CHANGING FACES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22393, 14 April 1936, Page 11

CHANGING FACES

ALTERATIONS WITH AGE CONCLUSIONS OF SCIENTISTS [from our own correspondent] NEW YORK.. March 25 Dr. Hrdlicka, of the Smithsonian Institution, who has taken measurements of men and women, including white "old Americans," Indians, negroes and Eskimos, states that ears grow longer, the nose a little longer, and distinctly broader, and the mouth wider, with the years, materially changing the appearance of the individual. "The changes in the dimensions of these facial organs, especially of the mouth and nose, are sufficient," he says, "in their relation to other features, to alter indefinably a well- . remembered face, thus often provoking the remark, 'You've changed, somehow,' when old friends meet." Dr. Hrdlicka urges that more attention be paid to the nose and mouth by anthropologists. He cites, in proof of their significance, the fact that. £ cartoonist can often made a recognisable representation of an individual by drawing nose and mouth alone. He says that, among the white "old Americans," both the nasal breadth and length increase with age, but that the increase in breadth somewhat exceeds that in length. "Aside from the factor of age." he states, "the nasal index, an important feature in racial studies, in. general, is the product of diverse influences. Chief among these is heredity, but, also iii marked degree, -cold, heat and moisture. Among the south-western and Mexican Indians, the tribes living in the hottest regions have the broadest noses, those in the mountains the narrowest. The effects of age on the mouth are even more marked than those on the nose. This phenomenon is observed in both whites and Indians,„ also in other races, and in both sexes. It is of a progressive nature, from early life onward."