating to the characters of age. When the teeth fall out in old age, the sockets which grow up along with them waste away. Accordingly, while the depth of the lower jaw-bone, from the hinge to the angle, is undiminished, and its length towards the chin


the same, there remains nothin


the part where the


teeth were implanted but the narrow base of the jaw The effect on the countenance is perceived in this sketch


The j


are allowed to approach nearer to each other


at the fore-part


the


g


of the lower jaw comes of


course more forward, and resembles that of the child, were it not that the chin projects : the chin and the nose approximate, the lips fall in, the mouth is too small for the tongue, and the speech is inarticulate.

Before leaving this subject, we may point out a defect in the sculptures of Fiammingo, who has been justly cele- brated for his designs of boys. In his heads of children, it is obvious that he intended to present us with an ideal form, instead of a strict copy from nature. But it will be remarked, that the eyes are too deeply set in his figures. He has made the prominences over


orbitary ridges), which


peculiar


the orbits (the supra- advanced


more


age, distinct features in the child, and has thus produced an unnatural appearance. The only character of the boy which he has kept true to nature is the largeness of the head compared with the face, the fulness of the cheeks, and the falling in of the mouth and chin. In exaggerating the natural peculiarities, the artist has strictly imitated the antique. But it may remain a question, how far the prin-


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50


OF THE SKULL, AS PROTECTING THE BRAIN



whicli


SO happy in its effect of heightening the


beauty of the adult countenance, is in designing the forms of childhood


necessary or allowable


OF THE SKULL, AS PROTECTING THE BRAIN.


In touching even slightly on this subject we must attend to certain principles. It is to be understood, that a shock or vibration passing through the brain proves more

A

skull stronger, thicker, and more solid than that which we possess would not have given


destructive than a wound penetrating its substance.


greater security


it


would have vibrated to a


g


deg


cussion


arising


even


from trifling- bio


ee, and the con-

vs on the head, would have effectually benumbed the faculties.

A child bears knocks which would be fatal in old age.

This is owing to the skull being thin, uniform in texture,

and elastic, in childhood; and to the brain being of a


pondin


The brain is at this age soft


This


a degree that would be unnatural in mature years, resiliency of the skull, and yielding quality of the brain, explain how the child is uninjured by blows, which would be attended with fatal concussion in after-life. But there is also a provision in adults for moderating the effects

ion as the brain acquires


of such accidents


In


propor


firmness during growth, a gradual change takes pi


the structure of the bones of the head


cranium is not simply


the protecting


t>


thened


thickened ; the flat bones which


it is not merely


d the brain


are


split into layers, an external and an internal one. These layers have each a different density, and a softer substance


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OF THE SKULL, AS PROTECTING THE BRAIN.


51


than either is interposed between them j the effect of which is, to interrupt that vibration which would other- wise ring around the skull, and reach every molecule of

the brain.


I have elsewhere* shewn that


brutes, as in man


the processes and joinings of the skull are formed in re- lation to the forces to which the head is to be exposed ; and that thev vary according to the habits or mode of


existence of the animal


The


fangs of the


nivorous animal, and the still more powerful teeth of the


hy


adapted for breaking the hardest bones


im


The horns


planted in sockets of corresponding strength, of the bull, the antlers of the stag, are rooted in bones not only capable of supporting their weight, but of receiving the shocks to which such instruments expose the brain; and the firmness of the sutures in the crania of these animals demonstrates the precision with which every thing

is set in just proportion.

A remark is here suggested by these considerations. The provisions which we have been noticing in the human


head are not designed to g


absolute


ity ag


violence, but to balance duly the chances of life ; leaving us still under the conviction that pain and death follow


mj ury ; fear of


so


th


our experience of bodily sufferin


in


and


b


whilst they


the life, lay th


foundation of important moral qualities in our nature.

Let us now direct our attention especially to the forms of the skull. The back of the head is more exposed than the forehead: we defend the front with our arms and


hands : not so the back, as in falling backwards


Th


  • Paley's "Natural Theology," with illustrative notes by Henry

Lord Brougham and Sir Charles Bell.


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OF THE SKULL, AS PROTECTING THE BRAIN.


is, accordingly, a very marked distinction in the strength of the occipital bone and that of the frontal hone. The prominence felt at the back part of the head is the

!S, which


r

centre of certain groinings, or arched


dg


gthen the bone within. We say groinings, for there


is nothing more resembling the


arches


groin


g


of


under-ground story of a building than these


projecti


on the interior of the


put. In front, the


skull forms, on the whole, a lighter and more dehcate shell than behind • yet it is not less adapted to protect the brain. The projecting parts of the forehead, which the anatomist calls the eminentice frontales, are, undoubt- edly, most exposed ; but they are, at the same time, the strongest points of the bone, for here the outer and inner


surfaces are not parallel bony substance in


the


there tables.


IS an accumulation of


g


them increased


thickness


It has already been seen that the prominences over the eyebrows, characteristic of the mature or manly forehead, have no relation to the form of the brain af this


part


they are merely th


walls of the frontal


smuses.


g


which, it has been stated, belong prin

voice ; yet they, and the ridge;


of


cipally to the o which project towards the temples, are a safeguard to the brain. Those latter- raised arches, called the temporal ridges of the frontal bone, consist of dense and hard bone, as obviously designed for adding strength, as is an edging of brass, in carpentry, or a piece of steel let into a horse- shoe. Imagine a man falling sidewise, and pitching on the shoulder and side of the head, — he strikes precisely on that point which is the most convex, the most dense, the thickest, and best protected.

Altogether, independently of phrenology, it has of old time been acknowledged, that fulness of the forehead.


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CHARACTERISTIC FORMS OF THE LOWER ANIMALS.


58


I



1


combined with those forms which have been noticed, is an indication of intellectual capacity ; and, as we have shewn, of human character and beauty. All physiologists have agreed in this view ; whilst they are equally confident in affirming that anatomy affords no foundation for mapping

\ ■

the cranium into minute subdivisions or regions. As nature, by covering the head, has intimated her intention that we shall not there scan our neighbours' capacities, she has given us the universal language of expression. Man is gregarious ; he looks for sympathy : it is not good for him to be alone ; he solicits an unity of sentiment ; and the language which expresses it is in the face.


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THE CHARACTERISTIC FORMS OF THE LOWER ANIMALS.


Notwithstanding the high authorities in favour of the facial line, we have ventured to say that it is not adapted to give a measure of the capacity or area of the head in

ates ; because the peculiarities


with the face, in br


of face in them depend on their instincts and propensities

are for the most part indicated by the greater de


These


velopement of some one or more of the organs common to them all, and the subserviency of others, not by the mass


of the brain. The head of the horse


with


an


example ; it is an herbivorous or graminivorous animal, and hence the peculiarities of its teeth. Now, it is in accord- ance with the teeth that the whole character of its form is derived. The incisor teeth or nippers project, that the head may reach the ground for feeding ; and they have a peculiar structure, that they may be preserved sharp. The lips also conform to this object; they are not only suited to cover the teeth, but to project and gather the food.


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CHARACTERISTIC FORMS OF THE LOWER ANIMALS.


Again, the grinders are large, strong, deeply socketed, and


adapted to bear tlie


ponding to the


of the food for a term of tural life of the animal.


years corre

While the mouth is small, the head is Ion

muscles which operate on the lower


o


and the


g


jaw, to close it, the lateral motions necessary for grinding


and


proportionably larg


therefore the depth of the head


behind, and the length and narrowness forwards principal characteristics of the horse.*


the


Another peculiarity of the horse's head is seen in the

nostril. He does not breathe through


of his


Here


the mouth, but only through the nose, ing relation of parts, which, though remote in place, are united in function. The nostril is indicative of the state of the lungs : and a large dilateable nostril has descended from the Arabian breed, and marks the capacity of

" wind."

It is agreeable to see the young kid in the first hours of existence, impelled by its instincts to mount the cliffs and


summits of the hills ; or to behold the goat perched high


on the scarped rock, his beard tossed by the wind, and


  • Cuvier has been at the pains of measuring the facial line in a great

variety of animals, beginning with the orang-outang and ending with the horse. Let us take the pug-dog, in which the angle is fixed at 35°, and compare it with the horse at 23° ; who will not perceive that the difference of the facial angles depends on the extension of the jaws of the horse, necessarily arising from the form and number of the teeth, or in other words, from his mode of feeding?

Veterinary surgeons and naturalists have found it difficult to assign a use for certain cavities at the back part of the horse's head called the Eustachian cells. To me they do not appear to be subservient either to neighing or to the organ of hearing, as supposed; but they are placed in this situation, and filled with air, to occupy the large space intervening between the sides of the jaws, without materially increasing the weight. All jockeys know the defect in a horse of a heavy head and long neck.


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CHARACTERISTIC FORMS OF THE LOWER ANIMALS.


55


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browsing fearlessly. These animals, the sheep, and horned cattle generally, congregate, and make a circle to oppose an enemy j and present for their defence a combined front. Their eyes are placed differently from those of the horse ; and the nostril wants the expansion necessary for maintaining a continued flight. The most curious adapta- tion of the form of an herbivorous animal to its mode of


feeding


IS seen m


th


giraffe


The whole frame of the


creature is formed with the view of enabling it to reach

F

its food, which is not the herbage, but the leaves of trees.


The skull is smalL and


ht, even in comparison with


that of the horse, that it is like a thing of tongue and the lips protrude, to


and the


head


to catch the branches over

The large prominent eyes, and the limbs formed for flight, betoken the timidity of the creature.

If we compare a carnivorous animal, as the lion, with a horned animal, as the bull, it will be readily perceived that it is from the teeth or the horns that the whole character of the head results. The peculiarity of the skull of the lion, or the tiger, consists chiefly in the breadth of the face, caused by the large zygomatic processes, which are formed of great size to give room to the strong muscles


that close the


and it is visible also in the shortness of


the muzzle, and the depth of the face in front, where the canine teeth are situated ; for these must be deeply sock- eted in the jaws to sustain the strength of the fangs, and the powerful efforts of the animal. The grinding teeth are small, and formed so as to cut like scis is here no lateral play of the jaws, as in


for there


grinding


the


canine


teeth


lapp


and preventing that motion


The muscles which close th


J


are of tremendou


power


commensurate with the length and strength


of


those fangs, which are for holding or tearing the prey


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56


CHARACTERISTIC FORMS OF THE LOWER ANIMALS.


See,


again.


the head of the hoar, how all the parts


i-i


as with horn


hut he runs


i


I


hang, as it were, together, to produce its characteristic form : the snout and the great tusks are for gruhhing up

r

roots ; yet, from his strength, he is a formidahle animal, for he will turn and rend. This very term implies a great deal ; he does not tear with his teeth, he does not butty

aight forward, and with his projecting lateral tusk ploughs up the flesh. The whole strength of his hody and neck is concentrated to the use of these formidahle instruments. Look to the antique hoar of the Florentine Gallery. The head rises high and projects hehind, to give strong attachment to the powerful muscles constituting his very peculiarly shaped neck, which is large, thick, inflexible, and suited, when he rushes for- wards, to convey the impulse to the head, and finally to the tusks.*

It ought to he a pleasing study to the artist to found his designs on an accurate knowledge of the structure and functions of animals. This pursuit unites his art with the liheral sciences of the naturalist and the comparative ana- tomist. And if he be a lover of the antique, he must have observed that, in the better ages of the arts, the

vinof a true and natural


culpt


were


remarkable for g


character in their representations of brutes. The know- ledge of animal form is the only guide to the right con- ception of the perfection and beauty of the antique.



  • Bridgewater Treatise on the Human Hand, 4th edition, p. 400


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FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLE, THAT BEAUTY IN THE HUMAN FORM HAS RELATION TO THE CHARAC- TERISTIC ORGANS OF MAN.


What, then, gives nobleness and grace to the human figure, and how is deformity to be avoided? In the


statues of antiquity we


seo


o


that the artists had a perfect


knowledge of the frame, and could represent it in all its natural beauty. But in many of these remains there is something beyond an exact copy of nature, — something which, as we have seen, has been called divine. Now the

real


difficulty of explaining why such deviations from


nature should inspire us with admiration, has forced in- quirers into vague surmises and


comparisons


For


ex-


am pi


they have applied the principles of harmony in


music to the beauty of the human figure.

When the animal frame is surveyed as a whole, or as composed of parts more or less common to all living

taking the philosophical view of the

m is seen to pervade the animal


wh


ubject, an uniform pi


kingdom. Not only may the skeleton be traced from a shell up to the complex mechanism in man,* but every organ or individual part, when viewed comparatively, will be found to undergo a similar developement ;


from the


simpl


of those creatures which enioy the lowest


kind of sensibility, to that which exists in the human

frame. If, according to this view, we examine the head, and follow the course of developement of the brain, as the part which occupies the cranium, ai


organs


and then that of the of the senses, which together constitute the face,


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  • See the author's " Bridgewater Treatise on the Human Hand,"

which may be taken as an introduction to the present subject.


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58


CHARACTERISTIC ORGANS OF MAN.


[id include the apparatus of speech, we shall distinguish

hat is peculiar to man. We shall learn what forms of

which he conclusion


parts bear relation to those endowments



holds his acknowledged superiority : and th may be arrived at, that by magnifying, in works of art, what is peculiarly characteristic of man, we may ennoble his countenance, and, without being strictly natural, attain what is better.

No faculties of the mind have been bestowed without the field for their exercise ; men's capacities, their thoughts, and their affections, have their counterparts, or objects, to excite or to gratify them. There are beings superior to ourselves, and in a condition of existence different from ourselves, and the mind delights in con- templating them. Even in our enj(


obj the


our


untry


enjoyment of beautiful beyond them. We walk into the woods and wilds, in love with nature


thoughts


and delighting in solitude. But if we examine our minds, we shall find that we people these solitudes j how- ever we may believe that it is nature and inanimate creation which please us, all is referable to, and con- centres in, some reflexion of the voice and features of human kindred.

In admiring the finer works of antiquity, it is admitted that the forms which w^e regard as models of perfection are unlike what has existed in nature : that no living head ever had the facial line of the Jupiter, the Apollo, the Mercury, or the Venus reject the theory


Having found reasons to


3ory of Camper, the question returns. How is that beautiful which is not natural ?

Let us take the head of Mercury, which is simply beautiful, and the head of a satyr, both antique ; and


!i


contemplate them


In the Mercury, there


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CHARACTERISTIC ORGANS OF MAN


59


IS a


combination of forms and general proportions of


the head and face, never seen m living


all the varieties of


man


yet is the whole and each particular feature


perfectly beautiful every proportion i pressed ; the eyes nose flattened to


In turning to the eversed: the forehead



we


find


mall, and a little obliq


and de- ue ; the


the


pper lip ; the mouth protubei


the ears large, tipped, and sharp of the whole goatish and savage ;


human


and the expression

and what there is of

is lively and humorous, but common

and base. ^ Now the principle which has been followed

giving beauty to the head of Mercury is obvious

the human countenance.


expres


m

h€


Whatever is peculiar distinguishing it from the brute, is enhanced


Not only


is the forehead expanded and projecting, and the facial line more perpendicular, but every feature is modelled on the


same principl


the ear is small and round ; th


eminently human, and unlike that of the beast ; the mouth the teeth, and lips, are not such as belong to the brute


they the mer


instruments of mastication, but of


peech and human expression


So of


every par


take


them individually, or as a whole j whatever would lead the resemblance of the brute is omitted or diminished.


The principle is furth


ded


It


not in th


proportions between the face and the brain-case alone that the contrast is perceived, but in the quality or function of


each organ.


We have adverted to the theory of C


that as hunger and the animal passions govern brutes, and the parts which chiefly minister to them in the face


are the


■g


of smell and of taste, the


sual de


velopement of the nose and the mouth degrades or bruti- fies the human countenance. But we remarked, in regard to this, that the nose is not elevated in man, to increase


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60


CHARACTERISTIC ORGANS OF MAN.


tbe organ of smelling : it belongs to the voice, to human voice and speech. And so must we consider the different functions of the mouth. In brutes, it is for prehension, tearing, and mastication j in man, its more distinguish- able office is speech and expression. Model the lips for this, for eloquence and the expression of the softer passions, and it becomes beautiful j extend the teeth, and make the lips a mere covering for them, and it is brutal, at variance with human physiognomy and detracting from whatever is agreeable in the face.

Our principle will apply with equal force to the motions of the face as to the permanent form. Human sentiments prevailing in the expression of a face, will always make it agreeable or lovely. Expression is even of more conse-

up features otherwise heavy j it will make us forget all but the quality of the mind* As the natural tones of the voice are understood and felt by all, so it is with the movements of the counte- nance : on these we are continually intent, and the mind ever insensibly exercised.

Whether the views which I have here advocated were ever announced by the ancients I know not. But I think it is abundantly evident that their artists acted upon them. They went beyond mere imitation. They advanced to a higher study, that what was indicative of the higher and purer qualities, impassioned thought, and this they exaggerated. Their divinities were of human mould ; but still, as not visibly present, they were creations of their imagination.*


quence than shape : it will light


of combining excellencies ; selecting


  • In high art, it appears to have been the rule of the sculptor to

divest the form of expression. In the Apollo, there is such a stillness of features, that every one follows his fancy, and thinks he sees in the statne what is really in his own mind. In the Venus, the form is exquisite and




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CHARACTERISTIC ORGANS OF MAN.


61


The explanation which I offer differs from what is commonly given by writers on art. They call the *' ideal head" that which does not represent individual beauty, but collective beauties, a selection and adaptation of beauti- ful parts taken from a variety of individuals; and combined in one representation.* I place the superiority of the antique on higher ground, on the more extended study of

nature, of brutes as well as of man.

That the true animal character was fully understood by the ancient artists there is sufficient proof. Is there any thing finer than the wolf of the Capitol, or the antique boar, or the dogs in the entrance of the Florentine Gallery,


or the horses of the Elgin marbles ? It was this study


of pure nature that enabled them to undertake such compositions of surprising beauty, as we see in their


the face perfect, but there is no expression there: it has no human soft-


ness, nothing to love. Mrs.


saw a young gentleman, she thinks an


American, kissing the tips of his fingers to the statue, as he left the Tribune (the apartment dedicated to the goddess), but for this the statue gives no license ; it would not have been unbecoming had he so saluted the Melpomene, for there we see the loveliness which lurks in expression. The authoress of an agreeable work on Rome is disturbed because "she has seen women, real living women, almost as beautiful as the Venus, and far more interesting." We should find more of her way of thinking, if all would confess their first impressions. This, however, cannot detract from the perfection of a statue, w^hich has been admired in all times, as now. It only points to the purity of the design, the high aim of the artist, and his successful execution. Had the Helen of Zeuxis been preserved, I can imagine that it would have been of a more feminine and seducing beauty than the Venus. But we must bear in mind that which I have taken notice of in the text, that all individuality was studiously avoided by the ancient sculptors, in the representation of divinity; they maintained the beauty of form and proportion, but without expression, which, in their system, belonged exclusively to

humanity.

  • " Nous dirons done, que la combinaison des parties pent former un

tout, est ce qu'on appelle I'ideal."— Winckelman.


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62


CHARACTERISTIC ORGANS OF MAN.


Fauns, Satyrs, Centaurs, and masks, where the peculiarities of brutes are engrafted on the human form. And it may he remarked that they did not merely give to their sylvan deities hair and cloven feet ; they bestowed on them a certain consistency of character very difficult of execution, but necessary to reconcile the eye to the absurdity ; a goatish expression of countenance, or a merry festive air, all in conformity with the hair and the hoofs, their embrowned skin, and the savage wildness of their life.*

What, then, was more natural or obvious, in studying the effect of these forms and characters when transferred to the human countenance, than that the artist should per- ceive that the proportions which distinguish them should be avoided, or even reversed, in representing the dignified and characteristic form of man.

Winckelman would make it appear that the artists of Greece studied the forms of the lower animals for a different purpose: — to join the character of the brute

with that of man, in order to embellish him, and to bestow on him new and preternatural properties. And he refers to the heads of Jupiter and of Hercules as instances. *'


In


the former," he says, " we may discover the great eyes, and imposing front, and the mane of the lion ; and in the latter, the head and neck of the bull.

I must entertain doubts of this theory, and of the effect


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  • The difficulty of giving these combinations of the human and brute

character, is shewn in the attempts of modern artists to imitate the ancients in their representations of Fauns and sylvan boys. They do not seem to know how to knit their joints, and their faces are too sober and


wise.


" faber imus et ungues


Exprimet, et molles imitabitur 9sre capillos, Infelix operis summa, quia ponere totum Nesciet."


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THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY.


63


of the


exagg


sration ; — in the head of Jupiter I have not felt its influence. But, if the theory he true, it goes to establish the fact, that the artists studied the form of brutes in comparison with that of man ; and I hold it

inevitable consequence of such a comparison, that


be


they should discover that the perfect


of the human


form was to be attained, by avoiding what was character- istic of the inferior animals, and increasing the proportions of those features which belong to man.

I shall not deny ingenuity to the theory of Hogarth, or usefulness to that proposed by Sir Joshua Reynolds. But there is danger to the modern artist, if he is led to conceive that he can bestow beauty by following some fancied curve or gradation of outline. Sir Joshua held that beauty is the medium, or centre, of the various forms of individuals : that every species of animal has a fixed and determinate form, towards which nature is continually inclining, like lines terminating in a centre, or pendulums vibrating in difiorent directions over a single point : as all these lines cut the centre, while only one passes through any other point, so he conceived that perfect beauty is oftener pro- duced than any one kind of deformity. This ingenious idea is well suited to the portrait-painter, who will not be a favourite unless he knows how to soften the features and preserve the likeness. But there is this fatal objection to it; that, as in the antique, the artists deviated from nature, the pendulum would never reach the centre.

It is happy for philosophy, science, history, poetry, and


eloq


that the Greeks were a superior people, and


happy for our subject that they were an eminently beau


tiful people


The artists of Greece certainly did not


follow a vague line of beauty. They rather imitated some


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64


THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY.


acknowledged beautiful form of age or sex.


They


even


combined the beauty of both sexes, as in the young Bacchus


more decidedly in the Hermaphrodite With them, the highest effort of ar


present


man deified racters of n£


as it were, purified from the grosser cha re. This they did, as we have already seen


by exaggerating whatever is proper to the human form


by increasing what g


dignity, and bestowing features


capable and prone to the expression of the finer emotions representing them, either as still and imperturbed, or s indicating a superiority to the things of this lower world. In painting, the representation of the Deity is always


distressing failure


If


man


j>


and


dwelt among


present Him who " became " be the highest effort of art.


how is the Creator to be represented? Michael Angelo painted the Deity boldly, and with the expression of the indignant wrath of man. Raphael represents the Creator plunging into chaos * and separating the elements. But on viewing these paintings, we are brought to feel the insuf- ficiency of the art, and to think of the artist to the exclusion of all sublime contemplations which the subject


should


inspire


Yet it is foolish


to call such attempts impiety, since no other idea is presented than that which is in- culcated from our infancy. Our expressions in words are at variance with our just conception of Divine Intelligence, and our tongue as imperfect as the pencil of the painter.


The one solitary expr


in the Script


descript


of the person of God, is studiously obscure, and the


accompaniments of His presence, not the the Almighty, are described.


of


  • In the Gallery of Raphael, in the Vatican.



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THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY


65


The sentiments of Plato, Cicero, and Seneca, are


brought


hear on this subject of beauty and ideal per


fection. Yet


fortunate that


have the works of


the


sculpt


before us, to preserve us from the


Cicero has given us his coi •* And such an ideal person


influence of vague theories.

ception of a perfect orator.

he says, «' may be the object of imitation ; but those who

imitate can only approach the model according to the

talents which nature has given them. No man can possess

all the qualities, or attain to the whole perfection of the


model: he must


some


pect be deficient


His


knowledge and capacity of research, his acquaintance with human character, his insinuating or commanding language, or his eloquent appeal to the heart, his countenance and expression, his voice, manner, gesture, cannot be all


equally balanced so as to constitute the perfect orator.; And he illustrates his position by the example of Phidias who, when he made the statue of Jupiter and Minerva, took no individual for his model, but had an idea of

perfection in his own mind.*

Here I conceive is the source and the authority for all which has been written on this view of the subject. The


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In the following quotation, Brutus has asked Cicero what con-


stitutes excellence in oratory


He answers, that no man has been


perfect; that there is an ideal perfection which we should attempt to attain, nor resign the effort because to accomplish all is impossible ; just as there is nothing beautiful which may not in imagination be surpassed:

" Sed ego sic statuo, nihil esse in uUo genere tarn pulchrura, quo non pulchrius id sit, unde illud, ut ex ore aliquo, quasi imago, exprimatur, quod neque oculis, neque auribus, neque ullo sensu percipi potest; cogi- tatione tantum et mente complectimur. Itaque et Phidiffi simulacns,

perfectius videmus, et his picturis, quas


quibus nihil in illo genere

nominavi, cogitare tamen possumus pulchriora


Nee vero ille artifex,


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66


THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY,


great artist had formed a conception of beauty : the

question perpetually returns, By what studies,



what

theory, had he attained this ? The perplexity appears to me to proceed from a distinction being made between the pleasures of the mind, and those addressed to the senses. Plautus says that the poet seeks what nowhere exists, and yet finds it. His genius supplies it, it is in his mind.

The novelist who has genius to catch and to represent the feelings of men, and their motives to action, may give a truer picture of his period than the historian, even

That is to

say, the incidents, the passions, the prejudices, which he describes, may never have been combined as he combines


although he describes what never existed


the


m


but they


and to the state of


society in which he lives, and are, therefore, a record of


B


this is not the rationale of the ideal


the time, painting.

Or we may illustrate tills in another manner. When Zeuxis was employed on his Helen, five of the most beautiful women were before him, from whom he com- posed his perfect beauty. But it was not the object of the artist here to produce ideal beauty, or to give that repose of sentiment which is the effect of contemplating the Medicean Venus ; his aim was to represent a beautiful


cum faceret Jovis formam, aut Minervse, contemplabatur aliquem, e quo similitudinem duceret: sed ipsius in mente insidebat species pulchri- tudinis eximia quaedam, quam intuens, in eaque defixus, ad illius similitu- dinem artem et manum dirigebaL Ut igitur in formis et figuris est aliquid perfectum et excellens, cujus ad cogitatam speciem imitando referuntur ea quae sub oculis ipsa cadunt : sic perfectae eloquentise speciem animo videmus, effigiem auribus quserimus." — Cicero de Oratore^ cap. 2.




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THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY.


67


and seductive woman, whose charms were to lead men


g


And why have not painters with the same


means attained to the same perfec


It has been


On


swered, Because they have not had the same gemus. which M. Quatremere De Quincy observes, " What, then, is a model, if genius be still necessary in order to imitate

Who shall tell whether it is the model that causes


it?

genius to see the image of beauty ; or, genius that sees its

own idea in the model." *

There has been another theory advanced, that, in the antique statue there is presented to us the grandeur of form and the proportions of man, as he originally pro- ceeded from the Creator: such as he was designed to be before he was subjected to labour, poverty, and

sickness


B


the



times of all people, their gods have been represented by the trunks of trees, or pillars rudely carved J and, when improved, it has been by imitating the human form with simplicity carved as on a pedestal ;


At first, the head was then the neck, breast, and


shoulders, and the indication of


then the arms


and


the extremities were imperfectly blocked out, until, at length, and after ages had passed, the members were dis- played free, and the figure perfected in manly beauty.

  • The same author thus expresses himself: "In this we have the

enigma of Plautus solved ; in every art, whatever comes within the scope of the understanding, of sentiment, and of genius, does not really exist any where ; has neither substance nor place, and is subjected to no one of the senses, while he who finds it is unable to point out where he has

seen the model of it."

This is language which puffs up the young artist to inordinate con- ceit ; and, instead of studying, sets him a dreaming of something for which he is to be beholden to his innate genius.




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THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY.


I shall once more endeavour to analyse that process of thought by which, out of the contemplation of nature, ideal perfection is derived. The idea of the divine form in the mind of any man, whatever may be his genius, has


been acquired, and is of human


d the attempt


of all painte


and


works, evince that such


Iptors to embody the idea in their

case. That a man of


the


genius has an idea of perfection cannot be the result of


pure imagination. Whatever concept


he


may


How


must have been acquired j and the question returns, ^ Let us suppose a painter to have before him the


the same : for


three Graces; their perfecti have full influence on the heart, we know that, however beautiful, each must be individual \ that the form, the attitude, and the expression must be varied, or the interest and grace are injured. The attempt of the painter to combine what is beautiful in each, into one more perfect, would, in my opinion, fail; nature would be lost, and

the whole prove inconsistent. At all events, the com- bination of individual human beauty, however made, and with whatever exercise of genius contrived, would not pro- duce what is aimed at, —


at, — ideal beauty, as exhibited in the remains of antiquity ; a form which we acknowledge to be beautiful, but which has had no existence in models.


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With the view of attaining beauty, the artist is not to slight nature or to avoid it, but to study it deeply, as the only source of improvement. He must not only contem- plate those beauties which we may suppose to stand before him, but consider where they difi^er from others less ad- mirable. How beautiful that smile ! How eloquent those


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THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY.


69



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lips ! Let him ask himself in what this consists. Smiling and speech are characteristic of man, and are bestowed to express the affections of the heart, and communicate thought. Give to the mouth the capacity for these. Observe the forehead, and the defined eyebrow:


IS


there


in nature superior


?


What


Let him mark them, and


then raise and throw forward the forehead, a feature especially human, and elevating to the countenance. Now he sees that depth is given to the eye ; that the shadows fall with bold relief, the eyebrow acquires more freedom, stands in a finer arch, and is more expressive of agree- able emotions. And thus he passes from point to point ; from one feature to another, — the nose, the ear : exag- gerating a little the outline of whatever indicates the higher and purer qualities, and avoiding what is low, or whatever is associated with the baser human passions or with the form of the brutes ; and by insensible gradations, and long contemplation of what is highest and best, he acquires, and from nature, that idea which is, in his mind, the perfection of form.


with his of what


Supposing that a painter so tutored is se fellows to copy a model ; by his knowledg constitutes humanity in its most perfect condition, and of what is indicative of human sentiment, he is enabled to elevate his design; and then it is acknowledged that, whilst he has preserved the likeness, he has refined it, and has introduced something of the purity of the

antique.

Although I have taken the form of the head and the


features for whole fig


the principle is applicable to the In comparing the finer forms of antique


statues with those of the Athletse, Lapithse, and Fauns


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70


THEORIES OF IDEAL BEAUTY.


down to the brutes, we see that the grace, the repose, and the nobler attitudes of the human body, are preserved in the former, to the exclusion of whatever belongs to indi- vidual character, or partakes by association of what is mean

in condition.

The Satyr and Faun are as mules and hybrids ; the man and the brute are joined ; sometimes with the horns and the hoofs, sometimes with nothing more distinctive than the tail ; and the conception is fulfilled by the gross- ness of form, the muscular developement, and the propor- tions indicative of activity. But there is neither freedom


of the body or In short, we


nor grace of movement in the position limbs, nor in their proportions or contour, have the Apollo and Marsyas exhibiting a perfect con- trast, and shewing that which is characteristic in the one reversed in the other.


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NATIONAL PECULIARITIES IN THE FORM OF THE HEAD.

Sir David Wilkie, whose loss we have had so lately to deplore, was one of my earliest pupils, having attended a course of my lectures on anatomy, as connected with


desig


On


g


from the Continent in Aug


I found him preparing for a journey ; and he made


me g


whither he


going


To Rome


no.


To


no.


Greece ? — no. Surely not to court fortune in India:

He was setting off to the Holy Land, to study there an

Eastern people. In this, he displayed that energy which


ever accompanies g


H


much of character, in


feature and costume, would he


have thrown


his


future pictures


Here we have a lesson from one entitled


to


swav our opinion


1

on his art, of the importance of knowledge of national forms to the historical painter, is for this reason that I introduce a slight account of


It


the


of the human head, depending


national


peculiarities. It may assist the artist in the study of such natives of foreign countries as he may chance to meet with.


Even in the most admired product


of


I find


little to which I can refer for elucidating this suhj Sculptors and painters have been too commonly conteni characterise an inhabitant of the East by a tuft of hair


his crown


African, by a swarthy face


Th


late publication that illustrates the question of national pecuHarities in a very interestii


g way


a folio volum


which contains accurate portr


of the skulls of all the


American races,

Peru to those of the farthest north


from the old inhabitants of Mexico and


% a


Crania Americana/' by Dr. Morton, Professor of Anatomy in


Pennsylvania College.


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72


NATIONAL PECULIARITIES IN


In considering the extraordinary collection of skulls in this work, with the view of marking the relation between the form of the head and superiority of mind, in men of cultivated intellect, as contrasted with those leading a savage life, it must be acknowledged that much is wanting. Although there can be no objection to the mode adopted by the writer of estimating the actual mass of brain ; yet his measurements ought to have been made in reference


The


size


of th


to the dimensions of the whole body, cranium, and consequently, the volume of the brain, must be relative to the face j and the face can be taken only as an imperfect index of the entire skeleton. If the


cavity of the skull


sand


be gauged, — if the quantity of

pable of not be


of seeds, which different crania are ci ig, is to be measured, the comparison will


satisfactory, unless the measurement of each be contrasted with that of the face and of the body ; and be also examined with respect to the proportions of the brain itself, or its form.

Again, it is taken for granted, that we who exercise our best faculties within the four walls of a house, must have a developement of brain beyond what the free-dweller in the


plains possess


or forests of, what


termed


country can


I believe, on the contrary, that man, in his state of nature, has imposed upon him the necessity of bringing into operation quite as many faculties of mind as the man at his desk J and that, from the brain being exercised in every use to which the external senses are put, its volume is not inferior to that of the individual in civilised life. We must take along with us this consideration, that the exercise of our external senses infers an accompanying activity of the brain : that of the nervous apparatus appropriated to the senses, it is the exterior part alone that is given to the


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THE FORM OF THE HEAD.


73



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eye, ear, nose, tongue : the internal part, forming the sensorium, is in the brain. Remembering this, and that the powers exercised by the savage are not instincts, as in the brutes, but operations of the mind calling the brain into action, I am unwilling to grant that any measurable deficiency in its mass, as a whole, is likely to be perceived.


Were it really so, we should find the gamekeeper inferior


to his master, in a greater degree than my experience


warrants.


Every one must have observed among those with whom he lives, that there is as much variety in feature, stature, colour, hair, beard, &c. as there is in expression of counte-

and a very little philosophy will indicate the


nance


essity of such


for the


of


But in regard to national peculiarities, although the dis- tinctions between individuals of a particular country are, doubtless, in many instances, as great as between the people of one country compared with another j yet there are certain forms of head, or casts of feature, or pecu- liarities of hair, and complexion, which characterise

different nations.

We need not here enter into the question, how these distinctions have been produced. It would require much critical examination to decide whether national pecu-


liarities of form are owing to an


nal provision



which the structure ch


t?


and acquires distinctive


characters under the influence of circumstances


uch


the various climates to which the first families were


centre j


whether


exposed, on their dispersion from one there are truly distinct races which had a conformation and constitution from the beginning, suited to the regions for which they were destined, and to which they were blindly driven.


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NATIONAL PECULIARITIES IN


All testimony agrees in shewing that mankind was first planted in Western Asia j there, in the valleys, perpetual summer reigns ; there the vegetable productions best suited to man's nourishment are most abundant : there are the animals, in a state of nature, which are led



their

instincts to yield themselves up to his use — the horse, the ass, the cow, the sheep, the goat, the camel, the dog ; and there the climate is so favourable to the human con- stitution, that even now we look to these countries for

examples of perfection, both in feature and colour, of man himself.

From this part of the globe, the varieties of man, distinguished as to exterior form and complexion, may be


traced divergingly


this point the


and arts may


be followed back ; and the study of the derivation of


and of the grammatical


does not


■S


th


conclusi


onstruction of languages,

m, but rather indicates

that this part of the earth was the centre from which the

nations spread.

The grouping of mankind into races has occupied the

ingenuity of many naturalists and physiologists, from the time of Buffon and Linnaeus to the present day ; but we rest principally on the authority of Blumenbach. In the valleys of the Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the Caspian, we may distinguish, in the Caucasian family, those features which, according to the views just presented^ we should say were the nearest to perfection. The skull is large and fully developed in front j the face is small, and the features well proportioned ; the forehead is elevated ; the nose arched, or raised; the teeth perpendicular in their sockets ; the chin round, and the lips full of expression ; the skin fair ; the eyes dark ; the eyebrows arched ; the eyelashes long ; and the hair varied in colour. The Cir-


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THE FORM OF THE HEAD.


15


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cassians liave long been noted for the beauty of the women, and for the imposing stature, elegance, and activity of the men ; and the Georgians and other tribes are remarkable for personal beauty.

From this centre, proceeding westward, we recognise the Europeans. The original inhabitants of Thessaly and Greece are designated as the Pelasgic branch : that enterprising and migratory people, who at an early period extended to Italy, and from whom descended the Etruscans. The Hellenes, or Greeks, receiving letters from the Phoenicians, surpassed all the nations of antiquity, in philosophy, literature, and art. The Greek face is a fine oval ; the forehead full, and carried forward j the eyes large ; the nose straight ; the lips and chin finely formed: in short, the forms of the head and face have been the type of the antique, and of all which we most admire. The modern Greeks are still distinguished athletic proportions and fine features.

The Roman head differs from the Greek, in having a more arched forehead, a nose more aquiline.



and


features altogether of a more decided character j and

' !. as ex-


The


this is even apparent in the busts of that people, hibited in the two splendid volumes of Visconti remarks of Bishop Wiseman on this subject are important, as his lectures were delivered in Rome, and to persons who had only to step out of the college to ascertain their accuracy. Travellers have often stated that the counte-


nances of the population beyond the Tiber


tly


re-


semble those of the Roman soldiers on the column of


but Dr. Wiseman observes


tly, that any


Trajan ;

one slightly

that the model on these historical monuments is


quainted with art, will soon be satisfied



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76


NATIONAL PECULIARITIES IN


Grecian, and


give no aid in


siognomy of the ancient inhabitants of Italy


g the phj


H


e


bids


look to the busts, and reclining

sarcophag


atues of the ancient or to the series of


Romans carved on the sarc( imperial busts in the Capitol, where we shall discover the true type of the national figure, viz. a large flat head, a low and wide forehead, a face broad and square, a short and thick neck, and a stout and broad trunk •


proportions totally at variance with wh


are generally


considered to be those of the ancient Roman. Nor h


go far, if in Rome, to find their descend


they


are


be met with every day in the streets, principally


among the burgesses or middle class.*

The German race has been spread, from


great part of Europe, blending with the Celts


It


is


sparated


the Teutonic and Sclav


families


their military enterp


form the history of the darker


  • a


ages, when they came down upon the Roman empire.

For my part, I looked for the type of the Roman soldier among the Galleotti. There was a body of these condemned men, chained together, who were marched every evening from their work of rebuildino- the great basilica of St. Paul's, beyond the walls. This church, which was burnt, stands some way out of Rome, and I walked beside and behind these bands; and finer figures are not to be conceived; their loose dress, and the gyves upon their legs, gave to their air and attitude something formidable. They seemed fit for the offices of a tyrant, and' to subdue the world. I must ever remember one evening, when I saw these men, with their mounted guards, passing under the Arch of Titus, and the broad shadow of the Colosseum. Dr. Wiseman says, in regard to the sculptures on that arch, that the profiles of the soldiers shew that there was a rule, or model, adapted to the common men, and from which the artist might not depart ; while the figure of the emperor, seated in his chariot, forms a strong contrast to them. Though his features are now quite effaced, enough remains of the outline to shew the full heavy face, and bulky head, of a true Roman." — Notes from Journal.



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THE FORM OF THE HEAD.


77


Other hordes mingled with the Tartars


d


are recog


nised in history, as the people who broke in upon the Persian and the Roman empires in the east. The Celtic Gaul of the Romans gave residence to a race, which is now diminished to the remnant living in the mountainous

districts of the extreme west of Europe.

The Mongolian Tartars occupy great part of the north


of A

ohliq


sia and Europe


The


ivelids of this peopl


are


th


nose is small and flat, broad towards the


forehead ; the cheek-bones are high, the chin short, and the lips large and thick ; the ears are flat and square ; the general form of the head round. The Mongol Tartar tribes have become mixed with the neighbouring nations, and exhibit a variety of physiognomy. Hordes of this people invaded China, and settling in the north


empire hav


blended


th the original


of that great

Chinese.

To the north-west, they mingled with the polar races, and have merged in the Kamschatkans and Tungusians ; the Huns, whose incursions into more civilised Europe, are recorded in history, were Mongol Tartars. The primitive


Turks were


of the same


but, by


g


Circassia, Georgia, Greece, and Arabia, their physical cha racter has been changed, and they have become a hand


some people. Th mark the Turkish


open nostril and short nose, w


hich


their eves are


extraction ;

whole face is expressive and intelligen

The Chinese skull is oblong, th


Qce, still betray their original

dark and animated, and the


frontal bone nar-


proporti


to the width of the bones of the face


Accordingly the countenance is flat, and the cheeks ex-


panded


th


yelids are not freely open


and


drawn


obliquely up towards the temples j the eyebrows are black


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78


NATIONAL PECULIARITIES IN


and higWy arched ; the nose is small and flattened, with a marked depression separating it from the forehead; the hair is black, and the complexion sallow.

The Malay race is scattered through the Indian Islands, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Amhoyna, Celebes, the Philippines, Moluccas. The forehead, in the Malay, is prominent and arched, but low ; the orbits oblique and oblong ; the nasal bones broad and flattened ; the cheek-bones high and ex- panded ; the jaws projecting. The head is, altogether, large ; the mouth and the lips protrude ; the nose is short, depressed, and flattened towards the nostrils ; the eyes are small and oblique. They are of a brown complexion, vary- ing in the diff'erent tribes.

Some uncertainty prevails as to the race to which the ancient Egyptians belonged. This has arisen from the difficulty of reconciling the early and extensive knowledge of that people, with the acknowledged deficiency of capacity

We might expect that the mummies and drawings in their pyramids and tombs should have long since decided the question ; but the position of Egypt may account for the obscurity, great continents, the Egyptians became early a mixed


in the Negro.


Being on the confines of two


people.


The skull is found to be well formed, and unlike


that of the Ethiopian. The probability is, that the Negro was then, as now, a subjugated race.*

The Greek applied the terms Ethiop and Indian to all the dark people of the south. By Ethiopian, we now cor- rectly understand the diff'erent races which inhabit the interior of Africa; extending from the south of Mount


  • Blumenbach thinks that he can discover among the mummies the

heads of the Ethiopian, the Indian, and the Besbers. Denon conceives that the female mummies indicate that the women of ancient Egypt had great beauty.


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THE FORM OF THE HEAD.


79


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Atlas and Aby Hottentots.


to the country of the Caffres and


The general character of the Negro countenance is

race there


familiar can he


Of the great antiquity


of the


doubt


When, indeed, the effigy of the Neg


is found depicted on the ancient


lis of Egypt, and


vessels are dug up, the characters on which


read by


modern Chinese, we may well despair of obtaining any thing like a satisfactory history of the spread of nations, and the settlement of mankind in the different regions^ of the globe. The depression of the forehead and compression of the temples, which are distinctive of the Africans, although there be splendid examples of fine form among the nations of that continent, mark them as a degraded


race.



Diverg


still from the presumed central orig


of


mankind, we find the Polynesian family in the islands of

The inhabitants of these isles are of


the Pacific Ocean


middle stature, athletic, with heavy limbs


Th


faces


are round or delicately oval


the nose is well formed


ght, or aquiline, sometimes spread out, but not having


the flatness of the Neg


the forehead


low, but


  • The great families of mankind are distinguished by colour as well

as form and features. The Caucasian by white ; the African by black ; the Mongolian by olive, tending to yellow; the Malay by tawny ; the American by brown, or nearly copper hue. The colour of the ha,r, and that of the iris, partake of the^ colour of the skin. The Caucasian, with fair complexion, has red, brown, or light-coloured hair, and the eyes of different shades of grey and blue. In those^of darker complexion the hair is black and the eyes dark. In the

stiff, and straight. In the European, soft, flexible, and flowing. _

Negro, thick-set, strong, short, and curly. But in all races there spnng up occasional varieties.


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80


NATIONAL PECULIARITIES IN


receding ; the eyes black, bright, and expressive j the lip full, and the teeth fine.*

In America, the same difficulties present themselves u


the


Old World tinction of


and propagation of


the


The most recent inquiries authorise the dis- families inhabiting America ; first, a race

ixico and Peru.


called Toltecan, belonging originally to Mexico which, from the shapes of the skulls found in the graves and the accompanying relics, give evidence of greatei civilisation than belongs to the present natives ; and secondly


people which extending


the greater portion of the


embraces all the barbarous


of the


New World, excepting the polar tribes, or Mongolian Americans, which are presumed to be straggling parties

from Asia, such as the Esquimaux, Greenlanders, and Fin s .

In the native American, there is no trace of the frizzled locks of the Polynesian or the woolly texture on the head


of the Neg


The hair is long, lank, and black


beard


deficient


nent ; the


the

the cheek-bones are large and promi-


jaw broad and ponderous, truncated


front ; the teeth vertical and very large ; the nose cidedly arched, and the nasal cavities of great size, ought not to be called the copper-coloured race.


is de-

They

The


colour is brown, or of a cinnamon tint.


A


s in the


Old World, the colour varies, and the darkness does not alwavs correspond to the climate or vicinitv to the equator.


m

  • It is amusing to find voyagers making distinctions here between the

plebeian and the aristocratic classes. But so it is every where. Among the Lybians and Moors, as in the countries of Asia and Europe, the comforts and luxuries of life improve the physical condition of man.


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THE FORM OF THE HEAD.


81


Of the imperfect sketch of the varieties of mankind which I have here presented, every sentence might be the text of a long essay. But in this, as in the whole volume, I have attempted only to awaken attention, and to make the reader an observer of what may pass before him ; giving him the elements on which his ingenuity or acumen is to be employed in his intercourse with society.


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ESSAY III.



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ON THOSE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION IN THE HUMAN COUNTE- NANCE WHICH CANNOT BE EXPLAINED ON THE IDEA OF A DIRECT INFLUENCE OF THE MIND UPON THE FEATURES.


" The heart of a man changeth his countenance, whether for good or evil." — T/ie Son of Sirach.

" I do believe thee ; I saw his heart in his face." — Shakspeare.


In the human countenance, under the influence of

passion, there are characters expressed, and changes of features produced, which it is impossible to explain on the notion of a direct operation of the mind upon the features. Ignorance of the source of these changes of the features, or


the cause which produces them, has th


obscurity


wish to remove


the whole of this subject, which it is my


If, in the examination of the sources of expression, it should be found that the mind is dependent on the frame of the body, the discovery ought not to be considered as humiliating, or as affecting the belief of a separate ex- istence of that part of our nature on which the changes wrought in the body are ultimately impressed. Since we are dwellers in a material world it is necessary that



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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION


83


the spirit should be connected with it body, without which it could neither feel



an


■ganised


manifest itself in any way


It is a fundamental law of


nature that the mind shall have its pow


developed


through the influence of the body 5 that the organs of the body shall be the links in the chain of relation between it and the material world, through which the immaterial

principle within shall be affected.

As the Creator has established this connexion between the mind and external nature, so has He implanted, or caused to be generated, in us, various higher intellectual faculties. In every


intelligent being


H


has laid th


foundation of emotions that point to Him, affections which we are drawn to Him, and which their object.



rest in Him as In the mind of the rudest slave, left to the


education of the mere


elements around him, sentiment


which lead him to a Parent and a Creator


These


feelin


g


spring up spontaneously


they are universal, and


be


g


be shaken off ; and no better example than this can en of the adaptation of the mind to the various relations in which man is placed, or one that tends more to raise in us a conception of the Author of our being, and increase our estimation of ourselves, as allied to Him.

This it is, perhaps, necessary to premise, when I am about to prove the extensive influence of the corporeal on

the intellectual part of man.

In examining the phenomena of the mind, philosophers have too much overlooked this relation between the mental operations and the condition of the bodily frame. It ap- pears to me that the frame of the body, exclusive of the special organs of seeing, hearing, &c. is a complex org-


I shall not say of sense,


but which ministers, like the


external senses, to the mind ; that is to say, as the org


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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


of the fi


senses serve to furnish ideas of matter, the

ites, in certain conditions.


framework of the body contributes, to develope various states of the mind In the affections which we call


passions


emotions


there is an influence which points to the breast as the part


whe


they


are


felt


Some have


ted that they are


seated in the bowels ; and the sensations I am about to describe have been arrayed as proofs that the affections exist in the body. But that, I affirm, is impossible. They are conditions of the mind, and cannot be seated in the body, although they both influence and are influenced by it. We have learned enough to know that the impressions


communicated by the external organs of sense belong really


to the mind ; and there can be no doubt that there is a mutual influence exercised by the mind and frame on each other. This is not asserted on the mere grounds that each affection which is deeply felt, is accompanied by a disturb- ance in our breast ; nor on the language of mankind, which gives universal assent to this proposition j but it may be proved by circumstances of expression, in which we cannot be deceived. I shall make it manifest that what the eye, the ear, or the finger, is to the mind, as exciting those ideas which have been appointed to correspond with the qualities


of the material world, the organs of the breast are to the


developement of our aff'ections ; and that without them we might see, hear, and smell, but we should walk the earth coldly indifferent to all emotions which may be said in an especial manner to animate us, and give interest and grace to human thoughts and actions.

By emotions are meant certain changes or aff'ections of the mind, as grief, joy, astonishment. That such states or conditions of the mind should in any degree pertain to the


body, mav


perhaps, be willingly admitted, unless


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take along with us that the ideas of sense, as light, sound, or taste, are generated by the organs of the senses, and

any thing received and conveyed by them to the

the different organs of ve rise to sensation and



sensorium


It is ascertained that the senses can be exercised, and g


percept pressioi


, when there is no corresponding outward im and the ideas thus excited are according to


organ struck or agitated : that is, conveyed to different organs of sense will g


the


the same impression


variety of


as light, when the e}'


Lse to a struck ;


sound, when the ear is struck


with the other


organs ; the sensation corresponding with the organ which is exercised, and not with the cause of the impression. A needle passed through the retina, the organ of vision, will produce the sensation of a spark of fire, not of sharpness or pain; and the same needle, if applied to the papillae of the tongue, will give rise to the sense of taste ; while if it prick the skin, pain will follow. This law of the senses is arbitrarily or divinely ordered ; it might have been other-


Accordingly


wise, the i


ently of their


hen we observe that the organs of ^,


perate in producing specific ideas, independ own peculiar exciting causes, we can com


prehend better how other organs of the body may h


relation established with^the mind, and a control


-J



without reference to outward impressions

Let us consider the heart, in its office of receiving the


^•'-


influence of the mind, and of reflecting that influence


It may


the first pla


be observed, that there is


hardly an organ of the body limited to one function ; all


complex in their operatio


H


many offices, for

gular


It


example, are performed by the lungs ?

fact in the history of physiological opinions, that the

heart, an organ the most susceptible of being excited by


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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


the agitations or derangements of the body, should h


been considered


time as insensible


And


}^


m


one sense it is true that


To actual touch the


hear


is insensible, as was exhibited to the illustrious


Harvey, in the person of a young nobleman, who had the heart exposed by disease. This single circumstance, had there been no other evidence, should have earlier directed physiologists to a correct view of the matter; from its proving that the internal organs are affected


and


united by sensibilities which are altogether different

The


in kind from those bestowed upon the skin, sensibility of the external surface of the body is a spe- cial endowment adapted to the elements around, and calculated to protect the interior parts from injury. But though the heart has not this common sense of touch, yet

which it is held



it has an appropriate sensibility, united in the closest connexion and sympathy with the other vital organs ; so that it participates in all the changes of the general system of the body.

But connected with the heart, and depending on its peculiar and excessive sensibility, there is an extensive apparatus which demands our attention.


This


the



organ of breathing: a part known obviously as the in- strument of speech ; but which I shall shew to be more. The organ of breathing, in its association with the heart, is the instrument of expression, and is the part of the frame, by the action of which the emotions are developed and made visible to us. Certain strong feelings of the mind produce a disturbed condition of the heart ;^nd through that corporeal influence, directly from the heart, indirectly from the mind, the extensive apparatus con- stituting the organ of breathing is put in motion, and

gives us the outward signs which we call expression. The



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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


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man was wrong who found fault with nature for not placing a window before the heart, in order to render visible human thoughts and intentions. There is, in truth, provision made in the countenance and outward bearing for such discoveries.

One, ignorant of the grounds on which these opinions are founded, has said, " Every strong emotion is directed towards the heart : the heart experiences various kinds of sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, over which it has no control ; and from thence the agitated spirits are diffused


over


The fact is


the body." iguage be figurative.

d what are their effects


tainly


although the


H


these spirits diffused


We find that the influence of the heart upon the extended organ of respiration has sway at so early a period of our existence, that we must acknowledge that


the


operation or play of the instrument of expression precedes the mental emotions with which they are to be


joined, accompanies them in their first dawn


gthens


them


d directs them. So that


too


much to conclude th


from these


■g


perhap


movmg m


from the


sympathy with the mind, the same uniformity is produced among men, in their internal feelings, emotions, or passions, as there exists in their ideas of external nature uniform operations of the organs of sense.

Let us place examples before us, and then try whether the received doctrines of the passions will furnish us with an explanation of the phenomena, or whether we must go deeper, and seek the assistance of anatomy.

In the expression of the passions, there is a compound uence in operation. Let us contemplate the appear-


infl


ance of terror.


We


can


readily


conceive


why


a man


stands with eyes intently fixed on the object of his fears,


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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


the eyebrows elevated to the utmost, and the eye largely uncovered ; or why, with hesitating and bewildered steps, his eyes are rapidly and wildly in search of something. In this, we only perceive the intent application of his mind to the object of his apprehensions


its direct in-


But observe him further :



fluence on the outward organ, there is a spasm on his breast, he cannot breathe freely, the chest is elevated, the muscles of his neck and shoulders are in action, his breathing is short and rapid, there is a gasping and a convulsive motion of his lips, a tremor on his hollow cheek, a gulping and catching of his throat; and why does his heart knock at his ribs,


while yet th


force of circulation


for his lip


and cheeks are ashy pale


So in grief, if we attend to the same class of pheno


mena, we shall be able to draw an exact picture imagine to


Let


ourselves the overwhelming influence of grief The object in her mind has absorbed all the powers of the frame, the body is no more regarded, the


woman


pirits have left


reclines, and the limbs g


they are nerveless and relaxed, and she scarcely breathes


but why comes at


the long-drawn


gh



are the neck


d throat convulsed


what causes the


swelling and quivering of the lips, and the deadly paleness of the face? — or why is the hand so pale and earthly cold? — and why, at intervals, as the agony returns, does the convulsion spread over the frame like a paroxysm of

suffocation ?

) come to

IS of the


It must, I think, be acknowledged, when arrange these phenomena, these outward \


g


passions, that they ence of the mind al

unaccustomed ears.


\^^-


it proceed from the direct influ- However strange it may sound to it is to the heart and lungs, and all


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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION


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the extended instrument of breathing, that we are to trace these effects.




/';


Ove

qual


uch motions of the body the mind h


an


By a strong effort the outward tokens


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may be restrained, at least in regard to the general bearing of the body ; but who, while suiFering, can retain the natural fulness of his features, or the healthful colour of his cheek, the unembarrassed respiration and clearness of the natural voice ? The villain may command his voice, and mask his purpose with light and libertine words, or carry an habitual sneer of contempt of all softer passions j but his unnatural paleness, and the sinking of

his features, will betray that he suffers. Clarence says to his murderers.


" How deadly dost thou speak ! Your eyes do menace me : Why look you pale ? "

But the just feelings of mankind demand respect ; men


will not have the violence of ofrief obtruded on them.


To


preserve the dignity of his character, the actor must per- mit those uncontrollable signs of suiFering alone to escape, which betray how much he feels, and how much he restrains. Even while asleep, these interior organs of feeling will prevail, and disclose the source of expression. Has my reader seen Mrs. Siddons in Queen Katharine during that solemn scene where the sad note was played which she named her knell ? Who taught the crowd sitting at a play, an audience differing in age, habits, and education, to believe those quivering motions, and that gentle smile,


and those slight convulsive twitchings, to be true to


nature ? To see every one hushed to the softest breathing of sympathy with the silent expression of the actress, ex- hibits all mankind held together by one universal feeling : and that feeling, excited by expression, so deeply laid in


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have influence, without heing ohvious


reason.


To illustrate this curious subject, I shall first explain the extensive connexions which are established betwixt the great organs that sustain life and the muscular system of the face, neck, and chest. I shall then shew that the

are affected by passions of the s connexion subsists at the


functions of these


■g




th


us through


life


and


mind> I shall prove that moment of birth, and accompanies finally, that from this source are derived those obscure in- dications of emotion in the countenance and general frame, which cannot be explained on the supposition of a direct influence of the mind on the muscles of expression.

The heart and the lungs may be safely taken as two parts which are combined


the same function


The


action of the heart, and the motion of the lungs, are equally necessary to the circulation of that blood which is fitted for the supply of the body ; and the interruption of their

motions threatens life. Accordingly, these two organs are united by nerves, and consequently by the closest sympathy ; and in all the variations to which they are liable, they are still found to correspond, the accelerated action of the one being directly followed by the excitement of the other.

The motion of the lungs proceeds from a force altogether external to them : they themselves are passive, being moved


bv a very great number of m


which lie upon the


breast, back, and neck j that is, the exterior muscles give play to the ribs, and the lungs follow the motions of the chest. The heart and lungs, though insensible to common impression, yet being acutely alive to their proper stimulus, suffer from the slightest change of posture or exertion of the frame, and also from the changes or affections of the mind. The impression thus made on


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these internal organs is not visible by its effect upon tbem, but on the external and remote muscles associated with

This law exists in all mankind ; we see the con-


them.


sequence in those


ptible and nervous person


whom


the mere change of position, or the effort of rising, or the slightest emotion of mind, flutters and s



But


when the


strong are subdued by this mysterious union of soul and body, when passion tears the breast, that the most afflicting picture of human frailty is presented, ai


d the


afforded, that it is on the


spiratory org


passion


fall


s


th so powerful an


that the influence of expression of agony.

The next circumstance of this detail to which I beg attention, is the extent of the actions of respiration : the remoteness of the parts agitated in sympathy with the heart. The act of respiration is not limited to the trunk j the actions of certain muscles of the windpipe, the throat, the lips, the nostrils, are necessary to expand those tubes J and openings, so that the air may be admitted through,, them in respiration, with a freedom corresponding with the increased action of the chest. Without this, the sides of these pliant tubes would fall together, and we should be suffocated by exertion


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passion


Let us consider h


many muscles are combined in the simpl


of breath


mg


how


many


added in the act of coughing


these are changfed and modified

c!>


— how reflect


the various combinations of muscles of the throat, wind


pipe, tongue, lips, in speaking and be able justly to estimate the


g


and


shall


of the muscles which

associated with the proper or simple act of dilating and


compressing the chest


But how much more numerous


are the changes wrought upon these muscles, when na employs them in the double capacity of communicating


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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


thoughts and feelings ; not in the language of sounds merely, but in the language of expression in the coun- tenance also : for certainly the one is as much their office as the other.


■-" '-».■


The nervous system is complex in an extraordinary degree ; but the reader may not be deterred from attempt- ing to understand at least so much, that there is a class of nerves appropriated to respiration. These nerves arise from the same part of the brain j the great central nerve descends into the chest, to be distributed to the heart and lungs ;


and the others extend


the


muscles of


the chest, neck, and face. Under the influence of the central nerve, the diverging external ones become the instruments of breathing and of expression. The labour of many months discloses to the anatomist but a part of these nervous cords ; and the consideration of the uses they serve presents the most overwhelming proof of the ex- cellence of design, — but a design made manifest by the results, rather than comprehensible in its means.

Can we perfectly understand how tickling the throat should produce a convulsion over the whole frame, in which a hundred muscles are finely adjusted, and proportioned in their actions to expel what irritates the windpipe ? or how tickling the nostril should make a change in these muscles, throw some out, and bring others into action, to the effect of sending the air through a different tube to remove what is offensive, and all this without the act of the will ?

Let us see how the machine works. Observe a man threatened with suffocation : remark the sudden and wild energy that pervades every feature ; the contractions of his throat, the gasping and the spasmodic twitchings of his face, the heaving of his chest and shoulders, and how he stretches his hands and catches like a drowning man.




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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


93


These are efforts made under the oppressive, intolerable

sensation at his heart ; and the means which nature em-


plo


guard and preserve the animal machine, giving


to the vital org the utmost exert


bility that irresistibly


It is this painful sensation that introduces us to " this breathing world ;" which guards the vital functions through life, as it draws us into existence. Pain is the agent which most effectually rouses the dormant faculties of both mind and body. While the child slumbers in the womb it does not live by breathing, it possesses an organ which performs


the office of the lungs.


In the birth there is a short in-


terval, betwixt the loss of the one organ, and the sub- stitution of the other ; nor would the breath ever be drawn, or the lungs perform their function, but for this painful and irresistible nisus, which calls the whole cor- responding muscles into action. Spasms and contractions are seen to extend over the infant's chest ; the features are working, and the muscles of the face agitated, pro- bably for the first time; at last air is admitted into the lungs, a feeble cry is heard, the air in successive inspira- tions fully dilates the chest, and the child cries lustily. Now the regular respiration is established, and the animal machinery subsides into repose.


(I


We came crying hither.


Thovi know'st, the first time that Ave smell the air wawl and cry : — I will preach to thee : mark,


We


When we are born, we cry, that we are come To this great stage of fools ! " — Lear.


With the revolution which the whole economy has


underg


new wants are engendered, new appetites


these are again lulled by the mother's breast. During all


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this no one sympathises with the little sufferer, the grimace with which he enters the world excites only smiles.

'^ On parent's knees, a naked new-born child, Weeping thou sat'st, while all around thee smiled So live, that sinking in thy last long sleep


Calm thou may'st smile, when all around thee weep.


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Ang


99


says


LordB


6<


IS


tainly a kind of


baseness, as it appears well in the weakness of those


hjects in whom


reiP'ns



children, women, old folks


sick folks." But this I may say, tlmt anger is at no period of life so strongly impressed upon human features, as in the first moment of our visiting the light. At the instant of our birth, an association of muscles


is formed, and


the


same time put


op


tamping a ch


er of early


expression which betrays the wants of the body in infancy, and the sufferings of the mind in the after period. The frame of the body, constituted for the support of the vital functions, becomes the instrument of expression ; and an extensive class of passions, by influencing the heart, by

aflecting that sensibility which governs the muscles of


to co-operation, so that they be-

d sure sign of certain states or


respiration, calls them ii come an undeviating ai

conditions of the mind. They are the organs of expression.

Returning now to the contemplation of any of the

stronger passions, we comprehend much which was before


obscure. We see w^hy that grief which strikes the heart


f


i


should aficct the regularity of breathing* — why the muscles of the throat should be afl'ected with spasm — why slight quivering motions pass from time to time over the face, the


  • '^ The grief that does not speak,

Whispers the o'er- fraught heart, and bids it break."


Macbeth.





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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


95


lip


and cheeks, and nostrils; — because these are the


■g


o


f


  • .


piration


g


which have their


m


united to the sensibility of the heart, and moved under its influence. Now we comprehend, how the passion of rage or terror binds and tightens the chest, how the features are so singularly agitated by the indirect, as well as by the


direct influence of the passions


the words


how the voice sticks in the throat — how the paralysed lips refuse the commands of the will, so that they are held in a

mixed state of violence and weakness, which, more than any fixed expression, characterises the influence of the passion.


Blu


The sudden flushing of the countenance


in blushing belongs to expre


as


one of the


many


of sympathy which bind us together. This sufi"usion 10 purpose of the economy, whilst we must acknow-


■^^- ,.^^-


«**vifcfT"5tfiifi«*m««-r'-?'^M


ledofe the interest wbich it excites as an mdication ot mmd


It adds perfection to the features of beauty



The colour which attends exertion, or the violent pas


of rage


from general vascular excitement


and differs from blushing


Blushing is too sudden and


partial to be traced to the heart's action. That it is a provision for expression may be inferred from the colo


r^


tending only to the surface of the'lace, neck, and breast


the parts most exposed


acquired


from the


beginning


It


unlike the efi'ect of powerful, depressing


emotions, which influence the whole body. The sudden conviction of the criminal is felt in every pore; but the colour caused by blushing gives brilliancy and interest to


  • Dr. Burgess, who has written a volume on " Blushing," affirms that

a Circassian maid who blushes, brings a higher price in the slave-market I


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ON THE SOURCES OF EXPRESSION.


the expression of the face. In this


perceive an ad


vantage possessed by the fair family of mankind, and which must be lost to the dark ; for I can hardly believe that a


We think of blushes


blush may be seen in the Negro.* accompanying shame ; but it is indicative of excitement. There is no shame when lively feeling makes a timid youth break through the restraint which modesty and reserve


have imposed.


It is becoming in youth,


it is seemly in


more advanced years in women. Blushing assorts well with youthful and with effeminate features ; whilst nothing is more hateful than a dog-face, that exhibits no token of sensibility in the variations of colour.


  • A wound in the black leaves a scar in which the dark pigment of

the skin is wanting ; and the white spot, formed by such a cicatrix in the face of the Negro, reddens with passion.

In contrasting, by. comparative anatomy, the internal structure of animals, we find in some classes, parts of the organisation apparently useless or superfluous, to discover the full developement and appropriate functions of which, we must refer to other classes. If the black blushes unseen, it only shews that the incidental colour does not affect the general structure and processes.


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ESSAY


IV.


OF THE MUSCLES OF THE FACE IN MAN.


The muscular part of tlie animal frame consists of a peculiar fibrous substance, possessing the power of con- traction, and, consequently, of producing motion. In the limbs and trunk, the muscles are attached to the bones, and are distinct and powerful : but as in the face they have merely to operate on the skin, the lips, nostrils,

and eyelids, they require less power, and are, therefore, more delicate. And that power is not always directly under the will, like the muscular exertions of the body and limbs ; it is often involuntary, and is inseparably


united to the conditions or affections of the mind.


The


latter consideration gives much interest to the subject ;


for.



this provision in the muscles, the very spirit by


which the body is animated, and the various emotions, shine out in the countenance.

It has been said that the superiority of the human face in expression is an accidental effect of the number of muscles which are provided in man for the faculty of


speech.


That many of the muscles called into action in


speech are also employed in expression will be readily admitted; but besides these, there are muscles of the human features which have no connexion with the voice.


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MUSCLES OF THE FOREHEAD AND EYEBROW



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are purely instrumental in expression. Further, the


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human countenance is pre-eminent, not only in having muscles proper to man, hut we shall find that he also possesses the peculiarities of two great classes of the lower animals, having the muscles which are characteristic of hoth these classes comhined in his face.

To understand what follows, it is not necessary for the reader to know more of the structure of muscles than that they are formed of distinct packets of fibres ; that the extremities are called their origins and insertions : the fixed extremity, attached generally to some point of bone, being the origin ; the extremity which is moved, the inser- tion. I shall consider the muscles of the face in three

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groups. First, those which surround the eye ; secondly, those which move the nostrils j and lastly, those around the mouth. And first,


OF THE MUSCLES OF THE FOREHEAD AND EYEBROW.



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The forehead is more than any other part characteristic

It is the seat of thought, a


of the human countenance.


tablet where every emotion is distinctly impressed ; and the eyebrow is the moveable type for this fair page.


" Frons hominis tristitise, hilaritatis, clementiae, severitatis, index est."

Pliny,


The eye is the chief feature of expression. It takes thousand shades from the relations of the surrounding parts and the eyebrow,


that dark arch which surmounts


itself an eloquent index of the mind. Some one has called the eyebrow " the rainbow of peace, or the bended bow of discord."



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MUSCLES OF THE FOREHEAD AND EYEBROW.


99


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There are four muscles attached to the eyebrow. 1. A muscle, called occipito frontalis (a), descends


the forehead, and


ted


the eyebrow, where it


mingles


its fibres with the next muscle. The simpl


of the frontal portion of the occ r arch the eyebrow, as in surprise


pito frontalis


doubt


or, as


if we meant to say, " I must look further into this



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S. The muscle which closes the eyelids, is the orbicu-


laris palpebrarum (b).


We shall divide this muscle into


three parts. Its fibres surround the eye, being spread in a circular direction upon the margin of the orbit and the eyelids. The stronger portion, encircling the orbit, shuts the eyelids with that spasmodic force which is felt when something irritating is thrown into the eye. The paler and more delicate fibres, which lie more immediately upon the eyelids, gently close the eye, as in winking, or in sleep. A third set of fibres is situated directly on the margins of


the eyelids.



It is the outer and stronger circle which


draws down the eyebrow, and is the direct opponent of the occipito frontalis.

  • For the actions of these diiFerent portions of the general muscle,

see the author's « Practical Essays," Part I. on Squinting.


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100


MUSCLES OF THE FOREHEAD AND EYEBROW.


3. The third muscle (c), is properly a part of the first, and is termed the descending slip of the occipito frontalis


As it descends


the side of the nose to be attached


the bridge, it has a diiferent effect from the greater part of the muscle : it draws down the inner extremity of the eyebrow.

4. The next


muscle


the


corrugator supercilii (d). It arises from the lowest point of the frontal bone, where


it joins the bones of the nose,


d


running obliquely


upwards, is inserted into the skin under the eyebrow. The two muscles acting together knit the eyebrows. These are the muscles of the forehead and eyebrows.

In the arched and polished forehead, terminated by the distinct line of the eyebrow, there is an especial capacity for indicating human thought. The lines drawn here often give meaning of a high character to motions of the features in the lower part of the face, which would otherwise express mere animal activity. • And it is not a fleshy brow that is best adapted for expression. The fulness of the forehead and around the eyes, which the artists and poets combined to give to Hercules, conveys the idea of dull, brutal strength, and a lowering expression ; while the fore- head of the thin, pale student, may evince intelligence or elevation of thought.

The levator palpehrce superioris, the muscle which raises the upper eyelid, and is an opponent of the orbi- cularis, arises deep within the orbit, and is attached in front to the cartilage which gives form and firmness to the upper eyelid.

There are also within the orbit six other muscles, which are inserted into the eyeball. Their action is a subject of high interest, to discuss which would require a volume. I must limit myself to the question of the




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THE EXPRESSION OF THE EYE.


101


expression of the eye ; referring the reader for more ample

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illustrations, to those memoirs which treat of the sub- serviency of the muscles to vision, and of their action in cleaning the cornea, and protecting the organ.*


OF THE EXPRESSION OF THE HUMAN EYE.


The eye is the most lively feature in the countenance ; the first of our senses to awake, and the last to cease motion. It is indicative of the higher and the holier emotions — of all those feelings which distinguish man from the brutes.

A large eye is not only consistent with beauty, but

necessary to it. The eye of the eagle, even of the ox, is familiar in the similes of poets. The Arab expresses his idea of a woman's beauty, by saying, that she has the eye of the gazelle ; it is the burthen of their songs. The

timidity, gentleness, and innocent fear, in the eye of the

deer tribe, are compared with the modesty of a young girl. "Let her be as the loving hind, and pleasant roe." In the eye we look for meaning, for human sentiment, for

reproof.t

Do architects study enough, when arranging the masses of their buildings for effect, how the shadows will fall? The statuary, at all events, must. "The eye ought to be


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sunk," says Winkleman.t Yes, relatively to the forehead ;

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but not in reference to the face. That would give a very mean expression. It is the strong shadow produced by the




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  • See the " Nervous System/' 4th edition, p. 145 ; *« Bridgewater

Treatise on the Hand/' 4th edition, p. 329. *


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^ " I gave him," said Dr. Parr

ij: " Aux tetes ideales, les yeu^

le sont en general dans la nature."


^ the chastisement of my eye."




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102


THE EXPRESSION OF THE EYE.


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projecting eyebrow, which gives powerful effect to the eye, in sculpture.

We have said, that the eye indicates the holier emotions. In all stages of society, and in every clime, the posture and expression of reverence have been the same. The works of the great masters, who have represented the more sublime passions of man, may be adduced as evidences : by the upturned direction of the eyes, and a correspondence of feature and attitude, they address us in language in- telligible to all mankind. The humble posture and raised eyes are natural, whether in the darkened chamber, or under the open vault of heaven.

On first consideration, it seems merely consistent, that when pious thoughts prevail, man should turn his eyes from things earthly to the purer objects above. But there is a reason for this, which is every way worthy of attention. When subject to particular influences, the natural position

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of the eyeball is to be directed upwards. In sleep, languor, and depression, or when affected with strong emotions, the eyes naturally and insensibly roll upwards. The action is not a voluntary one ; it is irresistible. Hence, in reverence, in devotion, in agony of mind, in all sentiments of pity, in bodily pain with fear of death, the eyes assume that

position.

Let us explain by what muscles the eyes are so revolved.

There are two sets of muscles which govern the motions of the eyeball. Four straight muscles, attached at car- dinal points, by combining their action, move it in every direction required for vision j and these muscles are subject to the will. When the straight muscles, from weariness or exhaustion, cease to guide the eye, two other muscles operate to roll it upwards under the eyelid : these are the oblique muscles. Accordingly, in sleep, in fainting, in approaching


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THE EXPRESSION OF THE EYE.


103


death, when the four voluntary muscles resign their action, and insensibility creeps over the retina, the oblique muscles prevail, and the pupil is revolved, so as to expose only the white of the eye. It is so far consolatory to reflect, that the apparent agony indicated by this direction of the eyes, in fainting or the approach of death, is the effect of en- croaching insensibility — of objects impressed on the nerve of vision being no longer perceived.

We thus see that when wrapt in devotional feelings,

and when outward impressions are unheeded, the eyes are raised, by an action neither taught nor acquired. It is by this instinctive motion we are led to bow with humility to look upwards in prayer, and to regard the visible heavens as the seat of God.


'^ Prayer is the upward glancing of the eye, When none but God is near."

Although the savage does not always distinguish God from the heavens ahove him, this direction of the eye would


appear


be the source of the universal belief that the


Supreme Being has H


throne above. The idolatrous


sk V . *


or that he may be 3 the canopy of the So, in intercourse with God, although we are taught


Negro in praying for rice and yams active and swift, lifts


up


his


eyes


that our globe is ever revol


though religion inculcates


that the Almighty is every where, yet, under the influence of this position of the eye, which is no doubt designed for


purpose


seek Him on high


I will lift up mine


eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help." t


  • Barbot : " Description of Guinea."

f The same influence, which thus induces a posture of the body in accommodation to the eye, makes the attitude of stooping the sign of supplication — of obeisance — and caurtesy, among all nations. "And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on towards


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THE EXPRESSION OF THE EYE.


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See, then, how this property of our bodily frame has influenced our opinions, and belief ; our conceptions of the


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Deity habits.


our religious observances


our poetry, and daily



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Although the geologist may think that the account in the Scriptures of the formation of the earth, is contradicted



him : and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king, on his face upon the ground," So, Abraham : " And he lift up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him ; and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground." The Mahomedans, in acts of devotion, cross their hands on their bosom and incline the head.


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THE EXPRESSION OF THE EYE.


105


"by his theories


perceive


present investigati


a strict agreement in man's inmost structure with the hook

of life : and we may say with Kepler, that man should

not resign his natural feelings and thoughts in pursuit of

philosophy, " but that, lifting up his natural eyes, with

which alone he can see, he should from his own heart

pour himself out in worship to the Creator j being certain

that he gives no less worship to God than the astronomer."

By this physical conformation, combined with our highest quality of mind, we are


devotion


The


might praise


desig d hon


of


man


led to the expression of s being was, that he


Maker. Gratitude


the


debt of our nature, and in this property of the eye


there is pointed


how that gratitude, which


the distinguishing character of our minds, is to be directed.

The orbicularis muscle of the eyelids acts powerfully in

certain kinds of expression. In laughing and crying, the outer circle of this muscle, as it contracts, gathers up the skin about the eye ; and at the same time it compresses the eyeball. A new interest is given to the subject when we inquire into the object of that compression. It has a distinct relation to the circulation of the blood within the eye. During every violent act of expiration, whether in hearty laughter, weeping, coughing, or sneezing, the eye- ( ( ball is firmly compressed by the fibres of the orbicularis j and this is a provision for supporting and defending the vascular system of the interior of the eye from a retro- grade impulse communicated to the blood in the veins at that time. When we contract the chest, and expel the air, there is a retardation of the blood in the veins of the neck and head j and in the more powerful acts of expulsion, the blood not only distends the vessels, but is even regurgi-




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THE EXPRESSION OF THE EYE.


tated into the minute branches. Were the eye not pro- perly compressed at that time, and a resistance given to the shock, irreparable injury might be inflicted on the


delicate textures of the interior of the eye.*. Hence we see a reason for the closed state of the eyelids, and wrinkling of the surrounding skin, and twinkling of the eye, in

hearty laughter.

In the drunkard, there is a heaviness


of eye


dis


position to squint, and to see double, and a forcible elevation of the eyebrow to counteract the dropping of the upper eyelid, and preserve the eyes from closing. Hogarth has very happily caught this hanging of the eyelid, with the effort in the muscles of the forehead to prevent it from actually falHng. The peculiar expression may be thus explained. In the stupor of inebriation, the voluntary muscles of the eyeball resign their action to the oblique muscles, which, as we have seen, instinctively revolve the eye upwards when insensibility comes on : at the same time, the muscle which elevates the upper lid yields, in sympathy with the oblique muscles, to the action of the orbicularis which closes the eyes, and the eyelid


drops.


The condition is, in short, the same as that of


falling asleep ; when the eyeball revolves as the lids close. It is the struggle of the drunkard to resist, with his half-conscious eff^orts, the rapid turning up of the eye, and to preserve it under the control of the voluntary muscles, that makes him see objects distorted, and strive, arching his eyebrows, to keep the upper lid from de-



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vascular system of the eye, and the means of guarding it against the rush of blood then occurring, the conjunctiva becomes suddenly filled Avith >lood, and the eyelids everted/' — Nervous System^^. 175. -


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OF THE MUSCLES OF THE NOSTRILS.


107


scending. The puzzled appearance wliich this gives ris( to, along with the relaxation of the lower part of the face and the slight paralytic obliquity of the mouth, complett the degrading expression.




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OF THE MUSCLES OF THE NOSTRILS.


The nostrils are features which have a powerful effect in expression. The breath being drawn through them, and their structure formed for alternate expansion and con- traction in correspondence with the motions of the chest, they are an index of the condition of respiration, when affected by emotion. As they consist of cartilages moved

appropriate muscles, acting in strict sympathy with the drawing of the breath, they become expressive of animal excitement.


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We may enumerate four muscles which move the cartilages of the nostrils.

Levator lahii superioris et alee nasi (a). — This muscle arises from the upper jawbone, and descends to the lip j


MUSCLES OF THE LIPS AND CHEEKS.


but a part of it stops short, to be attached to the moveable


the nostril along with the


cartilage of the nostril ; it raises upper lip.

The Depressor olce nasi (b) arises from the upper jawbone, close to the sockets of the front teeth ; it ascends and is inserted into the lateral cartilage of the nostril, and

pulls down that cartilage.

The Compressor nasi (c) arises from the cartilaginous


bridg


of the nose,* and is inserted into the lateral


ge of the


The name would imply that this



muscle compresses the membraneous part of the nose, which it does j but its principal action must be to expand the nostril, by raising the lateral cartilage.

The next muscle is a slip of the Orbicularis oris (d), which, detaching itself from the mass of that muscle, runs up to the edge of the septum of the nose.

Thus we see how nature has provided for the motions of the nostrils. The actions of these muscles are con- trolled by a nerve of the class which has been distin- guished as subservient to the apparatus of breathing ; and it is owing to this that the sympathy is established be- tween the general act of drawing the breath and the expansion of the nostrils. As the motions of the nostrils, however, are intimately connected with those of the lips, I shall defer making any further observations upon them, until the muscles of the mouth have been described.


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MUSCLES OF THE LIPS AND CHEEKS.


The fleshy structure of the lips is in a great measure owing to a circular muscle which surrounds the mouth.


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  • That is certainly its most fixed extremity.


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MUSCLES OF THE LIPS AND CHEEKS.


109


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This muscle closes the lips, and is the opponent of many other muscles, which, taking their origin from the pro- minent points of the bones of the face, are concentred towards the mouth, and, besides opening it, move the lips in various directions. We must look upon the whole of these


muscles in three points of


belonging to masti


of the teeth


g the morsel, and placing it under the £ 2, as part of the organ of speech j and


powerful agents in expression.

Orbicularis oris (a) The fibres of this circular

muscle can be traced continuously round the lips, and have properly no origin. We have already taken notice of the Levator lahii superioris et oIcb nasi (b), some fibres of which are inserted into the upper lip.

The Levator lahii proprius (c) arises from the upper jaw, near the orbit. It is attached exclusively to the upper lip, and raises it.

Levator anguli oris (d) This muscle lies under the

last, and is, of course, shorter • it^raises the angle of the



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110


MUSCLES OF THE LIPS AND CHEEKS.


of the cheekbone, which j


the temporal hone


it


is inserted into the angle of the mouth.

There is sometimes an additional muscle, arising and inserted in a similar manner, called the zygoinaticus

minor (f).

The Buccinator (some of the fibres of which are re- presented by g) is a flat muscle, which lines the inside of

the cheek, and, arising from the sockets of the back teeth of both jawbones, is inserted into the angle of the mouth.

As the teeth of man indicate that he is omnivorous, and intermediate between the two great tribes of animals — the carnivorous and herbivorous, we expect the muscles also to exhibit the same middle state and to partake the characters of both these classes. And such is found to be the case. The three muscles last enumerated combine to

  • raise and retract the angle of the mouth, and by doing so,

they expose the canine teeth. Now this group of muscles is especially powerful in the carnivorous animal ; they lift the fleshy lips off the long tearing fangs of the lion or \ tiger, and produce a fierceness of expression. But in the milder graminivorous animals the same class of muscles have a different direction given to their action, and they are not capable of elevating the angles of the mouth in a similar manner. In ourselves, when these muscles draw upon the orbicularis, and disclose the angular teeth, a painful and bitter expression is the effect. But before we can speak correctly on this subject, we must pursue the description of the remaining muscles.

Of the muscles which depress the lips, there is, 1st. The Triangularis oris, or depressor anguli oris (h), a comparatively powerful muscle, which arises from the base of the lower jaw, and is inserted into the angle of

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the mouth.





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MUSCLES OF THE LIPS AND CHEEKS.


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In the drawing, some muscular fibres (i) may be


which join the triangularis oris, and pass to the angle of the mouth. These are part of a superficial muscle of the


neck


the platysma-myoida


the fibres of which mount


over the jaw to terminate on the cheek. The uppermost fasciculus, represented in the drawing, has been de- scribed bv Santorini as a distinct muscle, and from its


action in laughter, has obtained the name Risorius San


tor int.


The Quadf


menti (k), a small square muscle


situated on the chin, depresses the lower lip.

The Levator menti (l) is a small muscle, which arises from the lower jaw, near the sockets of the front teeth, and passes to be inserted into the centre of the integument of the chin. When both muscles act, they throw up the

chin, and project the lower lip.

The angle of the mouth is full of expression; and much is implied, according to the prevailing action of the


The


g


superior or inferior class of muscles.

oris and the levator menti combine to produce a kind of


expression


hich is peculiar to man


Th


gle of the


mouth is drawn down by the former, while the lower lip is arched and elevated, with a contemptuous effect, by the


latter


h


th


lev


menti has sometimes been


called superhus


The union of so many muscles at the


angle of the lips produces that fulness about the mouth remarkable in those who are both thin and muscular. In the child, or youth, whose face is plump, they make the dimple in the cheek. It is perceived that the orbicularis

pponent of all the muscles which are concentred


IS


th


from various points to the lips ; and it is by the

action and relaxation of these antagonising muscles that s(

much and so varied expression is given to the mouth


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MUSCLES OF THE LIPS AND CHEEKS.


Th


muscle is affected


emotions


it


tremblingly yields to the superior force of its counteracting


m


both in joy and grief: it relaxes pleasantly


smiling ; it is drawn more powerfully

muscles in weeping.



'pponent


We can have no better illustration of how much depends

the mouth, for the par-


on the function


d



ticular character impressed on the lower part of the face when the lips are in motion, than by watching the features of a preacher or advocate engaged in his vocation, and afterwards, if opportunity offers, looking at the play of the


same i


and lip


when


over a trencher. The whole


machinery from the temple downwards, and from the angle of the jaw to the chin, is in operation during masti- cation j whereas, in the most impassioned discourse, the action is concentrated to the lips.

In speaking, there is much motion of the lower lip, and consequently, activity in those muscles which form the fulness of the chin : yet a remarkable variety is produced in the Hnes which mark the features about the upper lip, by the play of the different muscles which converge to the mouth from the margins of the orbits. But this subject has further interest.

The organisation necessary to speech, the great instru-


ment of hum


th


thought, is widely dispersed : that


utterance of sound th


is, for must conform, a motion


of the lungs or chest, an adjustment of the lary pharynx, and a fine modulation of the lips. It directly from the motions of the articulate sounds


and


IS more


tongue and lips that proceed ; and the connexion of the


numerous muscles brought into operation in these actions, is congenital with the awakening intellect.


a child is


Long before


taught


to speak, we may see an imperfect



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OF THE BEARD.


113


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agitation of the lips and cheeks ; and sounds are uttered which wait only for the effort of imitation to become language.

These remarks bear out our former statement, that beauty in the lips and lower part of the countenance of a well-formed face, has relation to the perfection of the structure viewed in connexion with speech, and in contrast with the apparatus for mastication.


The


pos-


session


of an instrument of speech is instinctively asso- ciated in our thoughts with the most exalted endowments of man, moral and intellectual.


OF THE BEARD.


" Vidi presso di me un veglio solo, Degna di tanta riverenza in vista, Che piu non dee a padre alcun figliolo. Lunga la barba e di pel bianca mista, Portava a' suoi capegli simigliante De quai cadeva al petto doppia lista."


Dante.


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The stages of man


life


are


outwardly characterised. An opinion prevails, that the form and lineaments of old

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age are a consequence of the deterioration of the material of our frame j and that the resemblance so often drawn between an aged man leaning on his staff, and a ruin totter- ing to its fall, is a perfect one. It is not so ; the material of the frame is ever the same : years affect it not ; but infancy, youth, maturity, and old age, have their appro- priate outward characters. Why should the forehead be bald, and the beard luxuriant, if not to mark the latest epoch of man's life ? or what reason can be given for the hair not growing on the chin during the vascular fulness of


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114


OF THE BEARD.


youth, but that it would be inconsistent with the characters of that time of life to be provided with a beard ?

When these Essavs were first written, there was not a beard to be seen in England, unless joined with squalor and neglect : and I had the conviction that this appendage concealed the finest features. Being in Rome, however, during the procession of the Corpus Domini, I saw that


the expression was not injured



the beard ; but that


it added to the dignity and character of years, evident that the fine heads


It


was



the old masters were copies of what were then seen in nature, though now but rarely. There were beards which nearly equalled that of the " Moses" of Michael Angelo, in length; and which flowed like those in the paintings of Domenichino

and Correggio.*

The beard is characteristic of nations. In the East, it

is honoured; and to be shaved, is the mark of a slave.t A beard of three hands' breadth is a goodly show ; but to exceed that, requires a life of repose : violent exercise in the field shortens the beard. The Turks have a very poor beard. The Persians have noble beards, arid are proud of the distinction. The beard of Futteh Ali Shah, the late king of Persia, reached below his girdle, was full and fine, and remarkable in a nation of beards, for having no division

- ^ r -■

^ " In the procession of the Corpus Domini, the Pope is attended by bishops from all parts of Christendom : from Mount Lebanon and the East, as well as from Roman Catholic Ireland. These dignitaries, with the cardinals, the superiors of convents, the friars of various orders, and the cavalcade of the guarda nobile, form a pageant far beyond what royalty can attain, or can any where else be witnessed, w^hether we coftsider the place and accompaniments, or the actors and their costumes. Then it was, that age, with bald head, and flowing beard, and appro- priate robes, surpassed youth and beauty, with all the trappings of the cavalier." — Note from Journal.

f 2 Samuel, x. 4.



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OF THE BEARD.


115





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in the middle. Such a beard, during the active period of life, shews finely on horseback ; being tossed over the shoulders in the wind, and indicating speed. In the natural beard, the hair has a peculiarity depending on the place from which it grows. The hair of the upper lip is more profuse, and even in the oldest man is of a darker hue, than that of the under lip ; so that falling on the lower part, it can still be distinguished as it mixes with the purer white. Again, the hair descending from the sides of the face attains a greater length than that which comes from the chin : and this is more especially the character

of age.

In the French regiments they set frightful fellows, with

axes over their shoulders, to march in front : on their heads is a black bear-skin cap, of the form and dimen- sions of a drum, and they select men with beards of the same hue, which grow in a bush, the counterpart of that on their heads. But the face, as seen between the two black masses, is more ludicrous than terrible, and has


effect very different from what is


tended


A


com


mon fellow's beard, like a common fello


countenance,


IS coarse.


Even in the Franciscan and Capuchin monks, the


beard has not works of the old


always the fine character displayed


Their models


gone


the

with


their times. Something excessive and ideal may be repre- sented by the beard. Michael Angelo has, perhaps, followed Scripture, in the beard of his " Moses," which floats below the girdle ; and in the fresco of Jeremiah, in the Sistine Chapel. The finest painting of the beard that I have seen, is by Correggio, in the Scala of the Albergo dei Poveri, in Genoa,


a fresco of the Saviour, in the arms of the Almighty, where the beard of the Father flows beauti-

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116


OF THE BEARD.


fully


In sliort, the beard may become, with knowledg


and taste, the most characteristic part in a fig


Exp


in the Lips and Moustaches


Thing


familiar do not always give rise to their natural I was led to attend more particularly to the mo


a feature of expre


in meeting a handsome voung


French soldier, coming up a long ascent in the Cote d'Or, and breathing hard, although with a good-humoured, innocent expression. His sharp-pointed black moustaches

rose and fell with a catamountain look that set me to think on the cause.

Every one must have observed how the nostrils play in hard breathing.t We have seen that there is a muscle which is the principal agent in this action ; and it may be felt


elling during inspiration, when the finger is pressed


the upper lip, just under the


It is the dep


alee


rhe action of this muscle, under the


of


the hairs on the lip


ibly


moves


them


and as all


  1. a


Our northern artists are unfavourably situated, not owing to the direct influence of cold, as Winckelman imagined, but an indirect cause. In historical painting, they draw from copies of nature, and paint beards, as they do the naked figure, without seeing it, or being familiar with the form and colour of the one or the other. But in Rome also they make mistakes. I found the artists supporting a fellow, whose beard was their model. The hair of the head, and the beard of this man, had grown to an extraordinary length, shewing what an uncouth mass it may become- He had been painted so often as the Father of the gods, that in his craze he had believed himself to be no less. I said, if they would plunge him in the Tiber, and study him as he rose, he might pass

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for a river god. No ; the beard is a mere mass of hair, but admits of much chai^acter." — Note from Journal.

f Physiognomists make a wide nostril the sign of a fiery disposition. It may be expressive of passion, without being the cause. The idea of its being the seat of passion, is undoubtedly taken from animal expression.

  • ^ There went a smoke out of His nostrils," is hardly descriptive of human

excitement.


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OF THE BEARD,


117


passionate excitements influence the respiratory actions,


the nostrils and moustaches


rily participate in th


movement in violent passions. Thus, although the hair of the upper lip does conceal the finer modulations of


the mouth


woman


adds to the character of the


nger and harsher emotions.

I continued to think of this in descending the Rhone


m


company


th some French officers ; they


merry


with wine, and I saw their moustaches, black, red, and

white, animated in their songs and laughter; and although with a. farouche character, these appendages rather added to, than concealed expression. We see the pictorial efi*ect in the hilarity of the Dutch boor.

The lower lip moves more than the upper. With this, too, we are so familiar as not to


be sensible of


but if


we


try the


periment of looking on the face of a friend


versed position, we shall be convinced that


The


expr


of speaking results very much from the modulation of the lower lip ; and the rising and falling of

the same time, and more

Passion, how-


the jaw, especially



takes



in singing, adds to the motion pressed more in the upper lip.


In compassionating a fellow-creature, it is not natural look on the face reversed. Yet I have seen in a modern


pictur


a soldier re



his


ded comrade, dessu


dessous, the mouth to the forehead, the eye to the mouth. The immediate effect was a want of sympathy, — of proper feelino". Even the nurse turns her head in correspondence with the face of the infant. Is the same not meant by the Psalmist, "% heart said unto thee, Let mi/ face seek thy



This was in my mind in looking on a picture of the Saviour, dead, lying on the knees of the Madonna ; she turns her head, bringing her face nearly parallel with that


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OF THE BEARD,


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of the Redeemer ; which produces infinite grace and

tenderness.*

The drawing of the head of a man, thrown to the ground, being to our eye reversed, has not the same effect as when represented upright. Certain features must be exaggerated. That is, if the painter were to draw the face accurately, and then turn the picture the contrary way, the head downwards, it would have no force. This arises from the reversed features being deficient in the accustomed harmony, and from the altered relation of the upper and lower lips. Michael Angelo, with his other excellencies, was a master of expression. There is a Pieta by him in alto-relievo, t which gives proof of this.


The


piece


of marble does not exceed three feet ; and nothinof


if



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but expression could have given to it its celebrity.

I was never more sensible of the action of the lower lip, as expressive of speech, than in looking on a picture

that very extraordinary painter, Zurbaran. It repre- sents St. Francis. He is kneeling, his hands locked together energetically, his eyes raised, and his lower lip has the expression of moving in prayer. J

Among the many advantages which the artist has in the southern countries of Europe, the service of the Roman Catholic Church affords him the chief. At all seasons, as w^ell as during the service of the altar, there are in the


I




  • In the Gallery of the Academia delle Belle Arte, Bologna.

t In the Albergo del Poveri, in Genoa. " A Pieta is the representation of Christ resting on the lap of the mother. The eyes of the mother are shut, the mouth not open, but in the lips a form that implies she is about to kiss the cheek. The angles of the mouth are in the slightest degree depressed, and the lips must open when next she draws breath." Note from Journal.

X The picture is in the Spanish School of the Musee Royale of Louvre.



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OF THE BEARD.


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cathedrals and churches groups and single figures ; the lady in rich attire, not more picturesque than the country- girl ; the beggar, and the monk, on their knees, mut- tering their prayers. In the family pew of the Reformed Church there may be as holy a frame of mind, but never

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the expression of those wrapt and solitary figures, whom we see prostrate on the bare stones in the solemn light of these churches. But my object was to advert to their inaudible mutterings, in which the amount of expression capable of being thrown into the lips during speech, may be well observed. Nor can a stranger go from the church to the picture-galleries, and mistake for a moment where the great painters found their studies, where they gained those conceptions of devotion, of enthusiasm and abandon- ment, which we see in the portraits of their saints and martyrs.*


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  • ^^ St. Siro, Genoa. It is a new thing to see those beggars crawling

on the stairs. There is one who, lying on his belly, drags himself along with a short stick; the precise figure that is in the cartoons of Raphael. They are squalid, distorted, and strange. One fellow among them I should have in my sketch-book. He is on his knees, and, whilst receiving a soldo from a very poor and very old woman, counts his beads, and crosses himself, with an indifference that hardly can be real. In entering a church in health, and the enjoyment of life, to step

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through amongst the ' poveri ' is no bad preparation. It is impossible to witness the countryman, whose coarse dress marks the lowness of his condition, — to see him apart, in an obscure aisle, cast down, and in praver, with such perfect abstraction and abandonment, without the words of the publican being suggested, ' God be merciful to me a sinner.' In this respect, amidst all the blazon and show of worship which belong to the Roman Catholic, it is still the church of the poor. There is no respect for rank or condition within the precincts of a place of worship." — Note from Journal.



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ESSAY V.


OF THE EXPRESSION OF PASSION, AS ILLUSTRATED BY A COMPARISON OF THE MUSCLES OF THE FACE IN MAN AND IN ANIMALS ; AND OF THE MUSCLES PECULIAR TO MAN, AND THEIR EFFECTS IN BESTOWING HUMAN EXPRESSION.



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The violent passions are exhibited so distinctly in the countenance of both man and animals, that we are led to consider the movements by which they are made obvious, as characteristic signs provided by nature for the express purpose of intimating the inward emotions : that they may be interpreted by a peculiar and intuitive faculty in the observer.

This view, however, so natural at first, is not altogether satisfactory ; and an opposite theory has been proposed, in

which such special provision is denied, and the appearances are accounted for, as the effect of certain actions which are performed in obedience to the common laws of the animal economy. It is also said, that we are taught by experience alone, to distinguish the signs of the passions in man : that in infancy we learn that smiles are expressive of kindness, because accompanied by endearments, and that frowns are



blows.


The


the reverse, because they are followed

expression of anger in a brute is alleged to be merely the



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OF EXPRESSION IN ANIMALS.


121


cast of features which precedes his biting ; and the cha- racter of fondness, that which is seen in his fawning and licking of the hand. In short, it has been maintained that what are called the external signs of passion, are only the

concomitants of those voluntary movements which the structure renders necessary. That, for example, the glare of the lion's eye proceeds from his effort to see his prey more clearly ; and his grin or snarl from the natural act of unsheathing his fangs before using them.

But, if we attend to the evidence of anatomical investi- gation, we shall perceive a remarkable difference between the provision


for giving


motion to the features in ani-


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mals, and that for bestowing expression in man. In the'^ lower creatures, there is no expression, but what may be referred, more or less plainly, to their acts of volition, or necessary instincts ; while in man there seems to be a special apparatus, for the purpose of enabling him to communicate with his fellow-creatures, by that natural language, which is read in the changes of his countenance. There exist in his face, not only all those parts, which their action produce expression in the several classes of quadrupeds, but there is added a peculiar set of muscles to which no other office can be assigned than to serve for expression.



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In brutes the most marked expression is that of rage ; the object of which is opposition, resistance, and defence. But on examination it will be found that the force of the


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expression is in proportion to the strength of the principal action in the creature when thus excited.

The graminivorous animals, which seek their sub- sistence, not by preying upon others, or by the ferocity, contest, and victory, which supply the carnivorous with food, have in their features no strong expression of rage ; it is chiefly confined to the effect produced on the general


system.


Thus the inflamed eye and the breathing nostrils


of the bull are induced by the excitement of the whole frame ; his only proper expression of rage is in the po- sition of the head, with the horns turned obliquely to the ground, ready to strike ; and indeed it may be observed, that animals which strike with the horns shew little indication either of fear or rage, except in the position of the head ; for the breath ejected from the expanded nostril is the effect of mere exertion, and may belong to different conditions of the frame. In all gramini- vorous animals, the skin of the head is closely attached to the skull, and capable of very limited motion :


the


eye


IS


almost


uniformly mild, and the lips are unmoved

by passion.

It is in the carnivorous animals, with whose habits and manner of life ferocity is instinctively connected, as suited to their mode of subsistence, that rage is distinguished

remarkable strength of expression. The eyeball is terrible, and the retraction of the flesh of the lips indicates the most savage fury. The action of the respiratory organs, the heaving and agony of breathing, the deep and harsh motion of the air drawn through the throat in the growl.



^ declare the universal excitement of the animal.


It


IS


wrong to imagine that all this is a mere preparatory ex- posure of the canine teeth. Brutes may have expression.



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OF EXPRESSION IN ANIMALS.


123


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properly so called, as well as man, thougli in a more limited degree ; but in them, expression is so moulded to their natures and their necessities, that it seems accessory to their needful and voluntary actions.

The horse is universally held to be a noble animal, as he possesses the expression of courage, without the fero- ciousness of the beast of prey; and as there is a consent between the motions of the ear and the eye, which resembles the exertion of mind, and the movements of the human countenance. But even this expression is the result of an incidental consent of animal motions ; and no more proves intelligence, than the diminutive eye and the unexpressive face of the elephant denote the contrary. We admire it, because there is as much animation as in the tiger, without the ferocity. The consent of motions between the eye and the ear of the horse is a physical consequence of the necessities of the animal. His defence lies in the hind feet, and there is an arrangement both in the muscles, and in the form of


the skull, for that retrovert ed dire ction of the eye, which



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seems so expressive in the horse, but which merely serves


I


to guide the blow. The inflation of the nostrils, and the fleshiness of the lips, belong to the peculiar provision for his respiration and mode of feeding.


The head of a lion is taken to shew the muscular apparatus of a carnivorous animal.

A A. The circular fibres, which surround the eyelids,

and which are common to all animals.

BCD. Accessory muscles, which draw back the eyelids from the eyeball, and give a sparkling fierceness to the eye.

Artists bestow an expression on the eye of the lion which they suppose gives dignity — a kind of knitting of the eyebrows, whilst the eyelids are straining wide.


This


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is quite incompatible with the powers of expression in brutes. When the lion closes his eyes in repose, the fleshiness about the eyelids and the hair of the skin pro- duce the effect of a morose human expression, but when he is excited, and the eye is fixed, there is no such character. E F. The mass of muscular fibres, with those concealed


under them, are very


strong in


this class of animals.


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They raise and expose the teeth, with the savage expression peculiar to the carnivora.


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G. The miiscles which move the nostril in smelling. H. A muscle which answers to the zvffomaticus in


man, and which must have great power in this animal it reaches from the ear to the angle of the mouth, opens the mouth, retracts the lips, and disengages

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from the teeth, as in seizing their prey.


It

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OF EXPRESSION IN ANIMALS.


125


I. The buccinator muscle.

K. Insertion of part of the masseter muscle, one of the powerful muscles that close the jaws.

I observed above, that some painters have thought it allowable to give human expression to the heads of Hons, and others h

I think this


presented it


their heads of horses


is done on a mistaken view, and that it .11 never enhance the peculiar beauty of any animal to graft upon it some part of human expression. Rubens,


his picture of Daniel


character to the heads of the lions


the lions' den, has giv


this


It is more th


doubtful, whether it be in the true spirit of that principle of association which should govern the adaptation of


expression and charact


in producincf an ideal form


thus to mingle human expression with the features of the savage animals. It seems, however, that a


be made when th


a distinction is presented in its natural


and when sculptured emblematically. Represented

the forest, the picture should possess


m his den


all the natural charact


wh


couched amidst the


insignia of empire, there may be a difference


A horse's head is from Giulio Romano, ideal head : we say that


added in illustration; it is taken

The painter has here produced an

it is a horse rather on account


of the bridle in the mouth than because


th


character of that animal


we recognise


Instead of the full


clear eye standing prominent upon the temple, there is an eye sunk deep, with an overhanging eyebrow ; the cha- racter entirely human, and the expression thoughtful and suspicious. In the hair of the forehead, and in the ears, in the roundness of the head and neck, the artist has ferred the model of the antique to what, in this insti


pre


must consider to be


finer forms of


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126


OF EXPRESSION IN ANIMALS


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the nostrils of the horse, but they


expansion


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and there are thick and fleshy lips, with an open mouthy which no power of association can ever teach us to admire


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There is a spirit in the expanded nostril, a fire in the


the h


head taken


eye, a kind of intellig

altogether; there is a beauty in the form of the neck, and


an ease


and grandeur in the carriage of the head, where gth and freedom are combined, which cannot be

No doubt




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excelled by the substitution of an ideal form, the painter in this instance wished to avoid that com-

of form, which represses sentiment in the be- holder, and destroys the poetical effect of a picture ; but it is attempted at the expense of truth of cha- racter. In the utmost excitement, animals of this class do not open the mouth; they cannot breathe through the


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valve in the throat prevents it.


that


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mation is exhibited only in the nostril and the eye. open mouth is from the checking of the bit between the


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OF EXPRESSION IN ANIMALS.


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teeth, and is never seen when the horse is untrammelled and free.

Such were the opinions delivered in the first edition of this work, and they were drawn from observation of nature, on which I always rest with absolute reliance. Since that time, the Elgin collection of sculptures has arrived. These remains of antiquity are of great value to the arts of this country,* as they obviously tend to turn the artist's attention to nature, and exhibit to him the con- sistency of natural form and beauty. The horses' heads in that collection are perfectly natural, and if there be ex- aggeration, it is only in the stronger marking of that which is the characteristic distinction of the animal.


The next drawing represents the muscles of the horse's


head.


A A. The orbicular muscle of the eyelids. B. An accessory muscle to raise the eyelid.

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c. A very peculiar muscle. It pulls down the eyelid. D. A muscle connected also with the eye, and arising


from the cartilages of the

E. A muscle answer man.


g to the zygomatic muscle in


These muscles, surrounding the eyelids of the horse, account for the superior expression of the eye. The muscle D seems calculated to operate upon the outer

e of the eyelids, and to enable the animal to direct


g


the eye backwards muscle E.


thi


probably assisted by th


F. This forms a class of muscles which descend


the


side of the face, and are inserted into the G G. Muscular fibres, also operating of the tube of the nostril.


distension


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128


OF EXPRESSION IN ANIMALS.


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H. A strong muscle, which acts upon the cartilage, and distends the nostril with great power.


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There is something in the distribution of these muscles which illustrates the character of the class, and accounts for the peculiarity of expression. We cannot fail to ob- serve the difference in the general direction and classing of the muscles of the face in the horse and in the lion. In the carnivorous animal, they all tend to lift the lips from the canine teeth, so that they cannot act without shewing the teeth, with a snarling expression : in the

graminivorous animal, on the


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the contrary, muscles, having


same place and origin


pass


to the cartilages of the


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OF EXPRESSION IN ANIMALS.


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nose, and inflate it tlie instant they are excited. It is these musclesj therefore, more than any thing else, which produce the very different character and expression in the two classes of animals.

A strong muscle, which lies under that of the


1 1.


nostril f.


Its tendon passes forward over the nose, and unites with its fellow of the other side. These together


form a broad tendon k, which is inserted


the


lip


upper


There is a similar muscle moving the lower lip


which cannot be seen in this view.

L M. The circular fibres of the lips, which in the horse

-

are particularly strong and fleshy.

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N. A web of muscle, which is extended from the cuta- neous muscle of the neck.

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The last-named muscles have all great power, and

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give extensive motion to the lips. They take a course

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over the nose in a manner quite peculiar to this class of animals, to raise and project the upper lip, as in gathering food. Any one who feeds his horse from his hand may feel the singular sensitiveness and mobility of his lips.

Looking to these muscles, and contrasting them with the animated sketch by Mr. Northcote, we cannot fail to

h

see how much the form of the head depends upon the teeth being small in fronts and large and deep-set at the back part of the jaw ; how much the peculiarity of ex- pression in the animal is owing to its breathing through the nostril, and not through the mouth, and to its brilliant eye being placed on the utmost projection of the head, so that, by the slightest turn of the pliant neck, it may be directed backward. Finally, we perceive how the muscles are adapted to draw back the eyelids, to expand the nostrils, and project the lips from the incisor teeth, and


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130


OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.




also to place the food under tlie operation of the grinding


teeth.


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OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS COMPARED WITH THOSE

OF MAN.


J


Referring to the remarkable difFerence between the range of expression in man and in animals, and considering that in brutes it proceeds from necessity or voluntary action,


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OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


131


-

while in man there is a special provision for bestowing it, a peculiar set of muscles to which no other office can he assigned, it is proper to reduce the muscles of several quadrupeds into classes, that we may distinguish the

characteristics of mere animal expression from those in man.

They may he distinguished as, 1st, Those which raise

r ,

the lips from the teeth ; Qd. Those which surround the eyelids ; and 3d. Those which move the nostrils.

1* The first of these classes, viz. the muscles which raise the lips Jtom the teethy admit of a subdivision. In the carnivorous animal the muscles of the lips are so directed as to raise the lip from the canine teeth. In the graminivorous they are directed so as to raise the- lips from the inbisor teeth. The former I would distinguish by the name ringentes, snarling muscles : the latter by the name depascentes, muscles simply for feeding.

The snarling muscles arise from the margin of the orbit, and from the upper jaw j they are inserted into that part of the upper lip from which the moustaches grow, and which is opposite to the canine teeth. Their sole office^ is^ to raise the upper lip from the canine teeth ;

^ _

others (the



and although they are assisted in this masticating muscles), I have ventured to distinguish them particularly as the muscles of snarling. This action of snarling is quite peculiar to the ferocious and carnivorous animals. The graminivorous are incapable of it, and con- sequently these muscles are to be found largely developed only in the former class, not in the latter. In the car- nivorous animals it can scarcely be said that there is a perfect or regular orbicular muscle, as in man, for con- tracting the lips ; the lips hang loose and relaxed, unless when drawn aside by the snarling muscles, and they fall



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132


OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


back into this state of relaxation, with the remission of the

4

action of these muscles.

The chief muscles of the lips, which in carnivorous animals are directed to the side of the mouth, are, in graminivorous animals, directed to the middle of the lip over the front teeth. I call them depascentes, from their use, which is to enable the creature to open its lips so as to


gather food, and to bite the g


They


muscles and joi]


are long


one


come


down upon each side of the face


broad tendon, pass over the


inserted into the upper hp. Another


lower j


lose to be along the


be inserted by a peculiar feathered tendon


into the under lip. These muscles are very strong in the horse. They give a peculiar and characteristic expression to the. stalHon, when he snuffs the breeze, with his head


high


in air ; when he b


th


different from that of the


e expression is entirely


animal


tead of


exposing the teeth


ponding with the canine, he lifts


Th


the lips from the fore teeth, and protrudes them.

carnivorous animals have not these muscles of the fore part of the lip ; in them the lips covering the incisor teeth are not fleshy like those of the graminivorous animals, but are tied down to the gums, and the fore teeth are ex- posed only in consequence of the straining occasioned by retraction of the side of the mouth.

Although the graminivorous animals do not possess those muscles which so powerfully retract the lips in the carnivorous class, they have a more perfect orbicular muscle surrounding the mouth, and regulating the motion of their fleshy lips.

2. Muscles which surround the eyelid. — In man, the upper eyelid is raised by a muscle coming from the back of the orbit. But animals of prey, in whose eyes there is


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OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


133


the peculiar and ferocious splendour, which distinguishes the tiger or the lion, have, in addition to this muscle, three others attached to the eyelids, which, stretching the coats and drawing the eyelids backward upon the pro- minent eyeball, produce a fixed straining of the eye, and

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a greater brightness. These muscles I have termed scintil-


lantes, because



g


the


yelid


they expose


the brilliant white of the eye, which reflects a sparklin


ght


In the sheep, besides the proper muscle coming

of the orbit, there is only a web of


from the bottom


fibres to assist in raising the eyelid. In the horse, there is a muscle to pull down the lower eyelid ; and another, which, passing from


the ear to the outer


g


of the


yelid, retracts it, and


bles the animal to direct th


pupil backward, where his defence lies. In the • feline


tribe light is reflected from the bottom of the


eye,


when


the pupil is dilated; and as the pupil dilates in obscure light, there is a brilliant reflection from the cat's eye, which we mistake for indication of passion. All these may be partially displayed in the human eye, as in the bloodshot redness combined with the circle of reflected light from the margin of the cornea, like a flame or angry spark, as Charon is described by Dante,


" Ch' intorno agli occhi avea di fiamme ruote,


9?


Or as lighted charcoal, from the bottom of the eye.


" Caron demonio con occhi di bragia.


?>


It is in this way that a touch of true expression will illustrate a whole passage ; so Milton,

" With head uplift above the wave, and eyes


That sparkling blazed."*


  • So also Spenser, B. vi. cant. 7, stanza 42.


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134


OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS


d. Muscles of the Nostrils. — Th


are not less dis


and peculiar, in different classes of animals, than the


muscles of the eye and lip the nose is comparatively


In the carnivorous animals, significant, provision being


made in the open mouth for any


onal


of


while


respiration above the uniform, play of the lungs ; the inoffensive animals, which are the prey of the more ferocious, the inflation of the nostril is provided for by the action of another set of muscles.

For example, in the horse " the glory of whose nostrils is terrible," the muscles which inflate the nostril are very


peculiar


They


like the ringentes ; but instead of


being fixed into the lips, as in carnivorous animals, whosa lips are to be raised from the canine teeth, they pass to the nostrils, and in combination with some lesser muscles,, powerfully inflate them when the animal is pushed to his speed, excited by fear, or inflamed to rage. •

In the gallery of Florence, there is the head of a horse in bronze, and antique ; it is very fine, and in all respects as natural as those of the Elgin Marbles ; the mouth is Qpen,, but there is a bit in it..


Over the fountain


the Piazza of the Grand Duke


is placed a group of Nept


drawn



four h


the mouths of all the horses are open, and as they are


they seem to be of ame thing, whatever


free agents, without bit or harness,

F

one mind, and to be expressing the i

that may be. They would have been much finer, had the

artist given them animation through the eye and nostril,

4

without opening the mouth,*

The horse's mouth is never seen open when the animal


  • *^ Milan. The four horses in the triumphal arch have their mouths

gaping wide ; not so the coursers last night in the Circus." — Note from JournaL



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OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


135


is free. Nothing can be finer than the action of a charger in the field : but though he should snort and neigh and throw up his head and mane, with all his excitement he does not open his mouth. In the antiquities of Count Caylus, the horse's head is represented naturally.

We may notice here, that most of the carnivorous animals hunt their prey. For this object, they not only require a peculiar and extended organ of smelling, hut the air must he drawn forcibly over the surface on which the

olfactory nerve is spread. It appears to me, that this accounts for their small confined nostril, and their breathing freely through the mouth. In smelling, an action of the nostrils takes place which directs the stream of air up- wards into the cells of the nose, where the olfactory nerve is distributed. This is especially the case in the con- formation of the dog's nostrils.


Returning


the muscles in the human counte-


nance, we perceive that, although the motions of the lips and nostrils in man may not be so extensive as in other classes of animals, there is in his face a capacity for all the varieties of expression which distinguish these creatures. He stands, as we have said, between the carnivorous and graminivorous animals j or, rather, he partakes the nature of both. He has the snarling muscles which so peculiarly distinguish the carnivorous class, while he is able to protrude the lips, and uncover the teeth, like the grami-

nivorous. We have seen that in the carnivorous animals, the muscles descending from the cheek-bones and upper jaw to raise the lip are strong, and that the orbicular or circular fibres of the mouth are feeble, the lip being attached to the fore part of the gums. In the grami- nivorous animals, on the contrary, the orbicular muscle

-

has great power ; while the elevating and depressing


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136


OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


muscles of the side of the mouth are weak. But in man, both classes of muscles are combined; the elevating and depressing muscles are fully developed, while the orbicular muscle completely antagonises them, modulating and qua- lifying their actions, and bestowing the utmost perfection

on the motions of the lips.

Whether we look to the form of the features or to their

power of expression, the consideration of these two classes


of muscles alone will


for certain varieties in the


human face. In one man, the excitement of passion

may be indicated chiefly by the prevalence of one class,

while in a second, another class will predominate in the

expression.

to give examples, I would say that


If it be allowable in the countenance of Mrs. Siddons or Mr. John Kemble, there was presented the highest character of beauty which belongs to the true English face. In that family the upper lip and nostrils were very expressive : the class of muscles which operate on the nostrils was especially powerful, and both these great tragedians had a remark- able capacity for the expression of the nobler passions. In their cast of features there was never seen that blood- thirsty look which Cooke could throw into his face.


In


him, the ringentes prevailed : and what determined hate could he express, when, combined with the oblique cast of his eyes, he drew up the outer part of the upper lip,


and disclosed a sharp angular tooth! And is it not this lateral drawing of the lips, and stretching them upon the closed teeth, which make the blood start from them, in remorseless hate and rancour?

But besides the muscles analogous to those of brutes, others are introduced into the human face, which indicate emotions and sympathies of which the lower animals are


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OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


137


not susceptible j and as they are peculiar to man, they may be considered as the index of mental energy, in opposition

to mere animal expression.

The most moveable and expressive features are the

inner extremity of the eyebrow and the


g


of the


-fc«:---^ '*-■>;-.


mouth ; and these are precisely the parts which have least expression in hrutes ; for they have no eyebrows, and

of elevating or depressing the angle of the


no power

mouth. It is therefore


these feat


that


should


,f


expect to find the muscles of expression peculiar to man.

The most remarkable muscle of the human face is the corrugator supercilii (d, fig., p. 99), arising from the frontal


!


bone, near its


with the nasal bones, and inserted




an


the skin of the eyebro

stic efifect. which i


•g


knits the eyebrows with untably, but irresistibly,


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conveys the idea of mind.

The frontal portion of the occipito-frontalis muscle (a, fig., p. 99), is the antagonist of the orbicular muscle of the


ey eli ds


It is wanting in the animals which we


have


examined ; and in its stead, fibres, more or less strong, ar< found to be inserted directly into the eyelids .

The motion of the features which, next to that pro


duced by the


gator supercilii, is most expressive of


human passion and sentiment, is to be seen in the angle of the mouth. At one time I conceived that this distinctive


expression was chiefly owing to the superbus


fig


p. 1 09), which elevates and protrudes the under lip, but I was deceived. The character of human expression in the


g



the


\gularis oris,


or


dep


(h, fig., p. 109)


mouth is

anguli on

found in any of the

peculiar to man, and I can assign no other use for it th


a muscle which I have not animals ; I believe it to be


r


that which belongs to expression


It arises from the base


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138


OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.



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of the lower jaw, and passes up to be inserted, with the

no- fibres of almost all the muscles of the side of


convergi the face


the corner of the mouth


produces that


«,


arching of the lip so expressive of contempt, hatred, jealousy ; and in combination with the elevator of the under lip, or superbus, and the orbicularis, it has a larger share than any other muscle in producing the infinite variety of motions in the mouth, expressive of sentiment.

When we compare the muscles of the human head with those of animals, we perceive many smaller distinctions, which I shall not at present discuss. The depressor alee nasi (d, fig., p. 107), the nasalis labii superioris (b, fig., p. 109), the anterior fibres of the occipito-frontalis (a, fig., p. 99), are not found in the brute ; and in general, the more minute and fasciculated structure of all the muscles of the lips, in the face of man, shews a decided superiority in the provision for motion of the features.

We have already observed, that the faces of animals seem chiefly capable of expressing pain is indicated more in the voice, and in writhing and

struggling.

The rage of the graminivorous animal is chiefly visible in the eye, in the inflation of the nostril, and in the dis- turbed state of the body. It is expressed most strongly by the carnivorous animals : in them it is wild, ferocious, and terrifying. Their expression of rage, so far as it appears in the face, is shewn by the strong action of the ringentes^ or snarling muscles, the exposure of the canine teeth, the gnashing of the tusks, and the brilliant excite- ment of the eye. The expression of human rage partakes of both J the corresponding muscles of the lips and nostrils producing a similar action to that in animals ; an ex-


posure and clenching of the teeth j a degree of sparkling


rage and fear ; even


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OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


139


of the eye, and an


inflation of the nostrils


Of


under the influence of such actions, a spectat


infallibly say, that the aspect was


brutal


g


a face would J. and


cruel.


But when th


culiar to human




^„K ,..-..-.. ., " -■ -..':-.- — '--■-!-



g


gator supercilii, a^uscle„per is brought into action, the

of


'altered. The eyebrows are knit, the energy


mtecTis apparent, and there is


the mingling of thought


and emotion with the savage and brutal rage of the mere


animal


In man, the


of the frontal muscle, of the cor-


rugator supercilii, and of the orbicular muscle of the mouth give much expression


If instead of the


of the


lips and the exposure of the teeth, as in the rage or pam of animals, the mouth is half closed, the lips inflected by the circular fibres, and drawn down by the action of the peculiarly human muscle, the depressor anguli oris, fhen there is expressed more agony of mind than of mere bodily suff'ering, by a combination of muscular actions of which

animals are incapable.

The action of the orbicular muscle of the lips is, indeed, the most characteristic of agony of mind, and of all those passions which partake of sentiment ; ii of spirit, in warping, it modifies the eff"ect of the muscles of animal expression, and produces human character.

Fear is characterised in animals by a mingling of anger,

and of preparation for defence, with a shrinking of alarm


ffrief


to


m


the more ferocious, and a


g of the eye and

In


inflation of the nostril, with trembling, in the milder, human fear and suspicion, the nostril is inflated, and the eye has that backward, jealous, and timid character which we see in the horse, and in the gentler classes of animals.

The orbicular muscle of the lips, with the system of elevating and depressing muscles in man, lead to expressions


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140


OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


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peculiarly human. And here I may observe, that ex- pression is not always the effect of a contraction of the muscles of the face, either general or partial. It proceeds rather from a combined action of the muscles when under passion : for it is often the relaxation of a certain class, more than their excitement, which gives expression ; and of this, smiling and laughter furnish the most apposite

examples.


The capacity of receiving ludicrous ideas


as com


pletely denied to animals as they are utterly incapable of


the accompanying


action of laughter


Dog


m


their




I.

t

s


expression of fondness, have a slight eversion of the lips, and grin and snuff amidst their frolic and gambols, in a way that resembles laughter j but in all this there is nothing which truly approaches to human expression. That is produced by the relaxation of the orbicular muscle


of the lips, and the


quent preponderating


of


the elevating muscles j and, of course, it can exist only in a face which possesses both the orbicular and the straight muscles of the lips in perfection.

In the emotions of contempt, pride, suspicion, and


jealousy, the orbicular muscle


d the


gularis oris.


produce by their combination the arching of the lips, and the depression of the angle


of the mouth. The hori


zontal drawing of the lips which just discloses the teeth


and betrays the


bitter and malignant passions




owing to a more general action of the muscles overcoming the opposition of the orbicularis.

In grief, the muscles of the eyebrow and those of the lips are combined in expression j hence the union of that upward direction of the extremity of the eyebrow charac- terising peevishness, discontent, and sinking of the spirits, with the depression of the angle of the mouth, which so



'







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OF THE MUSCLES OF ANIMALS.


141


distinctly indicates the harassed and subdued state of


mind.

By the combination of those muscles of expression, much of that various play of the features expressive of human passions, as joy, hope, admiration, anxiety, fear, horror, despair, is produced ; and thus, while the human countenance is capable of expressing both the rage of the more ferocious animals, and the timidity of the milder, it possesses, by the consentaneous action of a few superadded muscles, powers of expression varying almost to infinity.

It is curious to observe how the muscles thus afford a new occasion of distinguishing the classes of animals ; and

IS of superior intelligence, they give proofs of


how, as signs

the endowments of man, and the excellence of his


The full clear eye


the arched and moveable eyebr


the smooth and polished forehead -, as indicating suscept bility of emotion, and power of expression, are grand features of human character and beauty; and it is


the


perfection of beauty when the spectator is made sensible of this inherent, this latent power, even while no pre- vailing passion affects the features. But a great portio of the beauty of the human face


the


and the


mouth


tril which has a capacity for expression without being too membranous and inflatable, for that produces a mean


d imbecile kind of fier


and


lip


full and capable of those various modula




tions of form which are indication of human feeling.


y


to speech and the


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ESSAY VI


" Grief laments the absence, and fear apprehends the loss of what we love ; desire pursues it ; hope has it in view ; and joy triumphs in possession." *


OF EXPRESSION (CONTINUED).

We advance to tlie interesting subject of variable ex- pression in the human face. It is by the habit of ex- pression that the countenance is improved or degraded, and that the characters of virtue or vice are imprinted. If hardship, misfortune, care, and, still more, vice, are

there habitually impressed, then all that we admire is lost.

Peace, comfort, society, and agreeable studies, preserve

the features mobile, and ready to conform, as an index of

the mind, to the sentiments we love. Petrarch, Boccaccio,

and Dante, dwell on the expression of their mistresses.t


  • Heylin, vol. i. p. 5.

t " Poi guardo I'amorosa e hella bocca luSi spaziosa fronte, e il vago piglio

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Li bianchi dentin e il dritto naso, e il ciglio Polito e brun tal che depinto pare." — Dante

^' Soave va a guisa di un bel pavone."


Decamerone Giornata^ iv


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H.


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OF EXPRESSION.


143


Addison has justly said, "No woman can be handsome by the force of features alone, any more than she can be witty only by the help of speech."

The form of the face and the features are but the


groundwork of expression


The influence of passion on


the body is a subject which has been discussed from the


first dawnings of philosophy


The Greeks did not confine


their study to the outward form of man


they also spe


culated on the habit of the body as aff'ecting the mind and we insensibly use their language, although the cours of their ideas may be rejected or forgotten.


There


the forms, strength, temper, and capacities of man


It has been well said, that you


tread on a man's T. One man


toe without learning something of his temper.

will have his joke, although it mny hurt his dearest friend


and another has so little imag


that


the to


delirium of fever he is dull. Some are gen( profligacy, or frugal to meanness, or gallant and true, or


cowardly and insincere


these varieties are a


part of


human nature, and necessary to the constitution of society


But the ing

the diversity of disp


of Ancient Greece ascribed to the texture of the frame j


the features, nor to the proportions or shape of the

to the mixture of the elements of the


skull, but rath


body


and more to the fluids than


the solids. Th


distinctions, famihar to all, have in every succeedmg ag


been attributed to the humours


When we speak of the


constitution, the temp


the humour of a man


truth adopting the language of Hippocrates, who treated of the four radical humours,— the sanguineous, phlegmatic,

choleric, and melancholic.

Other philosophers have imagined that the disposi-


of man might have their


his greater or less


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144


OF EXPRESSION.


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resemblance to the brutes. It was then allowable to fancy that a lion-like framej strong hair, deep voice, and pow- erful limbs, were combined with courage. But our heroes are not of that mould. To be collected amidst fire and smoke, and the deafening sounds of battle — to marshal thousands — or to direct the Yessel's course, whilst exposed not only to wounds but to death, is true courage ; and, in these days, it is witnessed in the pale and fragile, more than in the strong and sanguineous, or the bulky and hairy savage. We can better estimate true courage since combatants have been divested of the helmet and mail.*

That the features indicate the disposition by resem- bling those of animals, is an unjust and dangerous theory. The comparison which we have made of the human form and features with those of certain classes of animals, is

)se speculations which would lead


very


different from th


us to condemn a man because of some resemblance in face

to a brute.t

Notwithstanding the attraction of the engravings in

Lavater's work, the study of physiognomy is now aban- doned for that of the cranium. But I must repeat.


V


  • Sir G. N-5 in the assault of


, killed his opponent.


u


The


soldier thrust at me with his bayonet. I parried, and passed my sword through his body. In withdrawing it, I experienced a sensation which will only leave me with life," A kindred spirit expresses himself well. "The modern soldier is not the stern, bloody-handed man the ancient soldier was;" the ancient warrior, fighting with the sword, and reaping the harvest of death when the enemy was in flight, became habituated to the art of slaying. " The modern soldier sees not his peculiar victims fall,


and exults not over them as proof of personal prowess. Homer repre- sents Achilles as driving over the dead, till his chariot-wheels are dyed

in blood.

r

f This was the theory of Giambatista Porta, in his " Humana Phy- siognomia." He was equally successful in detecting the qualities of plants by their resemblance to animals.


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OF EXPRESSION.


145


that the hrain and the skull are constructed in strict


relation


perfect brain and a perfect skull are formed


igether. And what is the perfection of the skull


The


cranium is as a helmet of the hrain : and if so


constituted for the protectio

J

must it not be adapted to th


forces it has to sustain or resist? The skull is most perfect when its forms indicate the best possible provision for its peculiar use, the defence of the brain.

Let us attend more especially to the human passions. I do not mean to treat of all those conditions of mind which are considered under the head of the passions, sentiments, or emotions ; but to limit my inquiry to that kind or degree of mental excitement, which draws the frame into action, and which is interpreted by its agi- tation ; when the spirits, by their yehemence, produce uncontrollable movements of the body, not determined by the will, but spontaneously arising with the state of feeling, which they strengthen and direct.*

We shall begin, by marking the most extreme expres- sion of the passions, — laughter and weeping. They suit our purpose as being peculiarly human, arising from senti- ments not participated by the brutes*

It is vain to inquire into the sources of these emotions ; but I hope my reader consents to believe that the capacity of expression is bestowed as a boon, a mark of superior intelligence, and a source of enjoyment ; and that its very nature is to excite sympathy ; that it radiates, and is un- derstood by all J that it is the bond of the human family.


  • Were we not to limit our inquiry to the agitations of the body, we

should be embarrassed with the ambiguity of such words as passion, emotion, desire, inclination, appetite, the generous passions, the pas- sion of pride or of avarice ; even the mere state of suffering is called passion.


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LAUGHTER.


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We have seen that the muscles which operate upon the mouth are distinguishable into two classes, — those which surround and control the lips, and those which oppose them, and draw the mouth widely open.


The effect of


ludicrous idea is to relax the former, and to contract the latter j hence, by a lateral stretching of the mouth, and a raising of the cheek to the lower eyelid, a smile is pro- duced. The lips are, of all the features, the most sus- ceptible of action, and the most direct index of the feelings.



\




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LAUGHTER.


147


If the idea be exceedingly ridiculous, it is in vain that we endeavour to restrain this relaxation, and to compress the lips. The muscles concentring to the mouth prevail j they become more and more influenced j they retract the lips, and display the teeth. The cheeks are more power- fully drawn up, the eyelids wrinkled, and the eye almost

The lacrymal gland within the orbit is com- the pressure on the eyeball, and the eyes


A



concealed, pressed

suffused with tears.

Simple and passive pleasures, the delight of meeting or the contemplation of innocence, relax the lips and dimple the cheek, whilst the eyes are bright and intelligent. The dimple is formed by the muscles which are inserted in the angle of the mouth acting on the plump integument of infancy and youth.

Observe the condition of a man convulsed with laughter, and consider what are the organs or system of parts afffected. He draws a full breath, and throws it out in interrupted, short, and audible cachinnations j the muscles of his throat, neck, and chest, are agitated j the diaphragm is especially

n _

convulsed. He holds his sides, and, from the violent agita-


he is incapable of a voluntary


It


impossible to avoid the conclusion, that it is the


and their muscles which are affected

sts. in all


respiratory organs

during the paroxysm of laughter. Physiolog

former times, attributed the line of sympathetic relations

which draw these remote parts into action, to a nerve called


the sympathet


But I have proved, that there is a


expression, irises from


machinery altogether distinct ; and that the not only of this, but of all the other passions that system of nerves, which, from their great office, I have

called respiratory.


The respiratory


sprmg


from


common



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WEEPING.




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the medulla oblongata,* and pass oiF divergingly to all


the parts just enumerated, and to every


gan employed


'A


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piration


They combine these distant parts


th




ordinary action of breathing ; and they are the agen all the efFects of passion, when these organs give the ward signs of the condition of the mind.


WEEPING.t


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  • The medulla oblongata is that part of the nervous system which is

traced from the brain into the tube of the spine ; it is, consequently, the

upper part of the spinal marrow.

f I have thrown the expression of weeping, from pain, into the face of a Faun ; for such expression is inexpressibly mean and ludicrous in the countenance of a man.



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WEEPING.


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Weeping is another state of the features, proceeding have before observed, from sensibility ;


and, therefore,

human. Though the organs affected are the same as in laughter, viz. the respiratory muscles, the expression is as much opposed as the nature of the emotion which produces it. Were the condition of the features the effect of mere excitement, why should there be an association of the same class of muscles, so different from that in laughter


r (


?


Is


)


3

I


this variety of expression a proof of desi


and that


all our emotions are intended to have their appropr

outward characters ?

Accordino^ to Homer, the expression of weeping is


confined to babes


Uly


made to feel that


his nose which precedes the shedding of tears. The lacrymal glands are the first to be infected ; then

muscles of

from their




the eyelids ; and finally, the whole converg the cheeks. The lips are drawn aside, i



fibres relaxing, as in laughter, but from their being


super


influence of their an-


angle is depressed, two adverse powers


forcibly retracted by the tagonist muscles. Instead of the joyous elevation of the cheeks, the muscle which pulls down the angle of the mouth, triangularis oris, is more under influence, and the

The cheeks are thus drawn between

the muscles which surround the eye-

lids, and that which depresses the lower lip.

The same cause which drew the diaphragm and muscles of the chest into action in laughing, is perceived here. The diaphragm is spasmodically and irregularly affected ; the chest and throat are influenced ; the breathing is cut by sobbing ; the inspiration is hurried, and the expiratio


slow with a melancholy


In the violence of weep


accompanied with lamentation, the face is flushed


I


mg,

rather suffused by stag


blood, and the veins of th


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WEEPING.


forehead distended. In this we see the effect of the


I


impeded action of the chest ; a proof.


only that


the respiratory system of nerves which is affected, but also


of the condition of the heart, and


tion, of which we h


poken


influence in former essay


respira- . This


expr


of emotion may be


troduced even in the


highest walks of


but it requires great taste to pourtray


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ithout offensive exaggeration.*

The depression of the angle of the mouth g


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of despondence and langour when accompanied by a general ^relaxation of the features, or, in other words, of the muscles.


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When the


',gator which knits the brows


perates


with it, there is mingled in the expression something of


mental


■gy, of moroseness, or pain


If th


frontal


muscle adds its operation, there is an acute turning upwards of the inner part of the eyebrow, characteristic of anguish, debilitating pain, or of discontent, according to the pre-


o


of the rest of th


But while languor and despondency


indicated by


depression of the angle of the mouth, the depression must be slight, not violent : for the depressor anguli oris cannot act strongly without the combination of the levator menti


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  • The finest possible example of this condition of suffering is in the

picture of Guercino (in the Gallery of Milan), the ' Departure of Hagar and Ishmael/ Those who have seen only the engraving can have little conception of the beauty of the picture, for the perfection is in the colouring. Hagar has been weeping; her eyes are red and swollen, but not so as to destroy her beauty; she turns again on hearing Abraham \ once more addressing her ; she suspends her breath, you persuade your- ! self that vou hear her short convulsive sobs ; for in the elevated shoulders


,7


I


41


I




The suffering


and in the form of the open lips, this is, plainly indicated, expressed in the condition of the chest, the misery in the forehead, and the colouring of the eyelids, make this the finest example of expression which 1 have seen." — Note from Journal.



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WEEPING.


151


or


qjerhus, which quickly prod


a


chang


m


the


take an inclination of the angles of the


filled with tears, and the eyehrows similar to that which the depressors

lips give to the mouth.*

I am not quite sure that in the distress of Constance there is not an unnatural mixture of the tumult and violence of grief with the contemplative recollections of sorrow. Her impatience and turbulence, which make her tear her hair, defy all counsel and redress, and call on death or madness as her sole rehef, seem ill assorted with that calmness of spirit which can stop to recollect and enumerate in detail the figure and endearing manners of her son.

" Grief fills the room up of my absent child, Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me ; Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, Remembers me of all his gracious parts, Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form : Then, have I reason to be fond of grief. Fare you well ! had you had such a loss as I, I could give better comfort than you do.


  • Some have been so far deceived by the effect of this raising of the

eyebrows towards the centre of the forehead as to give the same oblique line to the eyes ; but the canthus or angle of the eye is fixed immoveably, and no working of passion can alter it.


■ -


i


expression, by making the nether lip pout contemptuously. In sorrow, a general languor pervades the whole coun- tenance. The violence and tension of grief, the lamenta- tions, and the tumult, like all strong excitements, gradually exhaust the frame. Sadness and regret, with depression of spirits and fond recollections, succeed; and lassitude of the whole body, with dejection of the face and heaviness of the eves, are the most striking characteristics. The lips are relaxed and the lower jaw drops ; the upper eyelid falls \ and half covers the pupil of the eye. The eye is frequently





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WEEPING.


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When


O Lord ! my boy, my Arthur, my fair son ! My life, my joy, my food, my all the world My widow's comfort, and my sorrows' cure


JJ



Th


appear


which is called


with a


5 rather to be the stage of the passion rrow y the indulgence of which is attended melancholy delight which can sanction the con-


Yet


elusion, " Then have I reason to be fond of grief." as conviction returns at intervals upon the mind, a period

lation is succeeded by starts


of quiet and


ful resig


and violent bursts of grief.

Though grief is in general distinguished by its violence, lamentation, and tumult, while sorrow is silent, deep brood-

and full of depression, there is a stupefaction which


g


sometimes characterises grief, " the lethargy of woe."

We have already had occasion to remark, that ex- pressions, peculiarly human, chiefly afifect the angle of the


mouth and the inner


emity of the eyebrow


and


these points we must principally attend in all our observa- tions concerning the expression of passion. They are the most moveable parts of the face ; in


a them, the muscles con- and upon the changes which they undergo, expression

To demonstrate their


acknowledged chiefly to depend


importance, we have only


peat the experiment made


by Peter of Cortona


sketch a placid countenance, and


touch lightly with the pencil the angle of the lips and the inner extremity of the eyebrows. By elevating or depress- ing these, we shall quickly convey the expression of grief or of laughter.


These parts, however, and all the feat passioned countenance,


of


an


have an accordance with each


+

  • King John^ Act III. Scene 4.


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WEEPING.


153


other. When the angles of the mouth are depressed in grief, the eyebrows are not elevated at the outer angles as in laughter. When a smile plays around the mouth, or the cheek is raised in laughter, the brows are not ruffled as in grief. The characters of such opposite passions are so distinct, that they cannot be combined where there is


d genuine emotion


it



those


ho have an


When we see them combined, unnatural control over their


muscles, and the expression is farcical and ridiculous


It


IS an


unworthy conceit to give to one side of the face comedy and to the other tragedy.

In the features of an impassioned countenance there is a consent and accordance of expression. It is not upon a single feature that the emotion operates ; but the whole face is marked with expression, all the movements of which are consentaneous. This is referable to some cause acting generally on the tone and state of the frame : the peculiar expression of individual emotion being distinguished by the action and determination of certain features.

Takino^ indifference as the line of distinction between the two great classes of pain and of pleasure, the sensa- tions above this line are weak compared with those below it. The simple sensations of pleasure, before they are heightened and diversified by the multiplied associations of mental affection, are soft and gentle in their nature. The class of painful sensations is powerful and overwhelming ; they are meant as our guardians and protectors against danger and death, and they operate with resistless force. The pleasurable sensations induce a languor and delight, partaking of the quality of indulgence and relaxation ; the painful excite to the most violent tension, and make the

F

muscular frame start into convulsive action.

The emotions and passions, grounded on these great


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154


WEEPING.


from the general tone of


classes of sensation, raised and increased by the mingling of hopes and fears, and the combination of analogous and associated images of delight or of danger, derive their most important traits of expression

pleasure or of pain.

In pain, the body is exerted to violent tension, and all the emotions and passions allied to pain, or having their origin and foundation in painful sensations, have this general distinction of character, that there is an energetic action or tremor, the effect of universal and g


ex-


tr"-


■■-.


citement. It must at the same time be remembered, tha all the passions of this class, some more immediately, other more indirectly, produce in the second stag debility, and loss of tone, from over-ex(


exhaustion


is characterised



all the emotions re-


On the other hand, as pleasure languor, tranquillity, and relaxation, lated to it, or deducible from pleasurable sensations, are felt in the prevailing state of the system — a degree of inaction, and as it were forgetfulness of bodily exertion.


The


con-


and an indulgence in mental contemplation.* templation of beauty, or the admiration of soft music, produces a sense of languor j the body reclines ; the lips are half opened ; the eyes have a softened lustre from the falling of the eyelids ; the breathing is slow ; and from

  • " Here (Academia delle belle Arte, Bologna) are two pictures

which one naturally compares. On the one side is the St. Cecilia; on

r of the Innocents. In the St. Cecilia of Raphael,

in ecstasy, there is not only great beauty, but very fine expression. She hears the music of angels ; her face is turned upwards ; the features composed and fine. In the lower part of the face there is a gentle relaxation, almost a smile ; the eyes are directed upwards, but the eyebrow is placid. She is so wrapt, that the pipes of the organ are almost falling from the hands, which hang without exertion.

" In the picture of the Murder of the Innocents, by Guido Reni, there is an admirable figure of a woman, wild and full of fire, who


Murd




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WEEPING.


155


the absolute neglect of bodily sensation, and the temporary interruption of respiration, there is a frequent low-drawn sigh.


r


flies with her inftmt pressed to her bosom. But there is another^ whose face is in the very attitude of the Cecilia, yet how different! The murder of her child has been perpetrated ; the child lies dead before her; she is on her knees; her hands are clasped, and she looks up to heaven ; her mouth is open, and all the features relaxed. The hair and dress are deranged- What, then, is the difference in


expression


for


^

V


there is a certain resemblance in the form and attitude of these heads? What is the difference between the relaxation of despair and of enjoy- ment: the relaxed jaw, and open mouth, and troubled Torehead of the

the softness and languor, with a certain firmness in the lips of the


one


other." — No (e from. JoiirnaL




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ESSAY


VII.





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THE SUBJECT CONTINUED ;


OF PAIN


HORROR


CONVULSIONS


DEMONIACS


DEATH.


The further we proceed in tliis inquiry


th


moT


difficult and delicate does


become


In continuing the


subject, I shall rather indulge in detached remarks than pretend to follow a regular course ; keeping, I hope, still true to the observation of nature, and, as far as possible,

unprejudiced by theory.

Pain is affirmed to be unqualified evil ;


necessary faculties.


yet pain is

birth, it rouses the dormant


d gives us consciousness.


T


o


imag


th


absence of pain, is not only to imagine a new state of

being, but a change in the earth, and all upon it. As inhabitants of earth, and as a consequence of the great law of gravitation, the human body must have weight. It must have bones, as columns of support, and levers for the


action of


muscles ; and this mechanical


im


plies a complication and delicacy of texture beyond our conception. For that fine texture a sensibility to pain is destined to be the protection ; it is the safeguard of the body; it makes us alive to those injuries which would otherwise destroy us, and warns us to avoid them.


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PAIN.


157



When, therefore, the philosopher asks why were not our actions performed at the suggestions of pleasure, he imagines man, not constituted as he is, hut as if he belonged to a world in which there was neither weight, nor pressure, nor any thing injurious, where there were no dangers to apprehend, no difficulties to overcome, and no call for exertion, resolution, or courage. It would, indeed, he a curious speculation to follow out the consequences on the highest qualities of the mind, if we could suppose man thus free from all bodily suffering.

But I return to the position, that pain is the great safeguard of the frame, and now proceed to examine its



expression


In bodily pain the jaws are fixed, and the teeth grind ; the lips are drawn laterally, the nostrils dilated ; the eyes are largely uncovered and the eyebrows raised ; the face is turgid with blood, and the veins of the temple and forehead distended ; the breath being checked, and the descent of blood from the head impeded by the agony of the chest, the cutaneous muscle of the neck acts strongly, and draws down the angles of the mouth. But when joined to this, the man cries out, the lips are retracted, and the mouth open j and we find the muscles of his body rigid, straining, struggling. If the pain be excessive, he becomes insensible, and the chest is affected sudden spasms. On recovering consciousness, he is incoherent, till again roused by suffering. In bodily pain conjoined with distress of mind, the eyebrows are knit, while their inner extremities are raised; the pupils are in part concealed by the upper eyelids, and the nostrils are agitated.

The expression of pain is distinguished from that of weeping not less than from that of laughing. These arise from mental conditions, independent of physical causes.


But


pam


IS


and are uncontrollable and sympathetic, bodily ; that is to say, there is a positive nervous sensa- tion, which excites to action, or to acts of volition ; an energy of the whole frame is produced by suffering, and, from the consciousness of its place or source, the efforts are directed to remove it. Hence the struggle, the pow- erful and voluntary exertions which accompany it. Yet there is a resemblance and, in some degree, an alliance between these actions and the spasms excited by galvanism in experiments on the nerves of animals apparently dead.


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159


OF DEMONIACS


He has a Devil"— Tv^o of the greatest painters,

Raphael and Domenichino, have painted demoniacal boys. In the convent of the Grotto Ferrata, in the neighbourhood of Rome, Domenichino has represented Saint Nilus in the


act of relieving a lad possessed.*


The saint, an old man.


is on his knees in prayer j the lad is raised and held up by an aged man ; the mother with a child is waiting the consummation of the miracle. Convulsions have seized the lad J he is rigidly bent back ; the lower limbs spasmodically extended, so that his toes only rest on the ground j the eyes are distorted, and the pupils turned up under the eyelids. This would be the position of Opisthotonos, were not the hands spread abroad, the palms and fingers open, and the jaw fallen. Had the representation been perfectly true to nature, the iaws would have been clenched, and the teeth


grinding


But then the miracle could not have been


represented, for one, under the direction of the saint, has the finger of his left hand in the boy's mouth, and the

ue is to be



other holds a vessel of oil, with which the ton touched. The drawing and colouring exhibited in the lad, and the grandeur of the old men, make this one of the most admired paintings in Italy.


I have h


given


a sketch of the true Opistho


tones, where it is seen that all the muscles are


gidly


contracted, the more powerful flexors prevailing over the


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Domenichino, in consequence of some peccadillo, took shelter in the sanctuary of the monks of the Grotto Ferrata, a fortified convent some miles distant from Rome. The monks, under the threat of de- livering him up, made him paint their walls ; and the frescoes are, indeed.


beautiful, particularly the old men


That compartment which is called


the Demoniac Boy, is most admired."— Note from Journal.



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160


DEMONIACS.


extensors. Were the painter stance faithfully, the effect


present every circum


might


be too painful something must he left to his taste and imagination.*


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It may be considered bold to criticise the works of Raphael ; but I venture to say that, if that great master intended, in his cartoon of the Death of Ananias, to excite horror, the eifect would have been more pow^erful, if there had been chief


g


th


m


the



tead of a mer


Strang


but


convulsions of the 3 twisting of the body, are most affected by the


more slight, if correct, portraiture of a natural condition



In the same painter


g


picture of the Transfi


guration, in the Vatican, there is a lad possessed, and m convulsions. I hope I am not insensible to the beauties of


._ _ •* The original sketch is in the College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. I took it from soldiers wounded in the head, at the Battle of Corunna. Three men were similarly hurt, and in short successive intervals similarly affected, so that the character could not be mistaken.


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CONVULSIONS.


161


that picture, nor presumptuous in saying that the fig


natural. A physician would conclude that this youth


he


tiff.


was feigning. He is, I presume, convulsed ;

ened with contractions, and his eyes turned in their


sockets


B


no


child was ever so affected


In real


convulsions, the extensor muscles yield to the more pow- erful contractions of the flexor muscles ; whereas, in the picture, the lad extends his arms ; and the fingers of the


left hand are stretched the lower extremities c


rally backwards


Nor do


ipond


th truth : he stands


firm


th


eyes


are


atural ; they should have been


ed more inwards, as looking


the head, and


partially buried


der the forehead. The mouth


open, which is quite at variance with the g


con-


dition, and


the apology which Domenichino had. The muscles of the arms are exaggerated to a degree which Michael Angelo never attempted ; and still it is the extensors and supinators, and not the flexors, which are

thus prominent.

Disease has characteristic symptoms, which we can


tely and scientifically reduce to descript


and


borrowing from th


there is no state of suffenng


from which we can so well infer the nature of the


to


of th


r

frame as from hydrophob


The patient being


sensible of his condition, and calm, and aware of the


periment which is


to be made upon him by his phy


when he calls for a glass of water, cannot resist the influence of the disease. He shudders, his face assumes

of extreme horror and alarm ; convulsive

gulpings take place in his throat ; he flies to some support,

agony of suffocation.

man. I have had the


an expression


d clings to the bedpost in


an


This I have witnessed in a powerful


pain of seeing


the disease in a girl of eighteen


Th


II


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162


CONVULSIONS.


(


I


irritability of the skin being increased to an awful degree, so that the touch of her long hair falling on her naked body, excited, as she said, the paroxysms. These recurred with a sense of choking, with sudden and convulsive


ihuddering, and catching of th


heavings of the chest, a

muscles of breathing, and an appalling expression of suf


1


fering


The paroxysms


in such a case becoming more


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frequent and severe, finally exhaust the powers of life, these convulsions it is the nervous and muscular systems

F

belonging to the natural function of respiration which are affected ; and as they are also the organs of expression, the condition is seen not only in the countenance, but in the throat and chest, to be that of extreme horror.



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163


FEAR.


« Nam Timor unus erat, facies non una timoris, Pars laniat crines, pars sine mente sedet. Altera mcesta silet, frustra vocat altera matrem, Hffic queritur, stupet base, haec fugit, ilia manet."


Ovid de Arte Amandi.


So Ovid describes the Sabine virg


and such the


&


daunt and onset of


tumultuary and distracted state of mind produced by fear. And there is afood reason for this, because in a sudden

an unexpected evil, the spirits which were before orderly carried by their several due motions unto their natural works, are upon this strange appearance and instant oppression of danger so disordered, mixed, and stifled, that there is no power left either in the soul for


counsel


the body for


»


In mere bodily

The


fear there is mere animal expression and meanness, breath is drawn and the respiration suspended j the body fixed, and powerless ; the eyes riveted, or searching and


dy


and the action undetermined


Mr. Burke, in his speculatio


fear, assimilate


with perhaps too little discrimination, to pam


A man


great pam


55


he observes, " has his teeth set ; his eye


brows are violently contracted ; his forehead is wrinkled his eyes are dragged inwards, and rolled with g


hemence


his hair stands on end ; his voice is forced


short shrieks and groans ; and the whole fabric


j>


((


Fear


sion of pain


" he continues; death, exhibits


which


pprehen


tly the same efi'ects


approaching in violence to those just mentioned portion to the nearness of the cause, the subject."*


m pro- and the weakness of


  • Sublime and Beautiful, Part IV. sect. 3. Cause of Pain and Fear.


411 11


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164


FEAR.


But there is one distinguishing feature of the two conditions : the immediate effect of pain is to produce an energetic action and tension of the whole frame ; that of fear is to relax all the energy of mind and of body — to paralyse, as it were, every muscle. Mr. Burke seems to have written loosely, partly from forgetting that pain and fear are often combined, and partly from taking a view of the subject too much limited to the particular conclusion which he wished to enforce. There cannot be great pain without its being attended by the distraction of doubts and fears ; the dread even of death is a natural consequence of extreme pain, and so the expression of fear in the countenance is fre- quently mingled with that of pain. But, perhaps, there


are few passions which may


be assimilated by such


combinations ; fear and hatred ; hatred and rage ; rage and vengeance and remorse. On the other hand, confining ourselves to simple bodily fear, there is much truth in the observation of this eloquent writer. The fear of boiling water falling on the legs, gives an expression of the antici- pation of scalding, resembling the meaner expression of bodily pain. As Mr. Burke says, fear in a dog will no doubt be that of the lash, and he will yelp and howl as if he actually felt the blows j and this indeed is the only kind of fear which brutes know. The higher degrees of fear, in which the mind operates, and which we shall see characterised in the countenance by an expression peculiar to mental energy, do not appear in them.

In man, the expression of mere bodily fear is like that of animals, without dignity ; it is the mean anticipation of j pain. The eyeball is largely uncovered, the eyes staring,


and the eyebrows elevated to the utmo


There


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  • See Essay on the Nerves.


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FEAR.


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cadaverous from the receding of the blood. The hair is lifted up by the creeping of the skin, and action of the

occipito-frontalis.

In the preceding sketch, I have endeavoured to

express fear mingled with wonder. But if we should suppose the fear there represented, to have arisen from


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apprehended danger still remote, and that the object of fear approaches, and is now about to cleave to the person, he trembles, looks pale, has a cold sweat on his face, and in proportion as the imagination has less room to range in, as the danger Is more distinctly visible, the



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scream of fear is heard, the eyes start forward, the lips are drawn wide, the hands are clenched, and the expression hecomes more strictly animal, and indicative of such fear as is common to hrutes.*


and such the


  • I shall here transcribe a portion from my brother's volume on Italy.

Mr. John Bell travelled in declining health; and died in Rome, in 1820. He had written a great deal with a pencil, in the course of his journey ; and no less than thirty small volumes of notes, thus jotted down on his knee, were submitted by his widow to Professor Bell and myself. In these we saw much to admire ; but knowing how much would have been changed and corrected had our brother lived, we thought them unfit for publication. Of the many striking passages in the work, the following may be selected as relating to the present subject:

" Turin. The Execution of an Assassin. — I found myself opposite to the distracted criminal whom they were conducting to execution in all the agonies of terror and despair. He was seated in a black car, preceded by arquebusiers, on horseback, carrying their carabines pointed forward. These were followed by a band of priests, clothed in long black robes, singing, in deep and solemn tones, a slow mournful dirge,— part of the service for the dead. A hot burning sun shone with a flood of light; and, though it was mid-day, such was the silence power and effect of this solemn chant, that its sound was re-echoed from every distant street. The brothers of the in black, and masked, walked by the side of the car, and joined in the chant. On the steps of the car sat a man bearing a flag, on which Death was represented in the usual forms, and on which was inscribed in Latin (if I read it rightly), ' Death ha^ touched me with his fingers,' or, ' Death has laid his hands on me.' / On each side of the car, the officiating priests were seated; and in the'centre, sat the criminal himself. It was impossible to witness the condition of this unhappy wretch without terror • and yet, as if impelled by some strange infatuation, it was equally impossible not to gaze upon an object so wild, so full of horror. He seemed about thirty-five years of age ; of large and muscular form ; lus countenance marked by strong and savage features ; half naked, pale as death, agonised with terror, every limb strained in anguish, his hands clenched convulsively, the sweat breaking out on his bent and contracted brow, he kissed incessantly the figure of our Saviour, painted on the flag which was suspended before him ; but with an agony of wildness and despair, of which, nftthing ever exhibited on the stage


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TERROR.


I should apply the name of terror to that kind of fear, in which there is a strong working of the imagination, and which is therefore peculiar to man. The eye is bewildered j the inner extremity of the eyebrows is elevated, and strongly


knit by the


of the


g


thus produci


expression of distracting thought, anxiety, and alarm, and

which does not belong to animals. The cheek is a


one


little raised, and all the muscles which are concentred


about the mouth


there being a kind of modu


lating action in the circular muscle of the lips, which keeps the mouth partially open.


The


muscle of the


neck, the platysma myoides, is strongly contracted, and


fibres may


be seen


g into action like cords, under


the angles of th there is an indecisio


the skin, and dragging powerfully on

mouth. The imagination wande

in the action, the steps are furtive and unequal, there is a

spasm which hinders speech, and the colour of the cheeks

vanishes.


((


Canst thou quake and change thy colour, Murther thy breath in middle of a word, And then again begin, and stop again. As if thou wast distraught and mad with terror?


jy



When mingled with astonishment, terror is fixed and

upon the scene here presented. The horror that the priest had excited in the soul of this savage, was greater than the fear of the most cruel death could ever have produced. But the terrors thus raised, were the superstitions of an ignorant and bewildered mind, bereft of animal courage, and impressed with some confused belief, that eternal safety was to be instantly secured by external marks of homage to the image. There was here none of the composed, conscious, awful penitence of a Christian ; and it was evident, that the priest was anxious only to pro- duce a being in the near prospect of death, whose condition should alarm all that looked on him. The attempt was successful."— "' servations on Italy, p. 48. By the late John Bell. Published by hi;

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Widow. Edinburgh, 1825.

  • Richard III. Act iii. Scene 5.


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mute. The fugitive and unnerved steps of mere terror are then changed for the rooted and motionless figure of a



creature appalled and stupified. Spenser characterises


well this kind of terror :

« He answer'd nought at all: but adding new Fear to his first amazement, staring wide With stony eyes, and heartless hollow hue, Astonish'd stood, as one that had espy'd Infernal furies with their chains unty'd.







But trembling every joint did inly quake, And fait' ring tongue at last these words seem'd forth to shake.


" *


Hon


differs from hoth fear and terror, although


more


arly alHed to the last than to the first


It is


superior to hoth in this, that it is less imhued with per- sonal alarm. It is more full of sympathy with the suffer- ings of others, than engaged with our own. We are struck with horror even at the spectacle of artificial distress, but


it is peculiarly excited another.



the real danger or pam


of


We see a child in the hazard of being crushed by an enormous weight, with sensations of extreme horror.

the body is in the utmost


H


ror is full of


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tension, not unnerved



fear


The flesh creeps


d


of cold seems to chill the blood


the term is


pplicable of " damp h

Despair is a mingled emotion


While terror is in


some measure


the balancing and distraction of


mind


occupied with an uncertainty of danger, despair is the total wreck of hope, the terrible assurance of ruin having closed around, beyond all power of escape. The expression of despair must vary with the nature of the distress of which it forms the acme. In certain circumstances it will assume a bewildered, distracted air, as if madness were likely to be


  • Faery Queen, Book i. cant. 9, v. 24.


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DESPAIR.



the only close to the mental agony


Sometimes there


wildness in the looks and total relaxation, as if fall


g into insensibility


there is upon the countenance of


the desperate man a horrid gloom ; the eye is fixed, yet he


neither sees nor hears aught


rounds him


Th


feat


nor is sensible of what sur- are shrunk and livid, and


convulsion and tremors affect the muscles of the face. Hoo-arth has chosen well the scene of his picture of despair. In a gaming-house, the wreck of all hope affects, in a thou-

vice ; but in every


sand


the victims of this


presentation of desp


olable and total aban


donment of those exertions to which hope inspirits and excites a man, forms an essential feature. We have two fine descriptions of despair given in detail by English poets. One is by Spenser :

^

« The darksome cave they enter, where they find That cursed man, low sitting on the ground. Musing full sadly in his sullen mind ; His greazy locks, long growing and unbound, Disorder'd hung about his shoulders round, And hid his face ; through which his hollow eyne Look, deadly dull, and stared as astound ; His raw-bone cheeks, through penury and pine,

Were shrunk into his iaws, as he did never dine." *


The other is in the tragedy of the " Gamester," where Beverley, after heart-rending reiteration of hope and dis-


,ppointment, having staked the last


of his wife


and family on one fatal throw, finds himself suddenly

plunged into ruin.

" When all was lost, he fixed his eyes upon the ground, and stood some time with folded arms stupid and motionless : then snatching his sword that hung against the wainscot,

  • Faery Queen, Book i. cant. 9, v. 35.


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ADMIRATION


171



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he sat him down, and with a look of fixed attention drew


figures on the floor


At last he started up ; looked wild


and tremhled; and, like


woman seized with her


fits, laughed out aloud, while the


trickled down his


face


So he left the room


A painter may have to represent terror, desp astonishment, and supernatural awe, mingled in one power ful expression of emotion.


In a


mind racked with deep


desp


conscious of strength and courag


hut withered


and suhdued



pernatural ag


quite removed from all meanness


the expression is must be preserved


grand and terrific


the hero may still appear, though


palpitating and drained of vigour.

Milton has admirably sketched the nerveless stupefact;


of mingled astonishment and horr


a


On th' other side, Adam, soon as he heard The fatal trespass done by Eve, amaz'd, Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill ^ Ran through his veins, and all his joints relax'd ; From his slack hand the garland wreath'd for Eve Down dropp'd, and all the faded roses shed : Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length First to himself he inward silence broke." *


is enjoyed to the The brow is expanded

and unrufiled, the eyebrow gently raised, the eyehd lifted

the coloured circle of the eye, while the


In admiration, the faculty of sight utmost, and all else is forgotten


so as to expose


The


lower part of the face is relaxed in a gentle smile, mouth is open, the jaw a little fallen, and by the relaxation of the lower lip we just perceive the edge of the lower teeth and the tongue. The posture of the body is most expressive when it seems arrested in some familiar action.


  • Paradise Lost, Book ix. ver. 888.


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172


JOY.


It


Joy is distinguishable from pleasure, so much in the sense of gratification, as in the delight of the conviction that the long-expected pleasure is within our reach, and the lively anticipation of the enjoyment


which is now


luring


with joy


shape


decked out in its most favourite and al- A certain sensation of want is mingled recollection of the alternate hopes and fears


which formerly distracted the mind, contrasted with th immediate assurance of gratification.

In joy the eyebrow is raised moderately, but withou


any


gularity


th


lively, and sparklin


forehead is smooth; the eye full

nostril is moderately inflated


the


and


smile is on the lips. In all the exhilarating emo


the eyebrow, the eyelid


the


and the angle


of the mouth are raised. In the depressing passions


th


reverse. For exampl


in discontent the brow is


g


clouded, the nose pecuharly arched, and the angle of the

mouth drawn down.

Contrasted with joy is the testy, pettish, peevish coun- tenance bred of melancholy ; as of one who is incapable of

satisfaction from whatever source it may be offered ; who cannot endure any man to look steadily upon him, or even speak to him, or laugh, or jest, or be familiar, or hem, or point, without thinking himself contemned,

insulted, or neglected.

The arching of the mouth and peculiar form of the

? nose are produced by the conjoint action of


g


of th


the


gular muscle which dep


the


gles of the


mouth, and the superbus, whose individual action protrudes the lower lip. The very peevish turn given


to the


eye


brows, the acute upward inflection of their inner ex- tremities, and the meeting of the perpendicular and trans- verse furrows in the middle of the forehead, are produced


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JEALOUSY.


173


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by the opposed the corrufjator.


of part of the frontal muscle and of


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Habitual suspicion and jealousy are symptoms and


accompaniments of melancholy with these expressions ;


Envy may be classed


but it is an ungenerous repmmg


not a momentary passion



" It consumes a man as a

a skeleton


moth does a garment, to be a living anatomy, a

  • "La invidia, crudelissimo dolore di animo, per il bene altrui, fa

ritirar tutti i membri, come contraere et ofFuscar le ciglie, stnngere^ i denti, ritirar le labbra, torcersi con certa passione di sguardo quasi m atto di volere intendere et spiare i fatti altrui," &c.— Lomazzo, p. 130.


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174


JEALOUSY.


be


and pale carcass quickened with the fiend


tahescetque videndo.' " Suspicion is characterised bj

ain timorous obhquitv of the >


attention, with a


i^


' Foul, ill-favoured and grim, Under his eyebrows looking still askance ; ' And ever as Dissemblance laugh'd on him, He lour'd on her with dangerous eye glance,


I


Showing his nature in his countenance : His rolling eyes did never rest in place, ' But walk'd each where, for fear of hid mischance, Holding a lattice still before his face, Through which he still did peep as forward he did pace. *

Jealousy is marked by a more frowning and dark ob- liquity of the eyes, as if it said, " I have an eye on you ; "

the lowering eyebrow is combined a cruel expression of the lower part of the face.


th


Jealousy is a fitful


d


teadv


passion


its chief


character is in the rapid vicissitudes from love to h


?


now absent, moody, and distressed


now


g love ;


now fer


and


geful : these changes make it a

it is only in poetry


difficult subject for the painter j and it is only in

that it can be truly presented in the vivid colours of


nature.


Even among poets, Shakspeare alone seems to


have been equ


the task


Sometimes it may be per


sonified in the face of a mean, suspicious, yet oppressed creature ; or again in a lowering expression, the body as if shrunk into itself j hke that of one brooding over his con- dition, and piecing out a tissue of trifling incidents to abuse his judgment.

In jealousy the eyebrows are knit, and the eyelid so fully lifted as almost to disappear, while the eyeball



Faery Queen, Book iii. c. 12, v. 15


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RAGE.


175


glares from under the bushy eyebrow. There is a general


tension of the


mus


which concentre around the


mouth, and the lips retract and shew the teeth with a fierce expression ; this depends partly on the turn of the


which accompanies the retraction of the lips


The


mouth should express that bitter anguish which the Italian poet has rather too distinctly told : —

" Trema '1 cor dentro, e treman fuor le labbia, Non pud la lingua disnodar parola, La bocca amara e par che tosco v' habbia."


Again :

" E per r ossa un tremor fi-eddo gli scone, Con cor trafitto, e con pallida faccia, E con voce tremante, e bocca amara."

J-

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There seems to be a natural succession in the passions of rage, revenge, and remorse : I do not mean morally, but in regard to our present inquiry concerning the traits of expression. A slight change in the lineaments of rage


gives th


) expression of revenge, while the cruel revenge is tempered by the relaxing energy of the part of the countenance in remorse-


eve


of


Rage is that excess or vehemence of anger that can b longer restrained — scBva animi tempestas. Whethe


the object be near or remote, the frame is


ght and


chafed


It is a brutal passion, in which the body acts


th an impetuosity not directed by


If we observ


beast, we shall better recoonise it in man


ti


When


or the wolf with his pole


the keeper strikes the tiger there is an instantaneous fire of expression j the eye, the teeth are in a moment exposed, and accompanied with an excitement of the frame which we cannot see unmoved. If we imagine the human brute strangling helpless age or in-


fancy, it must be with such a rage as this.


Lord Kames


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RAGE.


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>, " A stock or a stone by which I am hurt becomes an object of resentment, and I am violently incited to crush it to atoms." This is purely as the wolf bites the stick which is presented to him. In considering those bursts of passion which lead us to wreak our vengeance upon inani- mate objects, Dr. Reid supposes we are possessed with the momentary belief that the object is alive : " There must^'*


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be some momentary notion or conception that the object of our resentment is capable of punishment."


I believe the mistake here is in not havinor a confirmed



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notion of the intimate connexion between the emotion in the mind and the exertion of the bodily frame. The body and limbs suffer an agitation as the face does, resulting from the passion; and if a man, half conscious of the frenzy which possesses him, and afraid of being betrayed into an act of cruelty, flings from him the weapon of destruction,


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RAGE


9


177


with the jerk and impetuosity of


whilst his humane sense controls him, it is not capable of arresting that instinctive agency of the body wrought upon



the passion; just


man, after a long


of


patience m some work of delicacy or nicety, is at last overcome, dashes the instrument from him, and relieves himself by a burst of impatience and some angry strides.


In rage the features are


teady; the eyeballs are


seen largely; they roll and are inflamed. The front is

alternately knit and raised in furrows by the motion of the

yebrows, the nostrils are inflated to the utmost ; the lip


are swelled, and being drawn by the muscles, open the corners of the mouth. The whole visage is sometimes pale, sometimes turgid, dark, and almost livid ; the words are delivered strongly through the fixed teeth ; " the hair is fixed on end like one distracted, and every joint should seem to curse and ban." *

Tasso thus describes the rage of Argante :


" Tacque ; e 1 Pagano al sofferir poco uso, Morde le labbra, e di furor si strugge. Risponder vuol, ma '1 suono esce confuso, Siccome strido d' animal, che rugge : O come apre le nubi ond' egli e chiuso, Impetuoso il fulmine, e sen fugge ; Cosi pareva a forza ogni suo detto Tonando uscir dall' infiammato petto,"


Cant. vi. 38


  • i


' La furia fa gV atti stolti e fuor di se ; sicco^me di quelli die si avvolgono ne i moti offensivi, senza riguardo alcuno, rendendosi vehc- menti in tutti gl' affetti, eon bocca aperta et storta^ che par clie stridano, ringliino, urlino et si lamentino, stracciandosi le membra et i panni et facendo altre smanie." — Lomazzo, lib. ii. p. 135.

If the painter has any imagination and power of delineation, the reading of the combat of Tancred and Argante must inspire him with a grand conception of the sublime ferocity of the human figure in action.


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REMORSEE.




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But in representing the passion, it may be mucli varied : perhaps the eyes are fixed upon the ground ; the countenance pale, troubled, and threatening ; the lip trembling and the breath suppressed, or there is a deep and long inspiration as of inward pain.

In the following sketcli I endeavoured to represent that



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expression which succeeds the last horrid act of revenge : the storm has subsided, but the gloom is not yet dissipated. Some compunctious visitings of nature are in the lips, though the eye retains its severity. By the posture and


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MADNESS.


179


fixed attention, I would indicate that the survey of the now lifeless body carries back the train of thought with reo-ret for past transactions.

To represent the prevailing character and physiognomy of a madman, the body should be strong and the muscles rigid and distinct, the skin bound, the features sharp, the eye sunk ; the colour of a dark brownish yellow, tinctured


th


ithout one spot of


the 'hair sooty black, stiff and bushy. Or, perhaps, he


h


ht be represented as of a pale sickly yellow, with


" His burning eyen, whom bloody strakes did stain, Stared full wide, and threw forth sparks of fire ; And more for rank despight than for great pain, Shak'd his long locks, colour'd like copper wire,

And bit his tawny beard to show his raging ire." *


I do not mean here to trace the progress of the diseases of the mind, but merely to throw out some hints respectin<> the external character of the outrageous maniac.

You see him lying in his cell regardless of every thing,

settled gloom upon his countenance.


with a death-like When I say it is a death-like gloom, I mean a heaviness of the features without knitting of the brows or action of the muscles. If you watch him in his paroxysm you may see the blood working to his head ; his face acquires a darker red J he becomes restless ; then rising from his couch he paces his cell and tugs his chains


now his inflamed eye

is fixed upon you, and his features lighten up into wildness and ferocity.

painter may naturally fall, is by the swelling features of


to


The error into which a

represent this expression


  • Faery Queen, Book ii. cant. 4, v. 15.




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MADNESS.



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passion and the frowning eyebrow ; but this would only give the idea of passion, not of madness. Or he mistakes melancholia for madness. The theory upon which we are to proceed in attempting to convey this peculiar look of ferocity amidst the utter wreck of the intellect, I conceive to be, that the expression of mental energy should be



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avoided, and consequently the action of all those muscles which indicate sentiment. I believe this to be true to


nature, because I have observed (contrary to my expecta-

that there was not that energy, that knitting of the brows, that indignant brooding and thoughtfulness in the face of madmen which is generally imagined to charac-


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MADNESS.


181


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terise their expression, and which is so often given to them in painting. There is a vacancy in their laugh, and a want of meaning in their ferociousness.

To learn the character of the countenance, when devoid of human expression, and reduced to the state of hrutalitj, we must have recourse to the lower animals, and study their looks of timidity, of watchfulness, of excitement, and of ferocity. If these expressions are transferred to the human face, I should conceive that they will irresistibly convey the idea of madness, vacancy of mind, and mere animal passion.

But these discussions are only for the study of the painter. The subject should be full in his mind, without its being for a moment imagined that such painful or humiliating details are suited to the canvass. If madness is to be represented, it is with a moral aim, to shew the consequences of vice and the indulgence of passion.

There is a link of connexion between all liberal pro- fessions. The painter may borrow from the physician. He will require something more than his fancy can sup- ply, if he has to represent a priestess or a sybil. It must be the creation of a mind, learned as well as inventive. He may readily conceive a female form full of energy, her imagination at the moment exalted and pregnant, so that things long past are painted in colours as. if they stood before her, and her expression becomes bold and poetical. But he will have a more true and precise idea of what is to be depicted, if he reads the his- tory of that melancholia which undoubtedly, in early times, has given the idea of one possessed with a spirit. A young woman is seen constitutionally pale and lan- guid J and from this inanimate state, no show of affection or entreaty will draw her into conversation with her


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MADNESS.



. But how changed is her condition, when instead of

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the lethargy and fixed countenance, the circulation is sud- denly restored, the hlood mounts to her cheeks, and her eyes sparkle, while both in mind and body she manifests


an unwonted


■gy


and her whole frame is animated


During the continuance of the paroxysm, she delivers herself with a force of thought and language, and in a tone


greatly altered, that even her parents say, " She


our


child, she


is not our daughter, a spirit has entered into her." This is in accordance with the prevailing superstition of antiquity ; for how natural to suppose, when this girl again falls into a state of torpor, and sits like a marble statue, pale, exhausted, taciturn, that the spirit has left her. The transition is easy ; the priests take her under their care, watch her ravings and give them meaning, until she sinks again into a death-like stupor or indifference.

Successive attacks of this kind impress the countenance indelibly. The painter has to represent features powerful, but consistent with the maturity and perfection of feminine


beauty.


He will shew his genius by portraying, not only


a fine female form with the grandeur of the antique, but a face of peculiar character j embodying a state of disease often witnessed by the physician, with associations derived from history. If on the dead and uniform paleness of the face he bestows that deep tone of interest which belongs to features inactive, but not incapable of feeling : if he


can


shew something of the imprint of long suffering


isolated from human sympathy, throw around her the appropriate mantle, and let the fine hair fall on her shoulders, the picture will require no golden letters to announce her character, as in the old paintings of the Sybil or the Pythoness.


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183


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OF DEATH, AS REPRESENTED IN THE PAINTINGS OF THE


OLD MASTERS.


Before proceeding, I must repeat, that the convulsions of the body which sometimes accompany the act of dying, are not the eifect of pain, but succeed to insensibihty. There may remain, after death, for a time, the expression of suffering; but this soon subsides, and the features become placid and composed. Therefore it is that the sorrowing friends are withdrawn, until Death has had the victory, when the features assume the tranquillity of sleep.

The observation of Leonardo da Vinci, that contrast is essential in painting, has a fine example in the picture


\^ of the " Martyrdom of St. Ag


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soldiers struck down by a miracl


Near the martyr lie

one of these is in


the agony, but not yet dead ; the muscles of his neck are convulsed, the mouth extended, and the lips drawn back from the teeth, the brow is furrowed, the eyes almost closed, and the pupils not visible : the other soldier is tumbled over him ; his features are fixed in death : with both of these is contrasted the resignation of the martyr.

When in Rome, I heard much of the fine statue of St. Cecilia ; I, therefore, went to the Convent of St. Cecilia Decollata. Looking for a statue.


my surprise was great

in a crvpt


when it was pointed out where the figure lay, in a or low marble arch, under the great altar. t A gold case, containing the heart of the saint, hangs from the centre of the arch. St. Cecilia was an early convert to Christianity, and haying drawn her brother, and many others to the


  • In the Academia delle belle Arte, Bologna

t In the Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere.


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DEATH.




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faith, she suffered martyrdom, and was found in the precise position in which this marble represents her. The body lies on its side, the limbs a little drawn up delicate and fine, they are not


the hands


locked, but crossed at the


wrists ; the


ms


are stretched out.


Th


drapery is


The


beautifully modelled, and modestly covers the limbs, head is enveloped in linen, but the general form is seen, and the artist has contrived to convey by its position, though

A gold circlet is around the neck to conceal the place of decol-


offensively, that it is separated from the body


lation


It is the statue of a lady, perfect in form, and affecting from the resemblance to reality in the drapery of white marble, and the unexpected appearance of the statue


It lies


living body could


and yet


I mean in the


altogether.

correctly, as the dead, when left to expir

gravitation of the limbs.*

The position of the head will distinguish the dead from


the living fig


There is


much difference hetween


fainting and death ; that is to say, it is so possible to mark the difference, that I confess I have been disappointed by the failure of some of the finest painters ; for example, in the representation of the Madonna fainting at the foot of the cross, which is a very frequent subject, the colouring is commonly that of death.t

  • Statua di St Cecilia. — '^ Questa graziosa statua giacente, rappre-

senta un corpo morto come se allora fosse caduto mollemente sul terreno, coUe estremita ben disposte e con tutta la decenza nelU assetto dei pan- neggiamenti, tenendo la testa rivolta all' ingiu e avilluppata in una benda, senza che inopportunamente si scorga V irrigidire dei corpi freddi per morte. Le pieghe vi sono facile, e tutta la grazia spira dalla persona, che si vede essere giovine e gentile, quantunque asconda la faccia; le forme generali, e le belle estremita che se mostrano, danno a vedere con quanta grazia e con quanta scelta sia stata imitata la natura in quel posare si dolcemente,"


t


Morto. — " He lies, the head and shoulders resting on



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DEATH.


185


There is sometimes in death a fearful agony in the eye ; but we have said, that it is consolatory to know that thij does not indicate suffering, but increasing insensibility The pupils are turned upwards and inwards.


This


IS


pecially observed in those who are expiring from loss of

It is the strabismus patheticus orantium of Boer-


blood, haave


Sauvages observes on this


ball, in dying children patriam respicere." *


g up of the ej


looking to their native home We cannot fail to observe h


Vulgo aiunt hos tenellos suam The vulgar say, that these little ones


accommodate their descript


)w artfully the poets of death to that kind of


which they have laboured


The tyrant


falls convulsed and distorted in agony ; the hero, in whose fate we have been made to sympathise, expires without

)rrors of death; his fall is described with all


the h


the


images of g


sinking, where


mor


s


ucceeded bv ruggles.


lang


ensibility, unaccompanied by pangs and


In the episode of Nisus and Euryalus, Virgil gives to


the death of Sulm


the horror of


death


the


breath is convulsively drawn, and the sides palpi

" Hasta volans noctis diverberat umbras, Et venit aversi in tergum Sulmonis, ibique Frangitur, ac fisso transit prsecordia ligno. Volvitur ille vomens caliduni de pectore fluinen Frigidus, et longis singultibus ilia pulsat." — jEneid,


411


the knees of his mother, who has fainted. The posture and abandon-


Ma


usual, loose. She is kneeling at the feet of our Saviour, her hands con-

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vulsively entwined. The dead body is beautifully drawn; the anatomy perfect, not exaggerated. But the mother is dead— gone to decay— not in faint, but in death: such is the effect of the colouring."— iVofe/rom JournaL Parma.


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DEATH.


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But in the death of Euryalus the poet recurs to all images of languid and gentle decline

" Volvitur Euryalus letho, pulchrosque per artus It cruor, inque humeros cervix coUapsa recurabit : Purpureus veluti quum flos, succisus aratro


((


Languescit moriens ; lassove papavera coUo Demisere caput, pluvia quum forte gravantur."*


433.


Tasso presents us with some very fine contrasts of the same kind ; in the death of Argante, for example, there is a picture of ferocious impetuosity and savage strength :

" Infuriossi allor Tancredi et disse ; Cosi abusi, fellon, la pieta mia? Poi la spada gli fisse et gli refisse Nella visiera, ove accerto la via. Moriva Argante, e tal moria qual visse : Minacciava morendo, e non languia; Superbi, formidabili, e feroci Gli ultimi moti fur, Tultime voci."

Tasso, Ger. Lib. cant, xix, 26.


Sometimes, indeed, death may be represented unac


companied with the horror



which it is commonly


  • In the death of Dardinel^ the simile of Virgil is beautifully imitated


by Ariosto


'^ Come purpureo fior languendo muore Che'l vomere al passar tagliato lassa ; O come carco di soverchio umore 11 papaver no V horto, il capo abbassa ;

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Cosi giu de la faccia ogni colore Cadendo, Dardinel di vita passa/' &c.


Cant, xviii. 153


As a further contrast, we might take the death of the Soldan's page, Ger. Lib. ix. 86. So of Nisus throwing himself upon the body of his friend, JErieid, ix. 444. Contrast also the death of Eunseus, lb. xi. 668; with that of Camilla, in the same book.




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DEATH.


187


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associated. A young creature is seen in death, as if asleep, with the beauty of countenance unobscured by convulsion ; the form remains, but the animation is gone, and the colours of life have given place to the pale tints of death.


" D' un bel pallore ha il bianco volto asperso, Come a' gigli sarian miste viole.


In questa forma


Passa la bella donna, e par che dorma."


Tasso, Ger. Lib. cant. xiL 69


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Again the same poet :


a


E, quasi un ciel notturno, anco sereno Senza splendor la faccia scolorata."


Or Petrarch ;


1^


" Non come fiamma che per forza e spenta,

Ma che per se medesma si consume,

Se n* ando in pace V anima contenta : A guisa di un soave e chiaro lume,

Cui nutrimento a poco a poco manca,

Tenendo al fin suo usato costume; Pallida no, ma piu che neve bianca,

Che senza vento in un bel colle fiocchi,

Parea posar come persona stanca. Quasi un dolce dormir ne' suoi begli occhi,

Essendo il spirto gia' da lei diviso,

Era quel che morir chiaman gli sciocchi. Morte bella parea nel suo bel viso-"

Trionfo della Morte.

A man who has died in battle lies blanched and verv pale ; he has bled to death ; but one strangled, smitten, or crushed by some deadly contusion, has the blood settled in his face. The following picture is truly horrible from its truth and accuracy : —


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" But, see, his face is black, and full of blood ; His eyeballs further out than when he lived.


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188


DEATH.


Staring full ghastly like a strangled man ;

His hair uprear'd, his nostrils stretch'd with struggling ;

His hands abroad display'd as one that grasp'd

And tugg'd for life, and was by strength subdued.

Look on the sheets ; his hair, you see, is sticking ;

His well-proportion'd beard made rough and rugged.

Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodged.

It cannot be but he was murder'd here ;

The least of all these signs were probable."

Kina Henrv VL Pa


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The laws of inquest in England require sucli things to be witnessed in all their appalling circumstances, since the body lies where it falls, and no weapon or even disorder of dress is removed.

Are such scenes to be painted ? — Certainly not. The impression may be conveyed to the spectator consistently


with eood taste, and


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in a manner less obtrusive, so as to awaken the sensations which should attend them, without the detail of the actual scene. It may be allowed in words, as Shakspeare has represented the body of the good

Duke Humphrey ; but, in painting, the representation

becomes too palpable to admit the whole features of horror.



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ESSAY VIII.


OF EXPRESSION IN REFERENCE TO THE BODY THE EMO-

TIONS MODIFIED BY CONTROLLING EXPRESSION.


In the preceding essays, it has been shewn, that the powerful passions influence the same class of nerves and muscles which are afi'ected in highly excited or anxious breathing; and it was inferred, that the apparatus of respiration is the instrument by which the emotions are manifested.


the


con-


nostrils, the uncontrollable tremor of the lips, vulsions of the neck and chest, and the audible sobbing, prove that the influence of the mind extends over the


organs of respiration; so that the difiference is


between the action of the fram


ght


in a paroxysm of the


passions and in the agony of a drowning man.

Having traced the connexion between the excitement of the chest or trunk of the body and expression in the face.


we


may


for


a moment turn our attention to the


consent between the breathing or expression of the body generally, and the position of the limbs.


take the instances



Let us which we before illustrated the


universal consent of the animal frame.


When the tiger


•I


In fear or in grief, the movements of the I


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  • lrous tone which should pervade th


and


suitable to the


g


pos


and the


eyes g


it a direction and



whole frame. That vigour cannot be otherwise represented, than by the excitement of the breast, lips, and nostrils,

while the

meaning. This is all destroyed by an expression so weak

and inconsistent as biting the lip ; it is vulgar, not because

^

it is common, but because it is a trick, and not true to

nature.

The " Dying Gladiator" is one of those masterpieces of antiquity which exhibits a knowledge of anatomy and of man's nature. He is not resting ; he is not falling ; but in the position of one wounded in the chest and seeking relief in that anxious and oppressed breathing which at- tends a mortal wound with loss of blood. He seeks support to his arms, not to rest them or to sustain the body, but to fix them, that their action may be transferred to the chest, and thus assist the labouring respiration.


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EXPRESSION IN REFERENCE TO THE BODY.


95


I


Th


of his sufferings leads to this attitude


In


man expiring from loss of blood, as the vital stream flows the heart and lungs have the same painful feeling of want


w


hich


is


produced



obstruction to the breathing


As


the blood is draining from him, he pants, and looks wild, and the chest heaves convulsively. And so the ancient artist has placed this statue in the posture of one who


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uffers th


5 extremity of difficult respiration. The fixed condition of the shoulders, as he sustains his sinking body, shews that the powerful muscles, common to the ribs and


arms, have th


action concentrated to the


gglmg


chest. In the same way does a man afflicted with asthm

)ws upon a table, stooping for


his hands


his elb


wards, th


the shoulders may become fixed points


muscles of the arm and shoulder then


the

as muscles of


ipiration, and aid in the motion of the chest, during the


heav



and anxiety which belong to the disease


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196


EXPRESSION IN REFERENCE TO THE BODY.


Wh


en a man


mortally


ounded, and still mor


if


he be bleeding to death as the gladiator, he presents the appearance of suffocation ; for the want is felt in the


breast, and relief


If he hav


at th


sought in the heaving of the chei moment the sympathy and aid of


friend, he will cling to him, half raising himself and


and


w


hile


twisting his chest with the utmost exertion ; every muscle of the trunk stands out abrupt and pro- minent, those of the neck and throat, and nostrils and mouth, will partake the excitement. In this condition he will remain fixed, and then fall exhausted with the ex-

r

ertion ; it is in the moment of the chest sinking, that the


of suffering may be heard


If he have fallen on th


turf, it is not from pain, but from that indescribable

struggling, that the grass


Tony


of


and instinctive


around the lifeless body is lodged and


S


too


th the actor. In order to convey to the spectator the idea of human nature agitated by passion or suffering, he must study how the parts of the frame are united and co-operate in expression. Of the success of such an effort we had lately an example on our own stage. It was in witnessing the struggles of a man who had received the mortal thrust, and the representation was horribly correct. The actor having rubbed the paint from his face, presented a hollow cheek, with the countenance haggard and pale ; but it was the heaving of the shoulders attending his deep and painful inspiration, — his difficult utterance, — the gurgling of his voice, as if the blood

a most Even


altogether


impeded the breath, which made

powerfully drawn representation of violent death.

those who knew nothing of the cause of their being moved

felt that it was correct.

But let us take a less appalling instance of the consent



\\



EXPRESSION IN REFERENCE TO THE BODY


197


It


of the frame with the functions of the heart and lungs.

is this connexion between the muscles of the chest and


arms which makes a little man oppressed



obesity


speak with abrupt gesticulation. His emphatic words are

forced out in barking tones, accompanied by jerks and

twists of the arms, the reverse of grace ; while a tall and

ungainly person exhibits an awkwardness of an opposite

kind, in a disjointed swing of his arms during the efforts of his elocution.



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Are we not now authorised


passion


wh


say, that expression


reasoning faculties of man


it language is to thought : that as without words to represent ideas, the

could not be fully exercised, so there could be no vio- lence or excess of passion merely in the mind, and in-


dependent of the action of the body?


As


thought


are embodied and the


g powers developed



the instrument of speech, the passions or emoti


also


a


ponding org


to g


character and force


The bod


)ns have them a determined frame, though se- condary and inferior, comes in aid of the mind ; and the faculties owe their developement as much to the operation of the instruments of expression as to the impressions of the outward senses.

expression appears to precede


It


IS


also




curious th


— ■ ■ '


the intellectual


iperations. The smile that dimpl


an


infant's cheek, which in after years pleasurable and complex emotions, cai


ponds


th


have its orig


from such ideas


Th


expression is not first


the infant is awake, but oftener while


first beam of pi


leep


en when and this


mo


eye is met with the


cold observation of the wise old women, that it is caused

some internal convulsion. They conclude that the



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EXPRESSION IN REFERENCE TO THE BODY.


child's intellects are not yet matured to correspond with the expression, and attribute the effect to some ii


ternal


irritation. The expression is in fact the spontaneous operation and classification of the muscles, which await the developement of the faculties to accompany them closely when they do arise, and in some measure to control


much to affirm, that


them during life. It may be too

without the co-operation of these organs of the frame the


mind would remain


blank


but


ely the mind must

owe something to its connexion with an operation of

the features which precedes its own conscious activity,

and which is unerring in its exercise from the very

commencement.

The expression of pain in an infant is extraordinary in

force and caricature ; the expression of laughter is pure in the highest possible degree, as indicating unalloyed plea- sure, and it will relax by sympathy even the stubborn fea-

Here the rudiments of expression ought to be studied, for in after life they cease to have the pure and simple source from which they spring in in- fancy; the feelings are composed and restrained, the mind is in a state of more compound feeling, and the genuine cha- racteristics of passion are to be seen only in unpremeditated

bursts of great vehemence.

How much influence the instrument of expression has in first rousing the mind into that state of activity which we call passion or emotion, we may learn from the

" I have


tures of a stranger.


power of the body to control these affections, often observed," says Burke, " that on mimicking the looks and gestures of angry, or placid, or frightened, or daring men, I have involuntarily found my mind turned to that passion whose appearance I endeavoured to imitate." Whether it be possible to mould the body, and thus to



3



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EXPRESSION IN REFERENCE TO THE BODY.


199


3


teal into another


thoughts, I know not: but it is of


more consequence to recollect that we may in this way ascertain our own. As the actions and expressions of the body betray the emotions of the heart, we may be startled and forewarned, as it were, by the reflection of ourselves, and at the same time learn to control restraining their expression.


our


passions



As


we hold our breath and throw


into


an


opposite action to restrain the ludicrous idea which would cause us to break out in rude laughter, so may we moderate other rising impulses, by checking the expression of them ; and by composing the body, we put a rein upon our very thoughts. The powers of language are so great, and minister in so superior a manner to reason and the higher faculties of the mind, that the language of expression, which attends the developement of these powers.


IS m a


manner superseded; good it in habitual subordination


te and good manners retain We esteem and honour that


man most who subdues the passions which directly refer to himself, and cultivates those which have their source in benevolence — who resists his own gratification, and enters


™ly by sympathy into what others feel


who desp


direct pleasures, and cultivates those enjoyments in which he participates with others. '« 


is beautiful


art:


the


" Whatever is morally just expression of pain, proceeding from the mere suffering of the body, is repulsive in repre- sentation, while the heroic pangs which the artist may raise to the highest degree of expression, in compassion or sympathy with another's sufferings, cannot be too

powerfully portrayed, if they be consistent with nature and truth.

In studying expression the artist should attempt all, even that which is disagreeable, so that in higher com-


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200


EXPRESSION IN REFERENCE TO THE BODY.


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position he may avoid deformity and every debasing expression, and this not by chance, hut by knowing them and avoiding them ; by this means — and it was followed the ancients — his power of representation will be im- proved, and what is dignified and beautiful in form and expression more certainly attained.



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ESSAY


IX.


OF THE STUDY OF ANATOMY AS NECESSARY TO DESIGN.


OF


THE IDEAL, IN THE REPRESENTATION OF THE BODY.

OF THE GENIUS AND STUDIES OF MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTTI.


Were I to attempt a definition of the ideal in the representation of the body, or of the head and face, I should adopt, as the most harmless to the sculptor or painter, that


The ideal


which has been given by Cicognara. *'

says he, "is nothing more than the imitation of an object


ht to be in perfect


divested of the


He takes


has deg


d


£C


that


we


or distortions which secondary causes produce for granted that man, like every thing else, ated from the original design of nature, a ought to endeavour to present his form as when he rose a newly-created being, before misery and famine, cold or excess of heat, had influence upon his frame. To accom- plish this, the artist has to contemplate those acknowledged beauties in the Venus, in the youthful Apollo, in the vigorous Athletse, and in the Hercules. From such sources he must select the perfect forms, which are now to be found no longer in nature, and recompose them into a beautiful zvhole."


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202


OF DESIGN.


This


IS


gible, and


deg


practicable. It divests the subject of that mystery which those throw over it who would persuade the artist that to represent perfection of form, he must avoid what is human, and retain what is divine.

But, when this is attained, and the drawingf of the


fig


IS


objectionable, a higher object still is to be


found, in a deeper meditation on human nature. Senti- ment and expression may be impressed on the figure, as on the face; but they must be made appropriate to their situation. Some of the most beautiful remains of Grecian


art, when deposited in churches, appear while, in the same situation, the statues


out of place of Michael An


gelo seem perfectly congenial. The noble forms and grave


attitudes of his statues, in the sombre light of


the aisles, lead memory back to all th{ times gone by. Those magnificent desi


is great m 3 have the


effect of a passage in the historian or the poet, when the


reader closes the book to indulg ideas which have been awakened.


m


! in the associations of

But, were they placed gallery or saloon, they might with more propriety be subjected to the flippant criticisms which they have met with.

Individuals, as well as nations, have different manners of representing the same objects, — the human figure, for example. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the people of Hin- dostan, or of Europe, will raise a monument with more marked peculiarities than are seen even in the designs of Michael Angelo, Correggio, and Raphael ; care, there- fore, should be taken to give full scope to different dis- positions, capacities, or tastes. I cannot help saying, that the method of study in the academies tends to cramp the efforts of genius. In the Academy of Bologna I found the


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STUDIES OF THE ANCIENT ARTISTS.


203


stud


copying from tlie


youths do


home


Angelo himself.


\ and if some means be not afforded to encourage indiyidual genius, tameness and mediocrity must be the result. I think the remedy is to be found in the study of anatomy.

There has been much unnecessary ingenuity exercised on the question, whether the ancients studied anatomy. Undoubtedly they did not study it in our fashion \ yet that they possessed all the knowledge of it which art requires, cannot be denied. The finer specimens of ancient statuary eyince a more perfect acquaintance with anatomy, as far as it is shewn in the proportions, general forms, and action of the body, than the productions of those modern sculptors and painters who haye pursued this art with the greatest zeal and success, — eyen than Michael The only question therefore is, how they acquired this knowledge.

Although in Greece the dead were burned, and no artists dissected the human body, yet they certainly had the means of learning the nature of a bone, muscle, and tendon. No more was necessary ; the rest was before them. Fine as their athletse were in youth, they were subject to the decay of age. Now, in comparing the frame of a man advanced in years, especially if in earlier life he had been remarkable for " thews and sinews," with the young and active, every thing essential to the painter and

the sculptor may be observed. If the Greeks had before them the most admired forms of youth and manhood, they had also the "time-honoured wrestler," who in old age ex- hibited, almost as in the dead anatomy, every muscle, origin and insertion, every tendon, and every vein. ■ I know how far this manner of demonstrating the anatomy may be carried. Having in my lectures on surgery taken the

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OF THE GENIUS AND STUDIES OF


g man, the academy model


the practice


in fractures and dislocations, I was accustomed to in- troduce a powerful muscular fellow to my class, with this appeal : — " In the exercise of your profession you have to judge of the displacement of the lirahs, and the joints disfigured by dislocation, fractures, or tumour ; hut not one of you, perhaps, has ever looked on the natural body itself." In giving these lessons, I became aware how much of the structure of the muscles and articulations might be demonstrated without actual dissection.

In the heat of the southern countries of Europe, the workmen, the Galeotti, or men condemned to the public works, the young people and children, are all accustomed to a state of nudity ; the naked form becomes, therefore,

familiar to the eye.

In the same day I made careful examinations of the anatomical studies of Michael Angelo, in the collection of the Grand Duke of Florence, and I compared them with his noble works in the tombs of the Medici. I ob- served that he had avoided the error of artists of less genius, who, in shewing their learning, deviate from living nature. I recognised the utmost accuracy of ana-


tomy


in the great artist's studies ; in


his pen-and-ink


sketches of the knee, for example, every point of bone,

muscle, tendon, and ligament was marked, and perhaps a little exaggerated. But on surveying the limbs of those fine statues, this peculiarity was not visible ; there were none of the details of the anatomy, but only the effects of


muscular action, as seen in life, not the muscles.


As,


perhaps, this is the most important lesson which can be given to the artist, I shall venture to transcribe the notes I made at the time.

" The statue of Lorenzo di Medici, Duca d'Urbino, bv


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MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTTI.


205


Michael Angelo, is in the Capella di Principi, of the church

of St. Lorenzo. Under the statue are two figures, one of Twilight, the other of Dayhreak. I observed in the male figure, which is of very grand proportions, the clavicle or collar-bone, the head of the humerus, the deltoid and


yet


igularly seen in


pectoral muscles developed beyond nature,

true in the anatomy. Such a shoulder was

man, yet so finely is it imagined, that no one part is

unduly exaggerated j but all is magnified with so perfect a

knowledge, that it is just as a whole, the bone and the


muscle corresponding in their proportions. In the same chapel are the statues of Giuliano di Medici, Duke of Nemours, and brother of Leo X. with the recumbent figures of Day and Night. It is in these finely conceived


gures that we have the proof of Michael Angelo's g


They may not have the perfect purity and truth th see in the antique ; belongs to him alone,


but there is a magnificence, which Here we see the effect of muscular


action, without affected display of anatomical knowledge. The back is marvellously fine. The position of the scapula, for example, makes its lower angle throw up the edge of the latissimus dorsi, for the scapula is forced back


upon the spine


consequence of the position of the


Michael Angelo must have carefully studied the anatomy reference to the changes produced in the living body by

its members : the shifting of the scapula.


th


action of


with the consequen


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g of the mass of muscles, some


action, some merely pushed into masses, are very finely shewn." *

Having just come from observing his sketches of the


  • I might make similar remarks on the statue by John of Bologna,

Januarius sitting, shivering under a shower, in a fountain in the Villa Petraia, near Florence.


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206


OF THE GENIUS AND STUDIES OF


anatomy of the knee-joint, I was curious in my observation of the manner in which he made his knowledge available in the joints of these fine statues ; and they gave rise to the following remarks.

  • ' If an artist, with a knowledge of the structure, should

look upon the knee in a bent position, he will recognise the different bones and ligaments. But if he look upon it in an extended position of the limb, or during exertion, he

The contour, the


will


not distinguish the same


parts.


swelling of the integument, and the fulness around the joint, are not produced by the forms of the bones, but by the rising up of the parts displaced by the new position of the bones. The fatty cushions which are within and ex- ternal to the knee-joint, and which serve the purpose of friction-wheels in the play of the bones upon each other, no longer occupy the same relative places ; they are pro- truded from the depth of the cavity to the surface. How well Michael Angelo knew this these statues of Day and

Night evince.

  • ' In these statues, great feeling of art and genius of

the highest order have been exhibited ; anatomical science, ideal beauty, or rather grandeur, combined. It is often said that Michael Angelo studied the Belvidere Torso, and that he kept it continually in his eye. That fine specimen of ancient art may have been the authority for his grand developement of the human muscles ; but it did not convey to him the effect which he produced by the throwing out of those magnificent and giant limbs. Here we see the vigour of this sculptor's stroke and the firmness of his touch, as well as his sublime conception of the human figure. We can imagine that he wrought by no measure or mechanical contrivance ; that he hewed out the marble as another would cast together his mass of



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MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTTI.


207


clav in


first sketch


Many of his finest works are


left unfinished ; it appears that he found the block of marble in some instances too small, and left the design


incompi



For my own part I feel that the finish and

consistent with the


smoothness of the marble is hardly consistent vigour of Michael Angelo's conceptions j and I should regret to think that such a genius should have wasted an hour in giving softness or polish to the surface.


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Wh


is there, modern or ancient, that would thus


this great


voluntarily encounter all the difficulties of the art and throw the human body into this position, or who could throw the shoulder into this violent distortion, and yet preserve the relations of the parts, of bone and muscle, with such scientific exactness? We have in master a proof of the manner in which genius submits to labour, in order to attain perfection. He must have undergone the severe toil of the anatomist, to acquire such a power of design, which it was hardly to be supposed could be sufficiently appreciated then or now.

Without denying the beaut v or correctness of the


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OF THE GENIUS AND STUDIES OF


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true Grecian productions of the chisel, they ought not to be contrasted with the works of Michael Angelo to his disadvantage. He had a noble conception of the august

form of man : to my thinking, superior to any thing ex- hibited in ancient sculpture. Visconti * imputes infe- riority to Buonarotti ; and to confirm his views, compares the antique statues restored by him, with the limbs and heads which he added. But I can conceive nothing less suited to the genius of the artist than this task of mo- delling and adjusting a limb in a different position from that which is entire, and yet so as to preserve the pro- portions and character of the whole. The manner of his working and the urgency of his genius for an unrestrained field of exertion, unfitted him for that kind of labour, while it is a matter of necessity, that a copy shall be inferior to an original.

    • What the figures of Night and Morning had to do

before the degenerate son of the Medici is another matter. They seem to have been placed there as mere ornaments, and in the luxury of talent, to give the form and posture of the human figure, 'per ornamento e per solo spoggio di giacitura e de^ formed

" When in Rome I was impatient until I stood before


the statue of Moses


much had been said of


extra-


ordinary merit, t and also so much of its defects, t It is a noble figure, with all the energy of Buonarotti displayed in it. It is not the anatomy alone which constitutes its perfec- tion ; but there is the same mind displayed in the attitude.



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E gran parte del Nume avea nil volto.


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MICHAEL ANGELO BUONAROTTI.


209


the habiliment, the beard, and all the accompaniments, as

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in the vigour of the naked shoulders and arms. It is the realisation of his high conception of the human figure.

" My brother, in his * Observations on Italy,' finds fault with the arm, and, perhaps, looking in one direction, it may be imperfect ; but this was one of many figures which were intended by the artist to ornament the great monument to Julius II. ; and, consequently, designed to be seen only in a certain aspect.* Besides, we ought rather to teach ourselves to admire what is esteemed excellent than to seek for defects. As to other criticisms on this statue, it should be remembered that it is an ideal figure as much as the Apollo or the Jupiter. From whatever notion derived, Moses is represented with horns rising from his temples ; an adjunct which, placed either on the face of the antique or of common nature, would have been truly ridiculous."

To resume the subject of anatomy, we may take the opinion of Vasari : f in addition to the study of the antique he recommends the frequent examination of the naked figure, of the action of the muscles of the back and limbs, and the form and play of the joints j and takes occasion to advise the study of the dissected body, in order to see the true position of the muscles, their classification


and insertions ; so that



perfect knowledge of the


"-h


structure the artist may with more security represent the figure in every varying attitude, bestowing, through a knowledge of their action, the proper swelling and contour of the muscles, according to their position and the force exerted ; and from this, he truly observes, comes the


  • See the account of this great work in the " Storia della Scultura/*

by Cicognara.

f In his Preface, " Da che habbia origine il buon disegno."


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210


ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MUSCLES.


power of invention, giving natural variety to the figures, as in the representation of a battle or great historical work.

And here I cannot help expressing a belief that, as it is necessary that the young artist should have an accurate eye to form, the drawing of the bones should be sub- stituted for what is called the " round," that is. the fine



indefinite and undulating surface of the antique, drawing the curious shapes of the thigh-bone or tibia, he will sooner acquire a notion of external form than if set to

a foot and ankle, or knee, without an idea of what


draw prodi


the convexities which he


IS


from the bones and from the skelet


g


Drawing


will


g


him


a


desire for learning more, and affbrd an introduction to the classification and insertions of the muscles, with perfect ease in representing, either from nature or the antique, the slightly defined forms of the joints.

But, as we have seen in the works of the masters, let him avoid exhibiting the anatomy or displaying his know- ledge, else he will fall into the caricature of Fuseli, instead


of attaining the vigour of B


Anatomy


be displayed, but its true use is to beget an accurate observation of nature in those slighter characteristics which escape a less learned eye.


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ESSAY


X.


USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER


FAULTS INTO WHICH


ARTISTS MAY BE BETRAYED IN STUDYING THE ANTIQUE

OR IN DRAWING FROM THE ACADEMY FIGURE ANATOMY

AS CONDUCTING TO TRUTH OF EXPRESSION AND OF CHARACTER.


It


mark the


is interesting in a very high degree to traits of emotion, and to compare them with the anatomical structure ; and amidst the severer studies of anatomy, as connected with health and disease, I have been able, without departing too far from professional pursuits and duties, to pass many pleasant hours in observing and investigating the anatomy of expression. In the prosecu- tion of anatomy we never know to what results it may lead. The observations I have made on the nervous system might be traced to investigations on the present subject. I saw that the whole frame is affected sympathetically with


expression in the countenance : and


m


trying


led to ascertain, that

nerves, the


explain that sympathy, that I was

there exists in the body a distinct system of

office of which is to influence the muscles in Respiration

in Speech, and in Expression.

The study of the animal frame, as it is affected

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212


USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


emotion and passion, is nearly related to pliilosopliy, and is a subject of great difficulty and delicacy. The question is often discussed, of what use is anatomy to the painter ? The study of anatomy has been objected to by some persons of pure taste, from the belief that it leads to the representa- tion of the lineaments of death more than of life, or to monstrous exaggerations of the forms. So far this is the case, when an artist without natural talent, or right feeling, will rather exhibit the bones or muscles than the fine forms of health and vigour. But we return to the question, what are the advantages to be gained from this study by


the


As we may define anatomy to be th


tion of that structure by which the mind expresses emo- tion, and through which the emotions are controlled and modified, it introduces us to the knowledge of the relation and mutual influences which exist


to


exist between the mind and the body. To the painter, therefore, the study is neces- sarily one of great importance ; it does not teach him to

use his pencil, but it teaches him to observe nature, to see forms in their minute varieties, which but for the principles here elucidated would pass unnoticed, — to catch expressions so evanescent that they must escape him, did he not know their sources. It is this reducing of things to their prin- ciples which elevates his art into a connexion with philo- sophy, and which gives it the character of a liberal art.

By anatomy in its relation to the arts of design, I under- stand not merely the study of the individual and dissected muscles of the face, or body, or limbs, — but the observa- tion of all the characteristic varieties which distinguish the frame of the body or countenance. A knowledge of the peculiarities of infancy, youth, or age ; of sickness or robust health ; or of the contrasts between manly and muscular strength and feminine delicacy ; or of the ap-


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USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


213


pearances which pain or death present, belongs to its province as much as the study of the


mu


of the face


when affected in emotion


Viewed in this comprehen


light, anatomy forms a science, not only of great


but one which will be



the artist a true spirit


of observation, teach him to distinguish what is essential to just expression, and direct his attention to appearances on which the effect and force, as well as the delicacy of his delineations, will be found to depend.


Among the errors


which a young artist is most


likely to be seduced, there are two against which the study of anatomy seems well calculated to guard him. The one is a blind and indiscriminate imitation of the antique j the other, an idea that he will find in the academy figure a sure guide for delineating the natural and true anatomy of the living body. He who makes imitation of the antique the beginning and end of his studies, instead of adopting it as a corrective of his taste, will be apt to fall into a tame and lifeless style ; and, in pursuing ideal beauty, will be in danger of renouncing truth of expression and of character. Nay, I suspect that many painters have copied casts of the antique for years, without perfectly understanding what they should imitate, or even perceiving the necessity of previously studying the design of the artist, or the 'pecu- liarities of his mode of com

who is learned in the science and anatomy of painting can never fall. But he who has not compared the natural with the antique head, nor understood the characteristic differences, nor studied the principle on which the ancient artists com- posed, may be betrayed into the grossest misconceptions, by too implicitly following their models. In painting a hero, for example, on whom the Greek


Into this fault


artist would have bestowed a character of strength and grandeur, by bold


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USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


anatomy and expression, he may be following the ideal form of a deity in which the sculptor had studiously divested his model of all that might seem to pertain to humanity. As I have before remarked, the ancient sculptor, in accordance with the mythology of his country and the spirit of her poetry, studied to shew the attributes of divinity in the repose of the figure, without any indication

or veins, and by a face stamped with the mild


of muscles or veins, serenity of a being superior to human passion ; thus shadowing out a state of existence, in which the will possessed freedom and activity, without the accompanying exertion of the bodily frame. But those ideal forms are scarcely ever to be transferred to the representation of the


hum


body


and a modern artist who follows indis


criminately such models, misapplies the noblest lessons of


his


Independently of the ideal form of divinity, there an

some peculiarities in the nature of the ancient sculp

! which ought to be well considered by the student ii



modern painting.

In the infancy of their


culptors did


to give to their figures either animation or character j they did not even open their eyelids, or raise the arm from the side. A stillness and simplicity of composition were thus the characteristics of ancient sculpture ; and we are told that Pericles, even in the best period of Grecian art, was anxious that his pupils should preserve this feature of the early ages in all their works, as essential to grandeur. The pleasure of being carried back to old times seems to be a part of our nature, or, at least, of the cultivated mind.


So


Pliny speaks of retaining in every thing about a villa its ancient simplicity. It is observed accordingly, that among

the excellencies which distinguish the Greek artists, the


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USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


215


that


first and most admirable is that gravity of style, sedate grandeur of expression, and prevailing tranquil- lity of soul which still appear under the most terrible agitation and passion. Upon this chaste model the taste in sculpture was formed in the better ages of Greece and Rome, and its influence has extended to modern times.

Unfortunately this style of composition has been taken as an additional authority for rejecting powerful ex- pression and character even from the canvass. But, we must never forget the distinction between sculpture and painting. The statuary, indeed, as well as the painter, has often to represent what is not consistent with beauty ; while both must sometimes preserve an indefiniteness, and soften all the harsher, though strictly natural lines of expression. If the statues of Michael Angelo and John of Bologna were as familiar to us as the casts of the antique, they would probably modify the prevailing opinions on this subject. Still there is an essential difforence between the

principle of composition in painting and in sculpture.

In the works of ancient artists we see a perpetual effort to exalt their productions above the commonness of nature. They studied a grand and general effect, avoiding the representation of minuteness or sharpness of feature, and of convulsions or distortions, however strictly natural ; and, indeed, it is scarcely consistent with the character of a statue to represent the transitory effects of violent passion. The sculptor must exercise his genius on the more sublime and permanent feelings, as characterised in


the countenance and fig


and much of the difficulty


of his


preventing the repose which


ght


be preserved in the attitude and expression, from guishing all character, and degenerating into


tameness


and indifference


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216


USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


It is repose, and not absence of expression, that is to be aimed at. The flashes of passion do not assort with the material, while the languor and the gloom of the features in grief are quite consistent with it. The slaves and mutes on the pedestal of a monumental statue may contribute to the eff*ect : they are mere accessories, — as the frame to the picture. But this principle does not apply to the painter j to transfer to his art the rules of composition which flow from the study of ancient sculpture would endanger all in which it is most excellent. As his materials do not permit a close imitation of the actual forms of nature, a stronger, and more natural character is to be adopted on the canvass, than is proper to a statue. It is true, that he may often maintain much of the same gravity of style as the statuary, and that in such compositions there may be a certain august majesty ; some subjects require this, and others only admit of it, provided the tone and principle of com- position be preserved, and the colouring be low and sombre. In general, however, this is neither necessary, nor perhaps

suitable to a picture ; and it may be at least laid down, that where there is bold light and vivid colouring, there should also be strong expression, and bold characteristic


drawing.


A painting, with


high finishing and bright


colouring, demands minute expression, because the same

circumstances which display the natural colour, bring out a clear disclosure of the parts, and a sharpness of expression

in the features.

Thus the painter must study the traits of human ex-


pression


The noblest aim of painting is unquestionably to affoct the mind, which can only be done by the repre- sentation of sentiment and passion, — of emotion as indicated by the figure and the countenance. But, if it be contended that an imposing stillness and tranquillity must pervade





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It is not such repose as the artist who has


the higher subjects of painting, I venture to affirm that it is a tranquillity which he can never attain who is not capable of representing all the violence and agitation of passion.

despised or neglected natural character may be able to represent, but such as he alone can conceive and execute, who has studied all the variety of expression, and learned the anatomy of the face and limbs in their most violent action. Nay, tranquillity or repose, in the strict sense of the words, can only be truly represented by one who can with equal facility give energy to the features and figure ; for in rest there must be character, and that character will

best be expressed by him who has studied the effect of the action of the muscles. It ought also to be remembered that repose and agitation must ever greatly depend on con- trast and opposition. There are few grand subjects in history or mythology, in which the tranquillity and higher beauty of expression in the main figure does not borrow some aid from the contrast of the harsher features, more marked characters, and more passionate gestures of the surrounding groups.

Perhaps I have sufficiently pointed out how dangerous it is for one who aims at excelling as a painter to imitate too closely and indiscriminately the productions of ancient sculpture. But it is natural for the student to believe that the study of the academy figure may serve as a guard against all such danger j and aiford him a sure criterion


for judging of the anatomy of his figures.

M^here is the artist to find the principles of his art when he desires to express mental suffering under all those influences which form the subjects of design in the higher departments of art, and especially in historical painting ; is

he to grimace at himself in a mirror? — then he falls into




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caricature : is he to study the expression of the actor ? then he represents what is fantastic and theatrical. For what may be correct representation on the stage is not correct in painting, any more than it would he correct for the tragedian to display on the stage those traits of expression with which the physician is alone supposed to he familiar. Powers of observation, cultivated by good taste, lead us to distinguish what is appropriate. The physician in studying symptoms, the actor in personifying suffering, the painter in repre- senting it, or the statuary in embodying it in marble, are observers of nature ; but each sees her differently, and with a feeling influenced by his pursuit.

The study of the academy figure is, undoubtedly, essential j but unless followed with some regard to science, it necessarily leads to error. In the first place, it can give no aid in reference to the countenance. Here the lessons of anatomy, associated with the descriptions of the great poets, and the study of the works of eminent painters and sculptors, afford the only resource. But even for attaining a correct knowledge of the body and limbs, the academy figure is far from being an infallible guide. The display of muscular action in the human figure is but momentary, and cannot be retained and fixed for the imitation of the artist. The effect produced upon the surface of the body and limbs by the action of the muscles — the swelling and receding of the fleshy parts, and that starting out of the sinews or tendons, which accompany exertion or change of posture, cannot be observed with sufiicient accuracy, unless the artist is able to class the muscles engaged in the action j and he requires some other guide to enable him to recollect these varying forms, than that which is afforded by a transitory view of them.

When the academy figure first strips himself, there is


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USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


219


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a symmetry and accordance in all the limbs ; but when screwed up into a posture, they indicate constraint and want of balance. It cannot be supposed that when a man has the support of ropes to preserve him in a position of exertion, the same action of muscles can be displayed as if the limbs were supported by their own efforts ; hence in all academy drawings, we may perceive something wrong, from the ropes not being represented along with the figure. In natural action there is a consent and symmetry in every


part.


When a man clenches his fist in passion, the other


arm does not lie in elegant relaxation j when the face is stern and vindictive, there is energy in the whole frame j when a man rises from his seat in impassioned gesture, a certain tension and straining pervades every limb and feature. This universal state of the body it is difficult to excite in those who are accustomed to sit to painters ; they watch his eye, and where they see him intent, they exert the muscles. The painter, therefore, cannot trust to the man throwing himself into a natural posture j he must direct him, and be himself able to catch, as it were in- tuitively, what is natural and reject what is constrained. Besides, those soldiers and mechanics who are employed as academy figures are often awkward and unwieldy j hard labour, or the stiff habits of military training, have impaired the natural and easy motion of their joints.

Until the artist has gained a perfect knowledge of the muscles, and is able to represent them in action without losing the general balance of the figure, he is apt to pro- duce an appearance like spasm or cramp in the limbs, from one part being in action, while the other is in repose. For it is always to be remembered, that whether the body be alive or dead, whether the limbs be in action or relaxed in sleep, an uniform character must pervade the composi-

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USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


tion.


Whether the gently undulating line of relaxed muscle be the prevailing outline, or the parts he large and strong, and the muscles prominent, bold, and turgid, there must be perfect accordance, or there will be no truth of expression.

I think, that in the sketches, and even in the finished paintings of some artists, I have observed the effect of con- tinuing to draw from the model or from the naked figure, without due attention to the regulated action of the muscles. I have seen paintings, where the grouping was excellent and the proportions exact, yet the figures stood in attitudes when they were meant to be in action j they were fixed as statues, and communicated to the spectator no idea of exertion or of motion. This sometimes proceeds, I have no doubt, from a long -continued contemplation of the

antique, but more frequently from drawing after the still and spiritless academy figure. The knowledge of anatomy is necessary to correct this ; but chiefly, a familiar acquaint- ance with the classification of the muscles, and the pecu- liarities and efi^ect of their action.

The true use of the living figure is this; — after the artist has studied the structure of the bones and the group- ings of the muscles, he should observe attentively the play of the muscles and tendons when the body is thrown into


»


and attitudes of


he should espe


ally mark their changes during the striking out of th


limbs. By such a course of observation he will


be


able to distinguish bet


posture and action, and to


avoid that tameness which results from neglecting the efifects of the alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscles. And with this view, after having learned to draw the figure, the painter would do well to make the model go through the exercise of pitching the bar, or throwing, or


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striking. He will then find that it is chiefly when straining in a fixed posture that there is a general tension and equal prominence of the muscles j and that in the free actions of the limhs, a few muscles only swell out, while their oppo- nents are relaxed and flattened. He will not, perhaps, be able at once to catch the character of muscular expression, and commit it to paper ; but having an accurate knowledge of the muscles, according to their uses, and the efi^ect of each action in calling particular sets of them into activity,

I

knowing to what points his observation should be applied, and how his preconceived notions are to be corrected by the actual appearance of the limb, each succeeding exhibi- tion of muscular exertion will advance his progress in the

delineation of the figure. Hence it may well be said, that anatomy is the true basis of the arts of design ; and it will

infallibly lead those to perfection who, favoured with genius, can combine truth and simplicity with the higher graces and charms of the art. It bestows on the painter a minuteness and readiness of observation, which he cannot otherwise attain j and I am persuaded, that while it enables him to give vigour to the whole form, it teaches him to represent niceties of expression, which would otherwise

pass unnoticed.

Even in drawing from a particular model, the artist versed in anatomy has a great superiority. When I have seen one unacquainted with the internal structure, drawing from the naked figure or from a statue, I have remarked the difficulty which he experienced in shewing the course of a swelling muscle or the slight depressions and con-


vexities about a joint; and this difficulty might be traced to


his ignorance of the relations and actions of the muscles. The same perplexity he often feels in drawing the knobbed ends of the bones or the insertions of the tendons, at the



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USES OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


articulations ; for these parts being covered over by the in- teguments, and cushions of fat of variable thickness, and sheathed in membranes, are but faintly marked on the surface. The delicate and less definite indications of the anatomy, though easily traced by one acquainted with the structure of the limb, appear to the uninformed only un- meaning variations in the outline j he has no means of judging of their importance, and he is subject to continual mistakes in attempting to imitate them.


Supp


that


young artist, not previously grounded


in anatomy, is about to sketch a figure or a limb, his execution will be feeble, and he will commit many errors if he endeavours merely to copy what is placed before him to transcribe, as it were, a language


understand


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which he does not sees an undulating surface, with the

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g of the muscles, to which nplying motion; he makes capable of representing the


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curved outline of beauty, with deci


and


ac-


curacy, and of preserving at the same time the cha-

Drawing what he does not


racters of living action.


understand, he falls into tameness or deviates into caricature.

But with a knowledge of anatomy, if he attempt the same task, his acquaintance with the skeleton will enable him to make his first outline of the fig and ease, and preserve its various


with


th


proportion


and the force to


study of the muscles will enable him to g the muscular parts, and to represent the joints accurately without exaggeration. It is, however, in


composing


much


more


than


copying, that this knowledge is truly useful. Without


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USE OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


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all the original efforts of genius must be checked and repressed. Every change of posture is accompanied with muscular action, and in proportion to the painter's ig- norance of the cause of those changes, all his designs will he cramped and restrained. Leonardo da Vinci gives formally, as a precept, what is self-evident to an anatomist : " In naked figures, those members must shew their muscles most distinctly and boldly, upon which the greatest stress is laid; in comparison with which the rest must appear enervate." " Remember, further, to make the muscles most visible on that side of any member which it puts forward to action." Such rules and precepts are rather the result of anatomical study than useful to one ignorant of the subject, in pointing out how effect is to be produced. It is not by following such recommendations that the end


is to be accomplished, but



enriching the mind with


frequent observation of the changes which are displayed by

-

action, and forming rules for their representation. For example, in vigorous action there is a general tension of the whole frame ; but in order to produce a particular motion, a certain class of muscles is brought into stronger action than the rest; and the nature of the motion is expressed by marking the arrangement of the muscles. If a man be merely pointing upwards, a graceful simplicity may be all that the painter can attain, or should attempt ; but if he is bringing down a heavy sword to make a blow, the muscles will start into strong exertion, and the idea of mighty action will be conveyed by representing those swelling muscles of the chest which pull down the arm and give the sweep to the whole body. Thus, to compose with truth and force, it is necessary that the painter should not only know the place and form of the

bones and muscles, but that he should also have an


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USE OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


accurate action.*


ption of the classing of the muscles in


Perhaps I may best convey my idea of the advantage to he derived from this study, hy contrasting two young artists drawing from a figure ; the one trusting to his untutored genius, the other assisted hy a knowledge of anatomy. The first is seen copying hit by bit, and mea- suring from point to point ; and the eff^ect, after much


labour


The other seizes the chief


characters of the attitude with facility ; because his know- ledge of the skeleton has enabled him to balance the trunk upon the limbs, and give the contours boldly. The turn of


  • Socrates one day paid a visit to Clito, the statuary, and in the

course of conversation said to him, ^ We all know, Clito, that you execute a variety of figures; some in the attitude of the race, and others in the several exercises of wrestling, of pugilism, and of the pancratium ; but with regard to the quality which particularly captivates the soul of the spectator, — I mean their correct resemblance to the life, — how is this property wrought into your productions?' As Clito hesitated for a reply, Socrates quickly rejoins, * Is it not by endeavouring to imitate the configuration of the bodies of those who are actually engaged in those exertions of skill and activity that you succeed?' < Without doubt/ said the artist. * Well, then/ resumed the philosopher, ' you study, under the various gestures and attitudes of the living body, what parts are drawn up out of their natural situation, or carried in a contraiy direction below it. Some which undergo compression, others an unnatural ele- vation ; some which are thrown into a state of extension, others which become relaxed ; all this you imitate, and hence you produce that fidelity, that accuracy, which we admire.' The artist acquiesced in the remark. ' And the expression of the passions, again, — how great a pleasure does this produce to the spectator ? ' * Surely,' replied Clito.

  • Thus those who are in the actual conflict of the battle, are they not to

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be represented as bearing menaces in their eyes, while satisfaction and joy should sit upon the countenances of the victorious?' ^ Unquestion- ably/ ^ It is then equally the business of the statuary to transfuse into his productions the workings and emotions of the mind,' — Xenophon: Memorabilia^ Lib. iii. cap. x. p. 6.



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USE OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER.


225


the limbs, the masses of muscle, and the general forms of the joints, are touched with a slight but accurate hand, and the spirit and life of the original are recognised at


once.


Even in the early stage of his drawing, while his rival is copying parts, he will present the foundation of a correct and spirited sketch j and as he can convey the general idea by a few lines, he also excels in finishing the minute parts.

But this superiority is still better shewn if the model be removed from these two young painters, and they draw


the fig


from recollection; or if, keeping the model


before them in its alter the attitude.


ginal posture, they


quired to


I


his breast, or brings him with his knee to the


et us take for example the fighting gladiator. Instead of a young warrior pushing on with great energy, let their task be to represent him receiving the blow of his antagonist, which forces down his shield upon

ground, as it is beautifully represented on some medals. Can we doubt for a moment which will excel ? The one will copy from memory his original drawing, or with great difliculty twist the erect limbs of the statue into a couching posture, while the other will gain by his greater freedom. Retaining the


g


air, like one who had understood


what he copied, he is aware that a new class of muscles comes into action, while those formerly in exertion are relaxed ; he knows that the bending of the limbs increases


knows how to represent the


in short, he


g


to his


their measurements j he joints in their new postui figure energy and effect.

It is a mistake to suppose that, because in many of the finest pictures the anatomy is but faintly indicated, the study may not be necessary to a painter. Even that which in the finished picture is intended merely to give the idea of



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USE OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER


muscular exertion, should have its foundation laid in the sketch, by a correct and strong drawing of the full action. It is true, that the sketch is too often a mere indication of the painter's design, intended to he worked up to the truth of representation as he transfers it to the canvass, that the outlines of the figures are rather shadowy forms, undefined in their minute parts, than studies of anatomical


expression, or as guides in the subsequent labour.


And,


perhaps, it is for this reason that there have been many painters, whose sketches all admire, but whose finished


But


a


sketch


paintings fall short of public expectation, which is without vigour, and in which the anatomy has not been defined, is a bad foundation for a good picture ; and even a little exaggeration in this respect is not only agreeable, but highly useful. The anatomy should be strongly marked in the original design ; and from the dead colouring to the finishing, its harshness and rugged- ness should be gradually softened into the modesty of nature. The character of a sketch is spirit and life ; the finished painting must combine smoothness and accuracy. That which was a harsh outline in the sketch, or the

strong marking of a swelling muscle, or the crossing of a vein, will be indicated in the finished composition, perhaps only by a tinge of colour. The anatomy of the finished

picture will always be most successful, and even most delicate, where the painter has a clear conception of the course and swelling of each muscle and vein which enters into the delineation of the action.

While artists neglect the study of anatomy, as con- nected with character and expression in painting, they never can attain the " vantage ground" of their profession. Perhaps it is also to be feared, that while only a few artists are versed in this science, they will be apt to


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USE OF ANATOMY TO THE PAINTER,


227


they are learned above their


is their forte, and they


solicitous to display


it. But

were the study of anatomy more general, the same spirit

which tempt them to a style


and love of


origm


bordering on deformity, would make those very men seek distinction by combining grace, and the other qualities of fine painting, with truth and expression.

It is not enough, however, that the painter should im-


prove


him


in the knowledg


of


atomy


attention must also be directed to its importance


public For


as necessity precedes invention in the origin of the arts, so must general good taste precede or accompany their improvement. The mere conviction in the mind of the painter, that anatomy is essential to the perfection of his art, will seldom be sufficient to insure his application


The


to a very difficult and somewhat repulsive study, knowledge and opinion of the public must force him to the task, and encourage his labour by the assurance of its merited reward.


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APPENDIX


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APPENDIX




ON THE


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NERVOUS SYSTEM


BY


ALEXANDER SHAW.


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In many parts of this volume references are made to an Essay upon the Nervous System; and such an essay was con- tained in the last edition : but it was found that the author had drawn his pen through that essay, and had left nothing new to supply its place. It cannot be doubted that he intended to recompose that part of his work ; and as some account of his observations on the nervous system bearing upon the questions here discussed may be interesting, I have been requested to give a short review of his opinions. I enter upon the task with feelings of great diffidence.


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It is stated, in various parts of the essays, that a distinct class

of nerves is provided in the human body for controlling the organ

of respiration ; and that it is this class which is principally affected

by passion and emotion, so as to give rise to the phenomena of expression.

The organ of breathing is so constructed in man, that besides ministering to the oxygenation of the blood, its primary office in


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232


OF THE NERVES


the economy, it Is the instrument of voice and of expression, — two properties which bear relation to his intellectual nature. The apparatus required for adapting the organ of breathing to those superadded endowments, is altogether different from that which is found in the lower animals, where the organ is subservient only to the purification of the blood : and as a correspondence must exist between the structure of the different moving parts of


frame


accom



panied with a change in the arrangement of the nerves. Accord- ingly the author of this volume found, by comparin system as it exists in inferior animals, with its order and distribu- tion in man, that a distinct class of nerves is appropriated in the human frame to the organ of respiration : and to that class he gave

the name respiratory nerves.

But this conclusion was not arrived at till many other important observations had been previously made by the author on the functions of the nervous system. Medical science has been in- debted to him for improvements in this branch of physiology, only to be compared, for their extent and value, with those intro- duced by Harvey by his discovery of the circulation of the blood. Although no parts of the living body have excited greater interest, since anatomy was first studied, than the brain and the nerves ; yet when Sir Charles Bell entered upon his researches into this subject, he found it involved in so much confusion, and surrounded by so many difficulties apparently in- surmountable, that physiologists had almost ceased to prosecute


it. Errors on points which bore on the first elements of the inquiry had taken deep root. He succeeded in removing these errors, and in establishing an entirely new principle of investi-


gation; by adopting which, as his guide, he was rewarded not


only by making discoveries of the utmost value to medicine himself, but by communicating a fresh impulse to the labours of other physiologists in the same field.

The error which formerly prevailed, and had the greatest effect in retarding improvement, was this : — It was taken for granted that all parts of the nervous system had certain general


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OF THE NERVES


^33


properties belonging to them in common ; so that all were


considered alike in function.


The brain, including the spinal


mar


marrow, was looked upon as a common store, from which certain powers, such as that of motion, were issued to the body, and into which others, such as sensation, were received, the nerves being regarded as the conductors ; and, in conformity with that view, it was further supposed that any part of the brain, or any single nerve, had an equal power with all the rest, of bestowing the numerous properties commonly assigned to the nervous system. For the sake of illustration, let us take the nerves of the lower extremities. These come off from the spinal 'ow. Now it was conceived that they were all simple in structure ; and that each had the power of conferring motion on the limbs, and at the same time of giving sensation ; and that the spinal marrow from which they arise, being a prolongation of the brain, had these two functions combined promiscuously in all its parts.

It is not difficult to explain how these mistaken views ori- ginated. In the first place, when we look to a nerve, there is nothing visible in the structure of the fibrils of which it consists to lead us to suppose that one set possesses different functions from the others : they are all exactly alike in size, colour, and consistence, and are held together in the same manner, in one common investing membrane or sheath. In the second place, although the brain is subdivided into numerous masses of dif- ferent forms and dimensions, so as to give the appearance at first sight of its consisting of many separate organs, yet an uniformity prevails in its general structure, and the distinct sub- stances of which it is formed are so diffused and intermingled with


common


possessed equally by all its parts. Again, the phenomena of certain diseases and accidents, occurring almost daily, must have


strengthened these erroneous opinions. When


nerve, in its course along one of the extremities, is cut across in a wound, the lower part of the limb thus isolated from the brain is deprived at once both of motion and sensation : if the spinal marrow be crushed or wasted by disease, total paralysis ensues ;


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OF THE NERVES.


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that is, the limbs lose motion and sensation conjointly. When a man is struck down "by apoplexy from a sudden effusion of blood into the brain, numbness or insensibility accompanies the loss of motion. These circumstances taken together were all likely to mislead, and may account for the error mentioned above having held its place so long.

After Sir Charles Bell began to investigate the subject, it soon occurred to him that great inconsistencies were involved in the opinions generally maintained. One of the difficulties which struck him most was the following: — When we suppose a nerve in the act of exciting a muscle to contract, it necessarily implies that the stimulus by which it produces that effect travels owif- wardl7/y— that it originates in the brain, and is conveyed ex-

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ternally along the fibrils of the nerve to the muscle. But when we suppose a nerve in the act of giving rise to a sensation, it implies that the impression which occasions the sense is first communicated to the extremity of the nerve expanded upon the skin, and is then conveyed inwardly till it arrives at the sensorium. Hence the peculiar influence which causes muscular action travels in one direction ; and that which causes sensation, in exactly the opposite direction : and it seemed impossible to the author that they could both be conducted by the same nerve.

The fundamental principle, which may be looked upon as the origin of all the author's important discoveries, was thus announced. "The nerves of the body possess distinct and appro- priate functions, corresponding with the parts of the brain and spinal marrow with which they are connected at their roots ; and when a nerve, which appears simple, is found to bestow more than one endowment, it is a sign that that nerve has more than one origin from the brain, and consists in reality of several nerves joined together."

The mode in which this principle was demonstrated and established as a law in physiology, was the following :

The author first directed his attention to the nerves of the organs of the senses. These nerves were formerly conceived to be allied so closely to each other, that the functions belonging to them M^ere regarded rather as modifications of one common


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OF THE NERVES.


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property, than distinct and specific ; hence it was supposed that the nerve of one organ could be the substitute for the nerve of another organ, if transposed to that organ : for example, it was believed that the optic nerve, on which vision depends, could

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bestow sensation or pain, like a nerve of the skin. But the author proved this to be incorrect, and that each nerve is

L

limited to receiving a distinct impression, appropriated to it ex- clusively. Thus the nerve of vision can only give ideas of light and colour ;* the nerve of hearing, impressions of sound ; the nerve of smelling, the perception of odours; and so on. He further shewed that these special properties depended on each of the nerves arising from a distinct portion of the brain provided for receiving its own peculiar Inipression. This fact could not be easily demonstrated by referring to the human brain alone, where the structure is complicated to the greatest

to the organs of sense and the intellectual capacities related to them, having reached their highest point of developement ; but it could be satlsfact the assistance of comparative anatomy.


degree, owing


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When


.de out with we examine


the lowest classes of animals, it is not found that they have the same number of organs of sense which belong to the higher. On the contrary, the organs are bestowed gradually, one after another, in correspondence with the progressive advancement of the creatures In the scale of animal existence ; and it is further observed, that the part of their nervous system, recognised as similar to the brain, becomes more com- plex in proportion as the organs multiply. Each nerve can be traced at first Into a little ganglion or accumulation of nervous substance, which is concluded to be the source of its particular


He illustrated this fact in the following manner : — Pressure applied to the surface of the eye, between the eyelids, gives rise to pain more acute than that felt in the skin generally, but still of a similar kind ; while the same degree of pressure applied to the ball of the eye, so as to affect the retina within, produces the appearance of a halo of differently coloured light before the eye, or a totally different kind of sensation from the former. In couching for ca- taract, the needle, when piercing the outer part of the eye, gives rise to pain, to a sensation like that of pricking the skin ; when it transfixes the retina, an appearance, as if a spark of fire had entered ths eye, is produced.

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power : they increase in number as the organs increase ; and they become larger and more complicated in organisation in proportion as the organs are more perfectly developed, and the animal more elevated in its position. These ganglions are called after the organs of sense, over which they are supposed to pre- side ; and hence they get the names of optic ganglions or lobes, olfactory lobes, auditory lobes, &c. This was the first step taken by the author to shew that the nerves possess distinct functions, and that they obtain these from being connected with subdivisions of the brain, w^hicli have also distinct endowments.

The next stage in his progress was marked by more striking results. His object was now to explain the cause of the nerves, which are distributed to the body generally, having the double property of giving motor power to the muscles and sensation to the skin.

The way in which he proceeded was this. He took the dif- ferent nerves known to possess these two functions, and traced them to their roots in the brain. It has been already noticed, that when we examine a nerve situated in a limb, it is found to consist of numerous fibrils, all similar in structure, and held together by a common membraneous sheath ; no indication ap- pearing of one set having different functions from the others. But if we follow the nerve in its course towards the spinal marrow or brain, we shall find that, as it approaches either of these organs, and before it terminates, it subdivides into two distinct roots — one of which can be traced into a division of nervous substance distinct from the other, and one of which is further distinguished by having a swelling upon it, called a ganglion, which the other has not.

Now Sir Charles Bell was led by this observation of the anatomy to suppose that each of these roots had a distinct function; that one bestow^ed the powder of motion and the other sensation; and that the reason why the whole nerve possessed both of these properties was, that it consisted of two distinct nerves joined together. He proceeded, therefore, to verify this opinion by experiment; and he confirmed it by the most satis- factory evidence. He shewed that the root which passes to the


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OF THE NERVES.


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posterior part of the spinal marrow, and has a ganglion upon it, gives sensation alone, while that which arises from the anterior part gives motion alone. He thus established for the first time the important fact, that the nerves of sensation are distinct from those of motion.


numb


motion


from


the spinal marrow ; only a few come directly from the brain. Sir Charles Bell was led, in the next stage of his progress, to compare these nerves with each other; and by doing so, he obtained several interesting confirmations of the truth of his views.

He was particularly struck, in the first place, by noticing that the divisions of the spinal marrow, with which the roots of motion and sensation are respectively connected, are prolonged, as distinct tracts of nervous substance, into the brain ; and that they continue to give oflf nerves, in regular succession, after they have reached that organ. Again he observed an important dif- ference between the mode in which the nerves of the brain go to their destinations, and that in which the spinal nerves proceed.


W


the exception of one


fifth (to which I shall


presently refer as being similar both in origin and functions to the nerves of the spine), all the cerebral nerves escape from the skull by distinct holes, so as to be simple in structure, instead of consisting of two roots joined together. Accordingly, greater facility was afforded for investigating the functions of these nerves, than was the case with the spinal nerves.

The first nerve of the brain selected for experiment was that which passes to the tongue, and is called the ninth. It is to be remarked that this nerve arises in all respects like the anterior root of a spinal nerve, which, it has been seen, is the one that confers motion ; that is, the ninth has its origin from the division of the spinal marrow, which gives off* the anterior roots, just as that division begins to expand and mix with the brain : it then passes immediately, without being joined by the fibrils of any other nerve, through an appropriate hole in the base of the skull, to the tongue, in the


muscular


of which it is lost.


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OF THE NERVES.


portio dura was capable of bestowing both


When this nerve was cut across in experiment, it was found that the tongue was deprived of the power of motion ; but its sensi- bility remained unimpaired ; thereby proving conclusively that, like the anterior roots of the spinal nerves, the ninth confers motion alone.

The author next selected for experiment another nerve, which springs from a different part of the brain from the ninth, — the facial nerve, or portio dura. This nerve arises by a simple root, and, without mixing its fibrils with those of any other, appears externally before the ear, as represented by A in Plate IV., and is distributed to the face. It had been hitherto believed that the

motion and sensation. But the author proved that this nerve was limited to giving motor power. By making a small incision through the skin, not larger than that for bleeding, he exposed the nerve in a monkey, — an animal which he considered better adapted than any other for the experiment, owing to the well-known mobility and activity of its features : when the nerve was laid bare and cut, the motions of the corresponding side of the countenance were at once and entirely extinguished ; but the

sensibility was unimpaired. It was even observed, as an addi- tional proof that sensation does not depend upon the portio dura, that the animal manifested no signs of pain during the act of cutting it through.

Having obtained these conclusive proofs, with others which I need not detail, that each nerve of the brain which arises by a single root has a distinct and appropriate function, instead of possessing various combined functions, as was formerly supposed, it was next important to examine the Jifth nerve, which, it has been stated, is distinguished from the others by resembling the spinal nerves. It may be briefly mentioned that this nerve arises from the brain by two roots, having a similar structure in every respect to those of the nerves of the spine, except that in the fifth, one root is much larger compared with the other, than in the spinal nerves ; the root which has a ganglion upon it being about five times greater than that which has no ganglion. It may also be stated that, shortly after its origin, the whole nerve




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subdivides into three great trunks, which ramify over the entire head ; and that the smaller root accompanies only one of the trunks, called the third or inferior maxillary, which supplies the lower part of the face and the muscles of the jaws. Hence the


first and


simnle in structure, be


formed entirely of fibrils from the larger, or ganglionic, root ; while the third is in part compound, from containing fibrils of the lesser root.

Referring to Plate IV., it may be observed that two large branches, one above and the other below the orbit, marked respectively I. and II., issue from the bones of the face to go to parts already abundantly supplied by the portio dura : these are branches of the first two trunks, derived from the ganglionic root alone. Now it was found that when these branches, called the supra-orbitary and infra-orbitary nerves, were exposed in a living animal, it gave the most acute pain to prick or squeeze them ; and when they were cut across, the whole surface of the face to which they are sent, was deprived instantaneously of sensation ; so entirely was the sensation destroyed in these parts by this experiment, that the skin could be cut or pinched without the animal being conscious of the injury; and yet the motion of the parts was perfectly retained, because the portio dura was untouched. Again, when the third or inferior maxillary trunk, composed of the two roots conjoined, was similarly exposed and

cut across, pain was experienced in the operation, and the parts to which it is sent were deprived of sensation, but an additional effect was produced — the muscles of the jaws, to which the smaller root goes, were paralysed. Hence the conclusion was obvious, that the larger root of the fifth nerve is endowed with sensation and the smaller with motion ; and it is only where the two are combined that the nerve can give both properties at

once.

It will be acknowledged that the facts now stated were suf- ficient to prove the truth of the general proposition, that nerves of sensation are distinct from nerves of motion ; and that the distinction depends on the portions of the brain with which they

are connected at their roots, having corresponding appropriate


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OF THE NERVES.


endowments. Soon after the first experiments were performed, additional confirmation of his view^s was obtained by Sir Charles Bell, in studying the phenomena of disease : nmnerous cases came under his observation "^ where morbid action in the brain or spinal marrow, or at the roots of the nerves, gave rise to effects in the human body, exactly similar to those produced by the experiments on the lower animals. For example, tumours times grow within the canal of the vertebral column, where the

is lodged, and develope themselves in such a


some


marrow


manner


involving the other : in these cases, only one function of the spinal nerves is lost. If the anterior roots be aff^ected, there is loss of motion ; and if it be the posterior roots, there is loss of sensation ; and the patient is in the singular condition of having feeling in the limb, although he cannot move it, or he may be able to move it, and have no feeling. Cases of a similar kind were met with more frequently in the head ; owing to the nerves of the brain being more apart from each other at their origins than the roots of the spinal nerves. Thus many cases were observed where the two nerves which supply the face, the one with motion, and the other with sensation, were affected separately by morbid action, so as to be deprived of their functions.

While the branches of the fifth nerve go straight outwards to reach the face by the shortest route, the portio dura takes a circuitous course to arrive at the same part. It through the bone which contains the ear and behind the lower jaw, and is, consequently, liable to be involved in disorders, from which the branches of the fifth are free. When the portio dura was thus affected by itself, the patient could no longer knit his brows, close his eyelids, inflate his nostril, or

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hold any thing between his lips ; expression was entirely lost in the side of the face, and there was actual distortion, owing to the muscles of the sound side dragging the paralysed cheek and lips towards them ; but there was no diminution of sensibility in the




They were recorded chiefly by his zealous assistant in these pursuits, Mr.


John Shaw.


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completely deprived of motion 3r. more properly, those branchi


Again, wlien tlie fifth nerve, — or, of it which arise from the larger root alone, — were implicated in disease, so as to have their structure destroyed, sensation was lost, while motion was unimpaired. Taking even the most delicate and acutely sensible part of the face, the membrane which lines the eye, it might be scarified, in cases where the fifth had lost its functions, without the patient winking, or, in fact, being conscious of the operation.f In painful affections of the face, as tic-douloureux, the fifth nerve was found to be the source

of the sufferinPT. When disease affectf^d a nart wh^p the smallf^r


or motor root was included with the larger, besides the pain and loss of sensation, the muscles which move the lower jaw were paralysed, these being controlled by that root.


From


tages conferred upon medicine by the discoveries which have been described, and especially of the new light they threw upon


While


from


same kind of functions, and that the different divisions of the brain and spinal marrow were also alike, it followed that, when a case was met with of partial loss of sensation or of motion in any part of the body, the physician was led to conclude that disease had


  • And it might be added, that no pain, arising directly from the disease in

the nerve, attended the loss of function. Patients are seldom aware of their face having become paralysed, until told by a friend, or it has been observed by themselves in the mirror. This is accounted for by the portio dura being simply a nerve of motion, and having no power of bestowing sensation or

giving pain.

f The loss of sensation in the eye, from lesion of the ophthalmic branches of the fifth, is often followed by inflammation, which terminates in the de- struction of the organ. This is caused by the eye having been deprived of its most important guardian, — namely, the sensibility which induces not only winking, but other efforts to protect the tender surface from irritation. Cases are sometimes met with where the surface of the eye has lost its sensation ; but w^here the upper eyelid has become permanently dropped (owing to another nerve, the third, being also affected), so as to cover it, and defend it from injury : in these cases, inflammation does not occur, and the eye preserves its

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commenced in the brain ; and liis treatment was conducted on that supposition. But when it was learned that the nerves had distinct endowments, it was only required, in sucli cases, to be acquainted with the particular uses and the anatomical course of the individual nerves distributed to the affected part, to be able to determine at once, whether the disorder was in one of the nerves, after it had been given off from the brain, and therefore a comparatively harmless complaint, or if it were situated in that important organ itself, and of a serious nature. In short, the knowledge now acquired of the nervous system lends, every day,


most


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means


not formerly in his power, of exploring disease, and of tracing it along the nerves to the precise spot where it is situated.

But when Sir Charles Bell reached this stage of his progress, and had thus settled the distinction between the nerves of sensa- tion and of motion throughout the body, he became aware that other important questions remained to be examined before we could have a satisfactory knowledge of the functions of all the nerves. The subject which principally attracted his attention was a contrast between the distribution of the large class of nerves

the whole length of the spinal marrow,

1 nerves of the brain, and a comparatively

ises from the medulla oblongata, a division

placed at the point where the spinal


which arises


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marrow and br£

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chief character to be, that they supply the body generally : they go to the neck, and even to a part of the head ; they go to the arms; they supply the trunk; and they are sent to the lower

To all these parts, he had also ascertained that they


extremities. s:ive motion


He


demonstrated


same nature as the spinal nerves : it is com one of which motor nower is o-ivpn in iht


muscles of the jaws, and by the other sensation to all the surfaces of the head. Now, placing the spinal nerves and fifth pair together as one class, and associating the nerves of the organs of


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the senses with them, he considered that there was here a system of nerves competent to fulfil all the essential services of a nervous

system.

He turned his attention, in the next place, to the nerves which


^


come off at the medulla oblongata ; being four in number, and varying in size and extent of distribution. The chief circumstance which gave interest to these nerves was, that they arise from a


from


small circumscribed part of the nervous system, distinct those divisions which give origin to the nerves of the former class ; and they pass to a limited extent of the body, already plentifully supplied by that class.

From this observation Sir Charles Bell inferred that the nerves of the medulla oblongata could not thus arise from a distinct portion of the brain, and course to parts of the frame already sufficiently supplied by nerves from a different quarter, for the mere purpose of giving the same powers, or even an addition of the same powers, conferred by the other nerves. He thought, on the contrary, that they must be sent to bestow properties which the spinal nerves and fifth are incapable of


givmg


He saw, at least, that our


knowledge of the


uses


of the first -mentioned class could not be considered perfect, until the question w^s properly solved. Why is the other class superadded ? He accordingly endeavoured to remove that diffi- culty.

He began this part of the inquiry by seeking to discover whether any common character could be proved to belong to the nerves arising from the medulla oblongata ; and, with that object, he studied carefully the functions of the organ to which they are severally sent. He observed that they all agree in one thing, namely, that they are distributed to parts of the frame which together form the organ of Respiration. The portio dura is sent to the nostrils and mouth, the exterior orifices of the tube which leads to the lungs ; the glosso-pharyngeal goes to the posterior openings of the nostrils, and upper part of the wind- pipe and fauces; the superior and inferior laryngeal nerves, branches of the par vagum, supply the larynx, which is the organ of voice ; the par vagum then descends into the chest, and is

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OF THE NERVES.


distributed chiefly to tlie windpipe and lungs ; but branches, also,


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of the shoulders and neck, which combine with those of the chest m dilating the lungs. Being satisfied, therefore, that the nerves of this class belong to the organ of breathing, he proceeded next to ask. Why this part should have a distinct set of nerves provided for it ? Why the spinal nerves and fifth nerve should


sufficient


movements of


not have beei breathing.

But that question, he soon perceived, could not be answered by confining his attention to the organ of respiration merely as it is found in man. It was necessary to follow the developement of the apparatus in the animal kingdom generally, and to study the uses to which it is applied in the lower, as well as the higher, animals. By such a course of investigation alone, did he think that this problem could be solved.

It deserves to be particularly remarked that the mechanism of the organ of respiration, as it exists in the lower animals, is very different from what it is in the higher. And the reason is

obvious. In t one function—


animals


— that, which is its primary office in the economy, of oxygenating and purifying the blood ; while, in the higher classes, it becomes also the organ of Voice ; and, in man, where it is in the perfection of organisation, it is the instrument of Articulate Language, as well as of Expression.

Here, then, may be perceived the groundwork of the explana- tion given by Sir Charles Bell why, in man and the higher classes of animals, the organ of respiration is provided with a series of nerves distinct from those which confer motion and sensation on the body generally. He considered that, in the course of its developement, from the simplest to the most complex animals, this part undergoes such great and remarkable changes


become


mere


to regulate the actions of the superadded mechanism.

Let us reflect on what is necessary in the structure of the organ of respiration to form it as the instrument of voice. The


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most


first essential thing is, that the air for oxygenating the blood shall be received into a closed cavity, communicating with the external atmosphere by a single tube ; the second is, that this cavity shall be capable of contracting on the volume of air within, so as to expel it along the tube, with a stream strong enough to vibrate and produce sound. This is the simplest view of a chest, containing lungs, and of a trachea opening at the nostrils and mouth.

But it were a mistake to suppose that the form of respiratory organ here described is one met with generally in the animal kingdom. So far from this being the case, it is not till we ascend to the class vertebrata, that we find the earliest and faintest indications of a true chest and windpipe.

In the lowest classes of animals, those a single grade in the scale above vegetables, there is neither circulating system nor distinct respiratory organ. But as soon as a circulating system appears, traces are also perceived of an apparatus for oxygenating the blood. The organ, however, is of the being merely a few prolongations of the integument of the animal, disposed in the shape of tufts or fringes, which float freely in the water, and expose the blood to the oxygen contained in that element. As the circulating system becomes more distinct, the fringes are exchanged for small sacs within the animal, formed by the integument folded inwards upon itself. The apparatus for respiration in insects, is a modification of the latter kind of structure : ranged along the sides of their bodies, at regular intervals, there is a succession of holes, which are the openings of a series of infinitely small tubes, that extend in all

these openings and tubes

conduct the air into their bodies, where the oxygen purifies the blood, A higher form of respiratory organ is presented in branchiae or gills. These are possessed by such animals only as have the circulating system so far developed, that the elements of a heart, and a distinct set of vessels for conveying the blood to be oxygenated, appear for the first time ; and they therefore indicate a greater concentration both of the respiratory organ and of the


circulating system. But even gills pass through many gradations


directions through their interior


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before they acquire that high degree of developement with which


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at we have chiefly to remark in all these modes of respiration is, first, that until we arrive at the order fishes, the lowest of the vertehrata, the mouth has no connexion with the organ of breathing; —it is limited, in all the invertebrata, to the purposes of nutrition: and, secondly, that not only is the earliest example of the mouth being an orifice common for the food and breathing, seen in fishes, but they have an internal skeleton in which is blocked out, as it were, the first rude form of a chest for containing lungs, and for inhaling the breath through a single tube, the trachea.

It may be new to many of the readers of this work to be told that the air-bladder, which serves in most kinds of fishes to accommodate their specific gravity to the degrees of density of the water in which they swim, is, in reality, an elementary lung. Yet this is proved to be the case by many facts in comparative anatomy. It is sufficient to state, that a set of fishes exist called ^auroid (from their resemblance to the inferior kinds of reptiles), in which the air-bladder communicates with the mouth by a tube (termed ductus pneumaticus), which resembles, in all respects, a windpipe ; and these fishes, when left on dry land, can respire by this appa:f atus independently of their gills. The same struc- ture passes through various gradations in other animals inter- mediate between fishes and reptiles, till the gills at length disappear, and the air-bladder becomes a more perfectly organised lung.

If we continue to trace the mechanism by which the sac, thus introduced for the first time in connexion with the mouth for the purposes of respiration, is alternately expanded and compressed by an apparatus of ribs and muscles, to receive and expel the air, it will be found that it makes considerable advance in its developement in the order reptilia. In the lowest of


form


so


matured


sac or sacculated


bag, which constitutes their lungs, being filled by an expansive motion of that cavity, it is distended by successive actions


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of the mouthy like swallowing* ; and nostrils are now first perceived in communication with the throat. In the higher orders, as the crocodile, distinct ribs, and muscles for moving them, are provided; and the process of respiration, although carried on sluggishly, in accordance with their being cold-blooded animals, nearly resembles that with which we are best acquainted in mammalia and in man.

But there is an important distinction between the structure of the chest, as seen in reptiles or in birds (which are next above them in the chain of animal existence), and that in mammalia. In reptiles and in birds, no partition exists between the abdominal and thoracic cavities, so that the ribs form a common covering for the viscera of nutrition, and the lungs, which lie in contact with them. It is not till we ascend to mammalia that a diaphragm is introduced, a septum composed of muscular fibres, which stretches across from the lower border of the ribs on one side to that of the other, and forms a complete boundary between the abdomen and chest. Now the diaphragm has not only the effect of circumscribing the space for containing the lungs, and thereby giving greater force to the expansion and contraction of these organs, but it acts itself as a powerful muscle of respiration in dilating the area of the chest. In short, when a diaphragm is added, the organ of breathing attains its highest state of con- centration in the animal kingdom ; and it is not only adapted in the most admirable manner for oxygenating the blood, but the mechanism surrounding the lungs is so adjusted, that the air can be expelled through the larynx, the organ of voice, and through the mouth, the organ of speech, with so strong an impulse as to

produce vocal sounds and articulate language.

When the chest acquires the compact form and the new properties just described, there follow several modifications in the structure of different parts of the frame, which do not at first appear to have any direct relation to the organ of breathing. Peculiar sensibilities are also introduced, with various combined actions of muscles far apart from each other, obviously designed to guard the organ from injury, and to perfect it as the instru- ment of speech.


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The first example, I shall take from the circulating system.

comparative anatomy that, according as the


found



apparatus


becomes more


heart and blood-vessels begin to be subdivided into two distinct systems, the one for purifying the blood, and the other for distributing it over the body.


distinction which


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This anatomi


the


origm


of that


draw between the


pulmonic circle, including the part of the heart and blood-vessels belonging to the lungs, and the systemic circle, which sends the blood over the body, and returns it to the heart. This separation takes place in a slow and gradual manner in the animal kingdom, and it is only seen to be complete in the warm-blooded animals. Thus, in man, the division of the circulating system appropriated to the lungs or the oxygenation of the blood, consists of cavities of the heart and of blood-vessels, which are quite distinct from those provided for propelling the blood over the body. Yet these two divisions act in perfect concert with each other, a con- cert mechanically secured by the peculiar structure of the heart ; for the two sets of cavities are ioined toe-ether to form a sinp-lp


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organ, and they contract in unison. Thus, so close a is established between the heart and the organ of respiration, that any interruption to the entrance of air into the chest will not only affect the action of that division of the heart which belongs to the lungs, but it will disturb that part joined to it in structure by which the purified blood is conveyed through the body. Hence, the agitation and palpitation of the heart, so much dwelt upon in this volume, caused by disturbances in the action of respiration, whether from bodily exertion or mental emotion.

Another point, still connected with the circulating system, deserves' to be noticed, as throwing light on some of the questions treated in the work. The blood which returns to the heart by


the


eam


by the arteries, being exhausted before it enters the veins. From this weakness of the current it follows, that the blood collected in the great veins close to the entrance of the chest — as the jugular veins, for example — may be stopped by a slight cause ; when





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249


congestion of the minute branches will be the consequence, and serious injury may be occasioned to the more delicate organs


from which the blood returns. Now there are certain conditions

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of the chest in breathing, during which the blood is thus inter- rupted. As we draw in the breath, the blood flows into the chest along the veins with perfect facility, because the superior opening of the cavity is then enlarged, and the suction, which draws the air into the windpipe, has also the effect of increasing the force of the current of blood. But when we expel the air, and thereby diminish the area of the chest, an obstruction takes place in the flow of blood in the veins, and if the act of expiration be strong, regurgitation may be produced. This interruption, and retrograde motion of the blood in the large veins of the neck, will gorge the smaller vessels ; and the effect maybe seen in a person seized with a fit of coughing or of sneezing : for his face then be- comes suffused and red, and the superficial veins turgid with blood. It is therefore obvious, that if the veins of the surface of the head become congested, in such violent conditions of breathing, the deeper veins, returning the blood from the brain and the eye, will also be over distended from the same cause. Consequently, these important organs will be in danger of suffering serious injury to their textures from the loaded and turgid condition of the veins. But both organs are defended from such dangers by a beautiful arrangement of the muscles of the neck, which cover and protect the large veins. These muscles combine in sympathy with the movements of the chest, so as to compress the veins when there is a tendency to regurgitation, and to take pressure off* them when the chest is expanded. It is further to be noticed, that the flat web of muscular fibres which covers the eye — the orbicularis muscle — is a part of the same provision. It acts in compressing the eye-ball whenever the chest is violently contracted ; by this means it closes the veins at the back of the orbit, and prevents engorgement of the fine branches which ramify on the delicate coats within."^


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The orbicularis muscle is wanting in animals which have not the same concentrated apparatus for breathing as man. I have shewn elsewhere that in man and mammalia another provision exists besides that mentioned in the text,


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I shall offer one other illustration of the new sympathies and arrangements in the actions of the muscles which are intro- duced into parts of the frame originally unconnected with the organ of breathing, to accommodate them for its becoming the

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instrument of voice in man.

We are so familiar with respiration through a mouth and nostrils, that we are led to look upon these parts as necessary to every apparatus for breathing. But it has been already stated that it is only in the class vertebrata, commencing with fishes, that the mouth has any relation to the function of breathing. In all animals lower in the scale, the openings in their bodies for the reception of air or water in respiration, are quite distinct from the oral aperture, as it is called, and placed at a distance from it. In short, the mouth is exclusively an inlet for the food

in the invertebrata.

When so important an office is added to the mouth in the higher animals as that of receiving air in its passage to the lungs, it is obvious that many changes must accompany its newly ac- quired character. To adjust this opening for two functions so dissimilar as breathing and taking in food, and to ensure regu- larity in the performance of a process so vital as that of breathing, we find that a new mechanism, with appropriate muscles, and

new sensibilities to animate these muscles, are introduced into the animal frame.

This is not the place to enter minutely into the subject ; but T request the reader's attention to one or two examples of the mode in which the mouth and throat are protected in their


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for guarding the eye against the irregularities of the venous circulation. The veins which ramify in the interior of the organ between the delicate membranes that support the retina, join the larger trunks, before these pass out from the eye-ball, in a peculiar manner ; each minute branch makes a circular sweep so as to describe nearly a complete circle, previous to entering its principal vein. These small vessels are so numerous that they quite cover the surface, and being arranged in concentric circles, they produce an appearance from which the name vasa vorticosa has been applied to them. Nothing could be more admirable than this structure for breaking the force of a retrograde current of blood, and gradually diffusing it over the membranes. A similar appearance, though less distinct, may be observed in the superficial veins of the brain.


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complex operations, by the sensibilities with which they are endowed.

Let us suppose that a morsel of food is chewed and ready to be swallowed. I only allude, in passing, to the peculiar arrange- ment by which it is provided that, while the mouth is obstructed by containing the food, the breathing proceeds uninterruptedly by the air passing along the nostrils, which open behind, and directly over the windpipe. When the morsel is propelled backwards, it comes in contact with a part of the cavity of the throat, which is endowed with a remarkable sensibility ; it is of such a nature that, when excited, there is an irresistible desire to swallow ; and the consequence is, that whenever the part is touched, a large class of muscles, consisting not only of those immediately adjoining it, but of others situated at a distance, are

ht into combined action, to QTasp and propel the morsel



along the gullet. Here a great variety of movements take place consentaneously. The windpipe is closed by its valve, the epiglottis, falling over it ; the posterior nostrils are shut by the folding upwards of the curtain, called the soft palate ; certain


m


the morsel, and urge it into that canal ; but, before the food can reach the stomach, it must pass through muscular fibres of the


m


encircling the gullet ; these fibres consequently re- lax, and there is a momentary interruption of the breathing. Now all these actions, which shew so remarkable a consent between the muscles of deglutition and of respiration, are excited and regulated by the peculiar sensibility seated at the back part of the throat. If, however, there should be any disturbance in the act of swallowing, and a small portion of the food should pass the wrong way, a different set of actions will occur, under the influence of another kind of sensibility. That is, if a crumb of bread should lodge in the throat, near the opening of the windpipe, a sensibility distinct from that which gives rise to swallowing will be excited, and will rouse the muscles into action, to produce a set of movements altogether different from the former. The same muscles will be combined in such a way

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as to cause a succession of violent expirations, which will con- tinue till the irritating particle is expelled from the top of the windpipe, and the danger of choking removed. It may be further noticed, that there are various other sensibilities seated in distinct parts of the passages, which differ in kind as well as degree from those just mentioned ; and, when these are excited, similar concatenated actions of the muscles are produced, modified, however, according to the structure which requires to be cleared or defended.

The important circumstance that we have to attend to in all these examples of combined actions of the muscles, and fine sensibilities, provided in the face, neck, throat, and chest, is, that they have each a decided relation to the peculiar form of the organ of breathing in the highest animals ; and that they are only required, when the mouth combines the two offices of being an inlet for the air and for the food.

It was from studying the human body with these views, that Sir Charles Bell was led to conclude that the nerves which arise from a part of the brain distinct from that which gives off the nerves generally, and which are distributed to the structures I have described, are bestowed in correspondence with the changes of mechanism, and the new relations established in the organ of breathing, during its course of developement in the animal king- dom. He concluded, that the main design of the progressive changes which the apparatus of breathing undergoes, from the

best creatures, is to afford to Man an instru- ment corresponding with his superior endowments; — to supply him with an organ adapted to the great purpose of communi- cating thought, and evolving the powers of his Mind — the attribute by which he holds his exalted position in creation.



He


also thought that the same organization which serves for


articulate language, or the production of those arbitrary sounds by which nations converse in speech, is appropriated to the universal language, understood by all, through which emotion and passion address us in the countenance, neck, and breast :


hence, Sir Charles Bell believed that in man, the ora'an of


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breathing is the organ of Expression, and that it is superin- tended in all its varied actions, by the class of nerves to which he gave the name Respiratory nerves.

The correctness of these opinions, so founded on a compre- hensive survey of the organ of respiration in the animal kingdom, was more fully confirmed, when the author examined, in the next place, by a similar reference to comparative anatomy, the func- tion of the class of nerves to which those of respiration were

looked upon as superadded ; namely, the spinal nerves and fifth nerve of the brain.

The extensive distribution of this system has been already noticed ; it has been seen that it consists of double nerves, each composed of a root that bestows motion, and another that bestows sensation, and that they are sent to all parts of the body. But, although they are thus extensively distributed. Sir Charles Bell was much struck by observing, that they do not confer both of these properties equally upon the whole frame : he saw that sensation is bestowed indiscriminately or promiscuously, but that with regard to motion, the case is different : that there is a defined limit to the power which this class possesses of regulating the muscles. As this observation was of great importance in guiding him to the right view of the functions of these nerves, I may enter into a little more explanation concerning it.

If we direct attention to the spinal nerves, it will not appear that they are restricted in their distribution ; they pass out directly from the spinal canal, to supply both motion and sensation equally, to the whole body, not excepting a part of the head. But, if we attend to the fifth nerve, it will be seen that, however freely it gives its sensitive branches to all the surfaces of the head, its motor branches are bestowed on the muscles of one

  • >

organ alone : they are distributed (as I have already had occasion to notice) exclusively to the muscles of the jaws, and those muscles of the cheeks and lips which are associated with the jaws in mastication. Hence, viewing the functions of this great class, comprising the spinal nerves and fifth, we see that they give sensation to all parts of the frame, from the crown of the head to the toe; but they give motion only to the trunk, the




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extremities, and the parts in the head by which mastication is performed.


from


fifth to the office of controlling


motions of the jaws, and


inquiring into the peculiar relation which exists between the act of mastication and the functions bestowed by the spinal nerves generally, that the author was led to explain why these nerves should be associated to form kingdom.


a distinct class in the animal


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The course of his observation was this : — He as t place. What is the primary use of the mechanism the higher animals, of head, trunk, upper and lower


•>


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tremities, and, in the inferior creatures, of parts corresponding


more


nerves? The answer was, to minister to the great function of



drawn between them on these grounds.


nutrition. These different members, he thought, might be re- garded, taking this comprehensive view of the animal kingdom, as combining to form an oi nourishment.

This will be more readily understood, if we inquire what is the chief distinction between an animal and a vegetable. An animal possesses a system of organs in the interior of its body for elaborating and assimilating the nourishment received into it: now a vegetable has analogous organs, by which similar processes are performed; no distinction, therefore, can be

But there is an es- sential difference in the modes by which they procure their nourishment. The tree or plant is fixed in the soil, and obtains the nutritious juices which preserve it in life, by the roots that fasten it to the earth : the animal, on the contrary, is locomotive, and must transport itself from place to place, in quest of its food. Accordingly, the animal must be provided with certain endow- ments bearing reference to that peculiarity of its nature ; and if we consider what these endowments are, it will be found that they are such as the system of nerves under consideration confers.

Let me enumerate the powers which an animal must possess to enable it to go from place to place, and select its food. First,


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have organs of locomotion : fins, or paddles, or some analogous structure, if tlie creature be aquatic ; wings, if it move in the air; or extremities and feet, if it inhabit dry land. Secondly, it must have certain prehensile instruments, constructed for grasping and securing its food; and these may be either ten- tacles, paws, or organs corresponding with the hand in man. Thirdly, it must have a special mechanism for receiving the food, and, if required, for triturating the material of which it consists, so as to prepare it for being passed into the stomach ; that is, a mouth and jaws. Fourthly, the mechanism here de- scribed would be useless, if unaccompanied by the means putting it in motion and regulating it ; whence a nervous system becomes necessary, consisting of nerves of motion and organs of sense, and a central part corresponding with the brain, these various structures physiologists have applied the name " animal " organs, to distinguish them from parts common to vegetables and animals, termed the " organic" structures.

Here, then, may be perceived the foundation of Sir Charles Bell's explanation of the functions of the class consisting of the spinal nerves and fifth nerve of the brain.


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and which bestows powers common to all creatures raised above the vegetable kingdom, whatever may be their mode of respiration. In man they supply the lower extremities, his organs of progression — corresponding with the structures in other animals by which they move from place to place in search of food : they are given to the arm and hand, his instruments of prehension — analogous to organs in the inferior creatures which are necessary for obtaining their nourishment; and they give power to the muscles of mastication, by which the food is prepared for the stomach— corresponding with the oral aperture and man- dibles in all animals. Finally, these nerves bestow touch and taste,* senses which are possessed most generally by animals, and which may be justly considered the most essential to an organiza-

  • The gustatory nerye, the special nerve of the organ of taste, is a "branch of

the fifth nerve.


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tion adapted, in its comprehensive view, to procure nourishment. The senses of seeing, hearing, and smelling, which belong to a large proportion of the animal kingdom, in common with man, are to be regarded, in this comparative survey, as super- added senses; they are introduced into the animal frame, one after the other, subsequently to touch and taste, according as the creatures ascend gradually in the scale of existence.

Before quitting this subject, it is interesting to remark how the mechanism thus shewn to be superintended by the spinal nerves and fifth, becomes accommodated to the organ of speech, upon that structure being added to the frame; and in such a manner, that it still performs its original office in the most perfect

This adjustment is accomplished by a series of changes being gradually wrought in the different organs subservient to


way


in ministering to the animal


the mouth, so that this opening, wants, shall have simpler duties to fulfil, and depend more on its subsidiary parts, the higher animals ascend in the animal scale. Thus in the inferior animals, the offices of progression, of prehen-

lutition, are shared bv the



manner


greater or less extent, the duties proper to the others.


For


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instrumental also in seizing and grasping : those intended chiefly for prehension assist in progression ; and the mouth, so far from being adapted exclusively, in all animals, for mastication, is in some an organ of progression, as it is in a great many, the principal apparatus for prehension. My limits prevent me from entering fully into this subject, or illustrating by example, how each of the offices here enumerated comes at length to have its own appropriate instrument, distinct from the rest. It may be sufficient, however, to say, that when the animal frame reaches the high condition presented in man, the hand becomes so perfect a minister to his animal wants, that the mouth is absolved from


offices


Hence


this cavity is diminished in size ; the teeth and jaws are reduced to moderate dimensions ; and its form is consequently suited in the most admirable manner, for being the organ of articulate language.


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Tims, in whatever view we study the developement of the

frame, new proofs present themselves of its being the


animal


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confer upon man an instrument adapted to his intellectual nature — an organ of Speech. It is the fine adjustment of the various members of his body for that object, that renders his organization the most perfect in the animal kingdom. Additional strength is, therefore, given to the author's opinions, that our conceptions of human beauty, both as regards the form of the head, and the moveable features, have a direct relation to the fitness of the structures, for Speech, Voice, and Expression.

Such is a brief account of the leading parts of the discoveries made by the author of the volume, in this important part of the anatomy of the body — the nervous system. He first established, on undoubted evidence, the fact, that the nerves of motion are distinct from those of sensation ; and that the nerves generally possess different endowments, according to the divisions of the brain from which they arise. He then arranged the nerves of the whole body into three distinct systems, corresponding with the organs which they respectively control. The first class, was that composed of the spinal nerves and fifth nerve of the brain ; this class, he proved, bestows both motion and sen- sation on all the parts to which it is distributed; and these parts, he further shewed, are organs which belong to common with the lowest creatures, their united function being to supply food, the first necessary want of all animals : he termed this set of nerves the "original" class, and included in it the various organs of the senses. The second class comprised in it a series of nerves, distinct from the former, both in their origin and mode of distribution : they pass off from a circumscribed central portion of the nervous system, the medulla oblongata, and diverge to different parts of the head, neck, throat, and chest already sup- plied by the original class : he shewed that these structures form


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belong to the lowest animals, hut is gradually introduced by a slow process of developement into the animal kingdom, in order that, besides oxygenating the blood, it may become, in man, the organ of





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Voice and Expression : to this set of nerves he applied the name, respiratory class. In these two classes were combined all the nerves together which arise either from the brain or spinal marrow. The third class consisted of a series of nerves which have their centre in large ganglions scattered principally among the viscera of the abdomen. This forms the system called ganglionic or sympathetic : and their use has been generally supposed to be, to unite in sympathy those organs by which the various organic functions are performed : such as secretion, absorption, assimilation of the food, the growth and decay of the body, &c. When the nerves belonging to these different classes are viewed in their combined condition, as seen by the anatomist, nothing can exceed their apparent confusion; but when examined by the aid of the principle, and the arrangement, introduced by Sir Charles Bell, order and design are found to pervade every part.


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EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES


Plate I.


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Fiq. 1. The Skull of a Man fully grown, presented in a front view-


A,


B. C.


(os frontis)


The Protuberances formed by the Frontal Sinuses,

The Temporal Ridge of the frontal bone; on which the form of


the temple depends.


)


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M axillary


F. The Nasal Bones.

G G. The Orbits or Sockets for the Eye-balls. The circle of their

margin is seen to be formed by the frontal bones, the cheek- bones, and the superior maxillary bones.

H H. The Temporal Bones. These hollows are filled with a strong

muscle, which arising upon the side of the skull, passes down, through the arch, to be inserted into the lower jawbone.

1 I. The Mastoid or Mamillary Processes of the Temporal Bone.

These are the points into which the strong mastoid muscles, which give form to the neck, are inserted.

K. The Lower Jaw-

L. The Angle of the Lower Jaw.

M. The Processes of the jaws which form the sockets for receiving

r

the roots of the teeth.


Fig* 2 is the Sk remark these parts :

A. The Frontal Bone.

B. The Temporal Bone.

c. The Zygomatic Process of the temporal bone, which, with the

process of the cheek-bone, forms an arch, under M^hich the

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260


EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.


tendon of the temporal muscle passes, to be inserted into the lower jaw,

D. The Hole or Foramen of the Ear; a little below this is the

mastoid process of the temporal bone.

E. The Parietal Bone; so called, because it forms the greater part,

as it wercj of the wall of the skull.

F. The Occipital Bone.

These bones are united by sutures, in which the processes of the bones seem to indent themselves, as they grow, into the opposite bone, without there being an absolute union between them. That w^hich unites the frontal and parietal bones is called the coronal suture ; that which unites the parietal and temporal bones is called the sqtramous or temporal suture ; the line between the occipital and parietal bones is the lamb- doidal suture; and the line between the parietal bones is" called the sagittal suture, because it is laid between the lambdoid and coronal sutures, like the arrow between the bow and the string.

There are many lesser sutures which unite the smaller bones of the face ; but they need not be mentioned here.

G. The Cheek Bone (os malae).

H. The Upper Jawbone (os maxillare). I. The Bones of the Nose (ossa nasi). K. The Lower Jaw (inferior maxilla). L. The Angle of the Jaw.

. The Process of the Jaw which moves in the socket in the temporal bone.


M


v


N. The Coronoid Process of the Jaw, into which the temporal muscle

is fixed, to move the jaw in conjunction with other muscles.


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yet formed, the bones of the cranium being loose, and attached by their membranes only ; while spaces may be observed, left unprotected, from the imperfect ossification of the bones. The individual parts require no references ; they will be understood from their correspondence with fig. 2.


Fig. 4 is the Section of a Cranium, in which the only thing meant to be particularly remarked, is the cavity which is seen in the frontal boncj viz. the frontal sinuses.


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EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES


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261




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Plate IL


OF THE MUSCLES OF THE FACE


Muscles


front view.


There are muscles attached to the eyebrow which produce its various


motions

A A.


^ -'--— ^ -'


Muscle. A thin muscle, expanded over the fore-


We


head, and inserted into the skin under the eyebrow, not see here the whole of the muscle, but only a part of what is properly called Occipito-frontalis. It arises in a web of fibres, from the back of the skull (from a ridge of the temporal and occipital bones) : becoming tendinous, it covers all the upper part of the skull with a membrane or sheet of tendon, and terminates in the anterior muscle, which is seen in this view.

B B. The Corrugator Supercilii arises from the lower part of the

frontal bone near the nose, and is inserted into the integument under the evebrow. It lies nearly transversely, and its office is to knit and draw the eyebrows together.

^he Circular Muscle of the Eyelids (the orbicularis palpebra- ). There is a little tendon at the inner angle of the eye,


c c.


k *



which is a fixed point for this muscle, attaching it to the maxillary bone, and being both origin and insertion.

The descending slip of the Occipito-Frontalis. As this fasciculus of fibres descends from the frontal muscle to be attached to the side of the nose, it has a distinct operation, and may be considered as a separate muscle. It draws the inner extremity of the eyebrow downwards.

These four muscles move the eyebrow, and give it all its various inflexions. If the orbicularis palpebrarum and the descending slip of the frontalis act, there is a heavy and lowering expression. If they yield to the influence of the frontal muscle, the eyebrow is arched, and there is a cheerful or an alert and inquiring expression, supercilii acts, there is more or less of mental anguish, or of painful

exercise of thought.


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262


EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.


Muscl




D. Levator Labii Superioris Alseque Nasi. It arises from the upper

jaw, and is inserted into the upper lip and nostril, which it


raises.


E. Compressor Nasi. A set of fibres which compress the nostril.

L. The Depressor Alse Nasi lies under the orbicularis oris. It arises


near the incisor teeth, and


is inserted into the moveable



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cartilage, which forms the wing of the nostril. These three muscles serve to expand and contract the nostril. They move in consent with the muscles of respiration. Muscles of the lips :

^ F. Levator Labii Proprius. It arises from the upper jaw-bone, near

the orbit, and is inserted into the upper lip^ which it raises. G. Levator Anguli Oris. This muscle, lying under the last, is, of

course, shorter : it raises the angle of the mouth.

So called, because its origin is from the zygomatic process of the cheek-bone. It is inserted into the angle of the mouth.

Orbicularis Muscle of the Lips.

Nasalis Labii Superioris. Draws down the septum of the nose. v^lv. Triangularis Oris, or Depressor Labiorum. A strong muscle

arising from the base of the lower jaw, and inserted into the


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angle of the mouth, ladratus Ment vatores Menti,


I


. Small, but strong, muscles. They arise from

the lower jaw near the alveolar processes of the incisor teeth,

descend, and are inserted into the integument of the chin. By

their action they throw up the chin and project the lower lip.

Q. The Buccinator forms the fleshy part of the cheeks. It acts

principally in turning the morsel in the mouth. Its fibres are




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inserted into the angles of the mouth, jres of the Platysma Myoides, whic upon the side of the cheek.




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EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES


'263


J


I


Plate III.


MUSCLES OF A DOG*S FACE.


A A. Circular Fibres, which surround

common to all animals.

I—

B F D. Accessory Muscles, which I nam

back the eyelids from the eye-ball. G H. Muscles of the Ear, I K. A Mass of Muscular Fibres, always


which


They draw


animals, and which, with those concealed under them, I call


Ringentes. They raise the upper lip and expose the


teeth.


L. M.


Muscles


Mouth


a perfect


N


orbicularis muscle. Muscle which ans^


o


has great power in this animal : it reaches from the ear to the angle of the mouth. It opens the mouth, retracts the lips, and disengages them from the teeth, as in seizing their prey. The Cutaneous Muscle. It sends up a web of fibres from the neck on the side of the face : they are stronger here than in


man.


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264


EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES


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Plate IV.


BEING A VIEW OF THE NERVES OF THE HEAD


In this Plate the two distinct classes of nerves which go to the face are represented ; the one to bestow sensation and mastication, and the other for the motions of speaking and expression, that is, the motions connected with the respiratory organs.

The spinal nerves on the side of the neck are also represented. These I have discovered to be compound nerves, arising by double roots, and possessing tw^o functions ; they control the muscular frame, and bestow sensation upon the skin. Besides these regular spinal nerves, which are for endowments common to a,ll animals, the nerves of the throat are represented. The latter nerves are the cords of sympathy which, in the higher animals, connect the motions of the neck and throat with the motions of the nostrils and lips ; not merely during excited respiration, but in the expression of passion.

A. The Respiratory Nerve of the Face; or, according to authors, the

Portio Dura of the seventh nerve. The nerve of motion of the features :

a. Branches ascending to the occipito-frontalis.

b. Branches which supply the eyelids.

€. Branches going to the muscles which move the nostrils

and lips.

d. Branches going down upon the side of the neck and

throat.

e. Superficial Cervical Plexus.

F

ff. Connexions formed with the Cervical Nerves. ff. A nerve to the muscles on the back of the ear.

B. The Eighth Nerve, Par Vagum, or Grand Respiratory Nerve. c. The Superior Respiratory Nerve, or Spinal Accessory Nerve.

D. Ninth Nerve, or Lingualis, the nerve of motion of the tongue.

E. Diaphragmatic Nerve.

F. Sympathetic Nerve.

G. Laryngeal Nerve.


II

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EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES*


265


i


H. Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve. L Glosso-Pharyngeal Nerve.

I. Frontal Nerve. A sensitive branch of the fifth nerve, which I have proved to be the nerve of sensation and of


mastication, and to resemble the spinal nerves.


II.


MaxiU


A sensitive branch of the


fifth.


III. Inferior Maxillary Nerve. A sensitive branch of the


\


i


' fifth. IV. Temporal Branches of the second division of the fifth,

which also give sensation. V. Branch of the third division of the fifth, prolonged from the motor root; it supplies the buccinator muscle and angle of the mouth, associating these parts with the muscles of the jaws in mastication. VI. The Sub-occipital Nerve. The first of the spinal nerves

which bestow both motion and sensation. VII. The Second Spinal Nerve, viii. IX. Spinal Nerves.


/



THE END.


\


Cambri


University Library,


permanent deposit from Botany School


LONDON : — PRINTED BY MOTES AND BARCLAY, CASTLE STREET,

LEICESTER SQUARE.




"V


i>


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■*■ -



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L« 


PRACTICAL ESSAYS.


BY


SIR CHARLES BELL, K.H. M.D. Gott. E.R.S

PTiOFESSOR OF SURGEUY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH.

IN TWO PAETS.

1841-2. Imperial 8vo.


L.&E




I.


Contents of Pabt L Of the Powers of Life to sustain Surgical Operations. Of the different effects of bleeding from the Artery, and


ITT. Of Squrnting^^^ the attempt to'remedy the Defect. IV. Of Tic-Douloureux.


from the Vein


s


V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.


Part II.

Of the Nerves of Respiration.

Of the Powers circulating the Blood.


O^X^forai^S of the Spine, as distinguished from Distortion.


STEWART


EDINBURGH ;

AND JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON


1

J






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