MI THOT

PROGNATHISY OF THE D. VEL VITA Ariasdes of a prALTEtively undeveloped mind, it denotes in theres to rate Exposare as compared with those possessing the #mi i duS PUTIN, Where the jaws are both pigmethows they reZ TEST MEN MET assist in grasping, and in this case are & true prebensde and ar analogous to the same function in the ape tines. Sat fear greatly exaggerated is never we assomcted with & first cr eveL second-class intellect. It belongs to the montature or inferior character. The slight progmatism of the mper jew, which I have observed in the physiognomies of many excelent persCES of good intellect, does not denote the amibe of inferiority informed by the prognathism of the lower jaw, while in k always evidence of a certain degree of good-natured kindly rEDEPOSIT.

ETEL

The section devoted to the "Upper Lip with amours gires all necessary information in regard to the physiognomical appearances of the upper jaw; it is therefore not treated of separately,

THE SIGNS IN THE LIPS.

THE UPPER LIP.

When we wish to learn the signification of a feature, we must first observe its use and purpose in the human economy-the tissues of which it is composed, and its mode of action. Now the lips, as before remarked, are for several purposes. Their primal functions in the human family are mastication and articulation. All other uses have evolved as civilization has progressed, and thus perfect lips have become the indicators of a grade of refinement, the absence of which cannot be remedied by the perfection of any or of all the other features. The reason is obvious and may be analyzed thus: The mouth and lips are primary features, assistants to the most primitive of all the functions,-digestion. Now, if these features reveal a high grade of development in regard to form, size, color, and quality, it is an infallible sign of the high grade of the entire personality, as a result of civilization and refinement. Where the domestic and sympathetic functions and sentiments, as represented by the mouth and lips, are perfected, we shall find lovely characteristics, even if great intellect is not

consensus of function and faculty is that all imperfections and departures from the normal forms of structure of the mouth, jaws, etc., would give rise to defective mental powers. This is the case, as exhibited by those having hare-lip, crooked mouths, cleft-palate, too thin or too thick lips, a mouth disproportionally small, or by lisping, stammering, or hesitating manner of speech, all of which refer to mental or moral defects. The theory of the relation of mental and moral states to oral conditions is sustained by the experience of prison surgeons, who state that large numbers of professional criminals exhibit defects of speech of various sorts.

Now, prognathism is a departure from the normal form of the Caucasian jaw, and may be of two kinds, dental or maxillary. In the former the teeth only project; in the latter, the projection is caused by the elongation of the jaw-bone. The negro's jaw is an excellent illustration of the latter; while the more modified form of dental prognathism is the variety most frequently observed in civilized communities. The evolution of the lower jaw-bone as observed from infancy to adult life is an additional proof of the above assertions. In the Caucasian infant the lower jaw recedes greatly from the line of closure of the mouth; later it assumes the line of perpendicularity, while in some very firm characters it projects slightly forward of this line.

Mons. Quatrefages asserts that "all races and all individuals are more or less prognathous." My observations in physiognomy do not corroborate this statement, for those whose teeth close evenly together while in a normal position cannot be said to possess any degree of prognathism whatever. Those whose teeth of either jaw project one beyond the other are in that degree prog

nathous.

I am aware that in ill-balanced characters this appearance is frequently met with, and so numerous are the subjects who exhibit teeth which do not exactly meet that they form a majority of the human family. So rarely do dentists find a subject whose teeth do thus meet, that it seems to be the prevalent opinion among them that this is the normal structure, for so I have been assured by those eminent and experienced in that profession. I cannot accept as correct their opinion upon this phenomenon for two reasons: first, because a cutting, biting, and grinding apparatus is most perfect where the opposing points meet exactly; secondly, because in the best-balanced physiognomies the incisor teeth, which are intended for biting and cutting, come together evenly in the act of closing them or in biting, whereas those not so evenly balanced exhibit often a slight projection of the upper over the lower, or of the lower beyond the upper teeth. A critical and ex

tended knowledge of scientific physiognomy is needed in this department of knowledge, as well as in pathology and psychology, in order to rectify the errors constantly made by those who take the majority of existing forms as proofs of perfection, instead of following the course of development shown by the combined sources of embryology, evolution, and ethnography.

PROGNATHISM OF THE LOWER JAW-BONE is evidence of a comparatively undeveloped mind; it denotes an uneven or crude disposition as compared with those possessing the normal form of this feature. Where the jaws are both prognathous they can very materially assist in grasping, and in this case are a true prehensile and are analogous to the same function in the ape tribes. Such feature greatly exaggerated is never seen associated with a first- or even second-class intellect. It belongs to the commonplace or inferior character. The slight prognathism of the upper jaw, which I have observed in the physiognomies of many excellent persons of good intellect, does not denote the grade of inferiority indicated by the prognathism of the lower jaw, while it is always evidence of a certain degree of good-natured, kindly generosity.

The section devoted to the "Upper Lip" which follows gives all necessary information in regard to the physiognomical appearances of the upper jaw; it is therefore not treated of separately.

THE SIGNS IN THE LIPS.

THE UPPER LIP.

When we wish to learn the signification of a feature, we must first observe its use and purpose in the human economy,-the tissues of which it is composed, and its mode of action. Now the lips, as before remarked, are for several purposes. Their primal functions in the human family are mastication and articulation. All other uses have evolved as civilization has progressed, and thus perfect lips have become the indicators of a grade of refinement, the absence of which cannot be remedied by the perfection of any or of all the other features. The reason is obvious and may be analyzed thus: The mouth and lips are primary features, assistants to the most primitive of all the functions,-digestion. Now, if these features reveal a high grade of development in regard to form, size, color, and quality, it is an infallible sign of the high grade of the entire personality, as a result of civilization and refinement. Where the domestic and sympathetic functions and sentiments, as represented by the mouth and lips, are perfected, we shall find lovely characteristics, even if great intellect is not

present, for the perfection of primitive faculties shows a fine grade of all the associated faculties,-it gilds and refines all the others.

The lips and adjacent parts are representative of the fluids and soft tissues of the body, and as the entire body is built up by means of fluidic action the importance of its representatives cannot be ignored. The ancient Greek philosophers recognized fluids as important factors of human character, for Sir Charles Bell states that

The ingenious reasoners of ancient Greece ascribed the diversity of disposition to the texture of the frame, not to the features nor to the proportions or shape of the skull, but rather to the mixture of the elements of the body, and more to the fluids than to the solids. These distinctions, familiar to all, have, in every succeeding age, been attributed to the humors. When we speak of the constitution, the temper, the humor of a man, we are in truth adopting the language of Hippocrates, who treated of the four radical humors,-the sanguineous, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic.*

The lips, in order to express harmonious character, must be of a relative proportion, for, says Lavater:

All disproportion between the upper and lower lip is the sign of folly or wickedness. The wisest and best men have well-proportioned upper an i under lips. Very large lips always denote a gross, sensual, indelicate, ani sometimes a stupid and wicked man.†

The physiognomical observer will find, upon comparing irregu larities of the mouth and teeth with their associated characters. that they are, without exception, the evidences of unbalanced or abnormal functions and traits, for when the primitive functions and faculties are of a low grade the character is pitiable and im poverished in a most essential part. When the foundation of an edifice is weak and defective, all the fine gilding and painting of the walls and ceiling will not compensate for this defect. If one examine the features of Zola or Rabelais, he will find that their intellectual and literary ingenuity is saturated with the grossness evolved from their unrefined domestic and sympathetic faculties. Their lips and mouths are physiognomically eloquent, for the exaggerated size and grossness of these features, together with their soft, dimpled chins, reveal the source of their filthy lucubrations. Rembrandt, the great artist, discloses also great grossness of mouth and lips; his life was that of a low voluptuary, and many of his paintings took their inspiration from this part of his nature. If one examine the lips and mouth of Mozart, Goethe. Burns, Sir Isaac Newton, Addison, Handel, La Bruyèrè, Sir Walter Scott, Edward Everett, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, great beauty

Anatomy of Expression, Sir Charles Bell, p. 130. Fowler & Wells, New York, 1883. † Lavater's Essays, p. 475.

of these features will be observed. Of the latter, Oliver Wendell Holmes remarked that

He had a look of refinement centring about the lips which is rarely found in the male New Englander, unless the family features have been for two or three cultivated generations the battleground and the playground of varied thoughts and complex emotions, as well as the sensuous and nutritive port of entry.

Let one compare the lips of Mad. de Staël (Fig. 103), of Angelica Kauffman, or of William Pitt (Fig. 35), with those of the native Tasmanian woman and Mrs. M. (Fig. 60), and the relative degrees of culture and refinement in these two classes will be at once apparent.

The unity of mind and body is nowhere better proven than in the evolution of the lips. Continental Europeans, as a class, are better endowed in this respect than Americans or English, and for the reason that for generations the cultivation of the domestic sentiments has been unrestrained, and the fine arts, music, painting, and the drama have been accessible to the masses for ages. Whereas, the religions of the latter race have tended to suppress the display of emotions of all sorts, and the development of a taste for the opera, the drama, and the universal cultivation of music have not been fostered as upon the Continent, hence the emotions, domestic sentiments, and the aesthetic tastes have not made as strong an impress upon the faces of the descendants of these peoples. A most remarkable difference may be observed between the lips of the Germans, Italians, and Spanish, and those of the English and Americans. In the former, the signs for Amativeness, Love of Young, Sociality, and Sympathy, together with Patriotism and Love of Home, in the cltin are most decided; in the latter, much less so.

The muscles of the mouth and lips, being extremely flexible and capable of describing many diverse shapes, we may naturally expect that permanent expressions will follow as the result of emotions and speech that are habitual; thus, the passions of rage, scorn, envy, and malice, if often indulged, mark their presence upon the muscles about the mouth, and the subject of these passions cannot escape detection, for scientific physiognomy, in teaching what is normal and what is abnormal in the development of the facial features, lifts the mask from hypocrites, whose smiles only serve to show that they are foreign expressions and put on the outside for a mask to cover viciousness. The moral of this is that in order to seem amiable we must become so in reality. The so-called "upper classes" of England cultivate what they term "repose" of manner and stolidity of expression, and suppress all spontaneous emotion as far as possible, as not consistent with "high