THE FACE OF DARING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22543, 7 October 1936, Page 5

THE FACE OF DARING

WOMEN OF EPIC FLIGHTS A COMMON DENOMINATOR? PROPOUNDING A THEORY "Is xhere some common denominator in the faces of these women who perform epic ilights regardless of personal danger?" asks an English writer. Look at the faces of Beryl Alarkharn, Amy Alollison, Jean Batten, Amelia Earhart—four women whose flights have matched the bravest deeds of men. All four have high foreheads, widely spaced eyes, prominent mouths and strong chins. All four are greatly alike in the patterns formed by their lines, especially in the lower half of the face. Look first at the tip of each nose, and notice how it tends to overhang the upper lip. Then follow back the wings of the nose, observing in all their expressed breadth, and from here follow the curve which runs round tho mouth. This curve contributes to tho determined expression of the chin. It is fixed by the formation of the jaw and the action of the facial muscles. Tho central cause of the similarity of expression in all four faces is the prominence of the jaws along the line of the teeth. On this is developed a wellset and clear-cut mouth, in which the length of the lips emphasises their straightness. Vigour of expression is accentuated by the relatively hollow appearance of the flesh round the mouth; the sharp decisive boundary between upper lip and cheek; the depressions between lower lip and chin, and between upper lip and tho tip of the nose.

All this construction reflects the characteristics of courage and endurance, just as in the pattern of the head and eyes there is evidence of clear judgment and presence of mind. But though all are so eminently endowed with these general characteristics, each is a very distinct personality, differing in many ways from each of the others.