in the animal kingdom this is well illustrated; for we know that love, jealousy, and revenge are all the more active with dark people. It is the same with dark or black animals; a black horse is more fiery in his disposition than a white one, and less teachable. You will always observe white or cream-colored horses employed in a circus as trick-horses on account of their superior intelligence and docility. Light persons and races are found to be more progressive than those of dark color. As their passions and emotions are not so intense they are more capable of improvement. The local sign for color given by phrenology is "arching or height of the external portion of the eyebrow." This sign is, of course, more prominent in muscular persons than in bony ones, for the reason that muscle produces curves, while bones produce straight lines and angles. Then, too, muscular persons are more given to art than bony ones; and this sign, as shown in the face of Holbein, is the result of opening the eye wide for a number of years in order to take in wide expanses, and to observe the effect of artistic work. This sign is not at all a sign for color, but is one sign of the artistic tendency. The sign for color is not local, but is shown by general color of the eyes, the hair, and complexion. This is inherited when it is present in childhood. There are many persons who are color-blind, Albinos are entirely so; a larger percentage of males than females are destitute of the color-sense. Dr. Jay Jeffries, a recent writer, states that those who are colorblind, in a greater or less degree, are as one in every twenty-five males, while among females of all ages only one in seven thousand one hundred and nineteen are so! There are several reasons for this wide difference of the color-sense in the sexes; one is, that females are early taught to combine colors in dress and household appointments; another is that they work at many trades and professions which cultivate this sense. The use of tobacco does much to destroy this sense in man by altering the functional action of the glandular system and the circulation of the blood. The countenances of habitual smokers are pallid, blue, or ashen, thus indicating that the arterial circulation is viciated. The kindergarten schools are doing a good work in respect to the training of boys, as well as girls, in teaching them in childhood the harmonies and differences of shades, tints, and colors. When we reflect that so many lives are dependent on the color-sense of an engineer on a railroad train, or the pilot of a steamboat, the necessity for the careful training of all boys in color is at once perceived. Abstinence from tobacco should be a well-grounded principle in every boy who desires to be a useful man, as this sense is not only preservative of his life and health, but enables him to protect the lives of those who may be intrusted to his care in many positions which require a knowledge of colors. The origin of colors is readily traced, and as they play so important a part in our lives it is right we should have a clear comprehension of their use and origin. Color has a moral as well as an intellectual significance, which is explained in the chapter on the "Rationale of Signs and Functions." I think, however, that enough light has been thrown upon this subject in the preceding pages to convince my readers that if a high degree of health, usefulness, and activity is desired, an adequate quantity of sunlight and color must be had in order to bring about this result. We have found that a due admixture of color assists talent, art, industry, science, health, and longevity. Later on we shall discover that it has a direct bearing upon our moral nature, and can assist or impede moral effort according to the proportion which we have in our system. This will seem a singular statement to those who have been accustomed to regard morality as a sentiment merely, something which the brain or conscience has in charge; but if these persons reflect that it is only by the right use of the organs and members of the body and by their being in a normal or equilibrated condition that we are able to lead moral lives, they will at once perceive the importance of a proper degree of color in the organism, as well as a just proportion of bone, muscle, nerve, and brain. The regeneration of the race should commence by right generation and by attention to physical laws, for these laws are just as divine and just as binding upon us as are moral laws, and obedience to the former leads directly to the advancement of the latter. Observation and comparison of the colors of the several races of mankind reveal to us the fact that where a race or people retain one color of skin and eyes for generations, that race is relatively non-progressive. Races which have within their numbers many varieties of color,-where, for example, we find the black-, blue-, and gray- eyed people, as well as dark- and fairhaired and dark- and fair- skinned people,-we shall find a more original class. A mixture of colors always denotes capacity for improvement and progress. The Chinese are an example of a uniform-colored race. They have remained stationary in their habits and customs for ages. The Spanish among civilized people are of a nearly uniform color, and are not so progressive as are the Germans or English; neither have they as diverse talents, nor as much originality and independence. In the animal kingdom the law of color is just as applicable as in the human family. All the non-progressive animals, such as the lion, the panther, the bear, and the zebra, have always re mained the same in color and in character; they are untamable and intractable, while other animals that have a variety of colors, such as the elephant, the camel, the horse, the dog, and the ox, are more teachable, and can be very much improved in intelligence and beauty by scientific breeding. They are also more amiable and docile, less fierce, and more useful than the stationary-colored animals. In fact, all races that retain one color or form for ages are non-progressive and not as adaptable nor as amiable as those which possess a diversity of form and color. THE LAW OF PROPORTION, OR HARMONIOUS DEVELOPMENT. A correct knowledge of the laws of proportion governing the human physiognomy and organism will not be found to accord with the laws of proportion as taught in the schools of art. Science has wrought a mighty change in nearly every department of knowledge. It is possible that a widespread understanding of the laws of physiognomy, as revealed by Nature, may also create a revolution in art. The Greek ideal of symmetry, to which the ages have given their assent, will be found to be based on mathematical calculation, and it is from this cold and mechanical idea of what constitutes beauty that the modern conceptions of beauty and proportion are taken. A scientific comprehension of the law of proportion as shown in the human face will unfold more beauties than Greek art ever conceived. My understanding of beauty, as disclosed by physiognomy, is based on the idea that moral and intellectual beauty exhibited in the countenance and form constitute true beauty. True greatness in the moral, mechanical, and mental constitution of man is not accompanied by any such law of proportion as the Greek or any other school of art has set forth. Nothing is more indicative of selfish will and heartless character than the socalled Greek profile. Lavater, the great intuitional physiognomist, says, in discussing its signification: Depraved is the taste which can call this graceful, and, therefore, it must be far from majestic. I should wish neither a wife, mother, sister, friend, relation, nor goddess to possess a countenance so cold, insipid, affected, stony, unimpassioned, or so perfectly a statue.* A scientific interpretation of the face will reveal more beauties than the ordinary observer has any idea, of; for when he comes to attach meanings to forms and expressions which indicate beauties of character, he will regard them quite differently than when in his ignorance they signified nothing to him; and when an intelli * Lavater's Essays, p. 432. gent observer looks with the eye of comprehensive understanding upon the countenances about him, his sense of the beautiful will be gratified beyond expression. A new world will open to him; and I predict that with a general diffusion of physiognomical knowledge a complete revolution in religion, art, hygiene, and government will be brought about. Proportion is as potent a factor in determining character as are Form, Size, or Quality; and yet an arbitrary system based on mathematical measurement cannot be set up, for the reason that very great diversity of form and size exists in which symmetrical character is exhibited. If we were to form a standard of beauty, and take for the standard those faces in which the most moral goodness or power for usefulness was disclosed, we should then have a more elevating and intelligent model than those already observed, which teach that beauty consists in mathematical proportions mainly, and not in those proportions and expressions which reveal moral grandeur or useful talents of a high order. It As has been shown, each of the five systems of the body produces a form peculiar to itself, and every human being possesses an admixture of a certain proportion of each of these forms. will, therefore, be apparent to the observer that the law of Compensation is more potent in forming Proportion than any other factor. If these five systems were always blended in every form in exact proportions, we might then be able to realize the ideals of art in living forms, but this would not produce that differentiation of types which is needed to supply the varied wants of humanity. To carry out the idea of " diversity in unity," which is the ruling idea observed in progressive Nature, we must have constant modifications, which will, of course, produce ever-varying forms and countenances. This comprehensive differentiation results in higher development of species. It is a law throughout Nature that the greater the variety, the higher the power for development and progress. The law of scientific proportion and beauty to be observed in the human face is illustrated in those countenances in which all of the features, taken together, express to the scientific reader of character a balanced condition of the mind, and consequently of the body. The physiognomy of Washington is an illustration of good proportion. In his face and physique the five systems of functions are about equally exhibited, hence he was not great in any one given direction, but was great in any direction in which he chose to exercise his powers. He was a good farmer, an excellent surveyor, an able statesman and military leader; he was always self-poised, cool, and resolute; his inherited quality was of a high order, and the proportionate action of all his functions assisted his general power for usefulness. Each of the systems of the body has a beauty peculiar to itself, but an excess of either one of them causes, by its disproportion, a lack of harmony; therefore, a lack of true beauty. Too much brain exhibits as little beauty as too much fat; too much bone makes the individual awkward, ungainly, inert-lazy; a predominance of muscle causes its possessor to be too forceful and too much like an animal; too great a thoracic development causes an excess of hopefulness, and a tendency to fly from one thing to another without finishing anything. The most useful men have been those who were either the best proportioned, or those who were the best balanced. Now, there is a difference in these two conditions-for example, an individual may have, like Thomas H. Benton, a disproportionately small brain, but with disproportionately large lungs. Here a balance is struck, and he is hence enabled to be most useful because the lungs and brain stand in such close relation to each other as to favor this particular method of balancing functions. If, on the contrary, the individual should have a preponderance of fatty tissue and disproportionate bones, the usefulness of the person is very much impaired because there is here no compen sation. This kind of disproportion can often be remedied by reducing the bulk of fat by hygienic measures, by non-use of liquids, and more exercise, particularly of the lungs, by swinging clubs or rowing, or by anything which will accelerate the action of the lungs, thus increasing their power. Too great size of the brain system can be improved by using the muscular system more, by toning up the nutritive powers, and dispensing with study, and taking more sleep. All of the longest-lived persons that I have seen or those whose portraits I have studied have shown in their faces and physiques singularly harmonious or well-proportioned contours, and which showed that they not only possessed bodies of high or good quality, but also that their organs were so well proportioned that they were able to resist pressure or strain upon every part equally. The most common form of disproportion of organs in civilized races is found in the want of lung development. This is not a natural condition, but will become a permanent one if the modes of dressing which women have adopted are not changed for more healthful styles. This, added to the bad air which is inhaled by both men and women who sleep in ill-ventilated rooms, and whỏ } |