THE SKETCHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2104, 21 June 1894, Page 41

THE SKETCHER.

FACTS ABOUT FACES. Some Curious Observations.

Mr Louis Robinson has, in Black wood's Magazine, a very interesting article on "Acquired Facial Expression." Although from infancy upwards we are all, whether we know it or not, close students of physiognomy, and although a number of books, the result of much careful research, have been published upon the scientific aspect of the subject, there are certain facts connected with facial expression which, though often remarked upon, have never received explanation. With two of these, both of which bear upon the causes of acquired expression oE a more or less permanent character, the writer deals in this article. I refer, he says, to the similarity of visage displayed by nearly all members of certain trades and professions, and to the likeness which often becomes apparent on the faces of people (generally married couples) who live together. The connection between the muscles of expression and the emotional centres in the brain is of a most intimate character, and is largely independent of the will, although by Btrong volition any consequent movement of the features may generally be prevented. That the association is instinctive and not acquired through individual or racial education is shown by the fact that the facial changes which accompany the sentiments of fear, hatred, contempt, merriment, or mockery are practically identical the whole world over.

Mr Robinson gives a pretty instance. He was travelling by train and witnessed the parting of a pair of lovers. The damsel got into the carriage where he was seated, and until the train started there was an eloquent interchange of glancc3 and smiles. As we steamed off, the last smile of parting gradually faded on the lassie's face. She shut her eyes and leaned back, so that she did not see that she was under observation, and at the same time the light Bhowed her countenance with great distinctness. For the space of some 20 minutes, during which Mr Robinson was her fellow passenger, the dimples of that parting smile would ever and anon appear, but in so slight a degree that unless the opportunities for observation had been exceptional they would not have been noticed. The movements of the muscles were so subtle that it was absolutely impossible to analyse them, or even to discern them severally. They were

Like the borealis race, That flit ere you can point their place.

Yet one could gauge from moment to moment the depth, and to some extent the nature, of her thoughts of her lover.

The compressed lip, so loved (and so often misinterpreted) by novelists, is a sign of weakness rather than strength. It tells of perpetual conflicts in which the reserves are called into' the fray. Tho strong will is not agitated into strenuous action by the small worries of the hour, and the great occasions which call for its whole forces are too few to produce a ' permanent impress of this kind upon the features. The commanding officer, assured of; his men's obedience, does not habitually keep his lip muscles in a state of tension. Look at the sea captain, the most absolute monarch on earth. He carries authority and power in his face, but it resides in his eye and the confident assurance of his easily set mouth. Every spar and shaft and muscle in his floating ! realm must obey him» and he knows it. This is probably a reason why the sea captain's £aoe and the enginedriver's show a certain /similarity of type. The enginedriver can make his captive giant, strong as 10,000 men, obey the pressure of his finger. His lips are usually calm, like those of the statues of the wielder of thunderbolts on Olympus. Whoever saw a man commanding a -man-of-war or driving a locomotive with the contentious lip of a school usher.? It is noteworthy that the leading members of the medical and legal professions do not display the facile symbols to anything like the same extent as the rank and file. This is especially so with regard to the expression of the mouth, and may be due to the absence of that anxious endeavour to look like a wise doctor or lawyer which possesses most ordinary practitioners in their earlier years. * \ The fact that two' people who live long together tend to grow alike ie accounted for by unconscious mimicry reacting upon the muscles of expression in the same way that a ruling passion does. This tendency •to facial imitation is -vary general — in fact, almost universal — and may be so marked as to be easily noticed; so that when two people are engaged in animated conversation, the expression of the' listener may often be seen to echo that of the speaker. How " infectious" is a smile or a laugh, even when the idea which gave riso to ie in the first case is not transferred !