manifestation of this trait. The animal kingdom, however, in every department exhibits an affluence of the decorative phase of Ideality in its show of bright colors and beautiful forms. and, as we reason logically that all physical appearances are accompanied by suitable mental traits, so we must allow that insects, butterflies, moths, etc., are keenly alive to the beautiful in form and color, while birds show by their manners that the color-sense, love of music, of form, and of atmosphere are pre-eminent in many species. Apropos to this, Darwin remarks that No doubt the perceptive powers of man and the lower animals are so constituted that brilliant colors and certain forms, as well as harmonious and rhythmical sounds, give pleasure and are called beautiful.* The fact that birds are possessed of a very high sense of form and color is proved by the methods which they make use of to display to each other their beauties of form, color, and voice. Of this sense of the beautiful in birds Darwin observes thus: Ornaments of all kinds, whether permanently or temporarily gained, are sedulously displayed by the males, and apparently serve to excite or attract or charm the females. All naturalists who have closely attended to the habits of birds, whether in a state of Nature or under confinement, are unanimously of opinion that the males delight to display their beauty. Audubon frequently speaks of the male as endeavoring in various ways to charm the female. Mr. Gould, after describing some peculiarities in a male humming-bird, says he has no doubt that it has the power of displaying them to the greatest advantage before the female. It must be a grand sight in the forest of India to come suddenly upon twenty or thirty pea-fowl, the males displaying their gorgeous trains and strutting about in all the pomp of pride before the gratified females.* The above not only proves that the birds have a high realization of beauty, or Ideality, but that personal vanity or excessive Approbativeness is the peculiar attribute of the males, and is shown by the number and variety of their numerous extra appendages, such as wattles, combs, tufts, shafts of feathers, etc. This subject is treated at length in the discussion of "Approbativeness." The dimpled chin is more commonly seen in man than in woman. Nearly all the most celebrated poets, painters, actors, and sculptors exhibit a dimpled chin. This is a secondary sign of Ideality, but a very important significator, for it is a sure indication of the love of the beautiful in the opposite sex and bears a strong relation to creative art. It assists the artist or poet in forming and selecting objects of loveliness and beauty in his ideals. * Descent of Man, Charles Darwin, vol. ii, p. 337. + Ibid., p. 83. The straight outline of the nose is another sign of ideal beauty, refinement, taste, and often of poetic feeling. Wherever exhibited it will take one or the other of these forms. Large, bright eyes, if accompanied by a skin of fine texture, reveal a love of beauty and taste; so also do regular, arched, narrow, smooth, and finely-delineated eyebrows. All these characteristics are never observed in the faces of very coarse or low people. I have never seen a dimple in the chin of a Negro, nor any indications of one in the physiognomy of a Tasmanian, a Bosjesman, Papuan, Fuegean, Patagonian, North American Indian, Caribe, or any of the barbarous, undeveloped races, proving conclusively that Ideality is farther advanced in many of the animal tribes, such as birds, butterflies, and insects, than in the former. All animate nature presents these apparent anomalies, and we find by close investigation that many species of animals exhibit certain senses more acutely than even the most advanced races of men. Ideality as shown by the dimpled chin is a mark of beauty in itself, and is caused by a peculiar arrangement of the menti muscle. All art-signs are located in the muscular system, and beauty of the human form is due mainly to the outlines caused by the pliable and curving nature of muscular tissue. HUMAN NATURE. Definition. Intuitive perception of human character by the form, size, color, motion, and expression of man; the physiognomist; spontaneous comprehension of physical and mental conditions of health and disease; the natural physician; capacity for readily comprehending the laws and conditions of animals, plants, and all natural objects; one of the chief faculties of the naturalist, chemist, physiologist, astronomer, poet, painter, scientist, novelist, actor, and detective. An excess causes one to be curious, observing, acute, astute, and prying into the habits, thought, and actions of men and animals, and all things which manifest character. With a good mental development it will lead one to pass his time in studying metaphysics, physiognomy, and kindred sciences. No restraint is necessary unless one infringes upon time that should be devoted to more essential objects. A life-long study, however, should be given to this branch of knowledge, according as one's time and circumstances permit. A deficiency makes one suspicious of motives, and leads to disastrous complications in business, love, and friendship. To remedy this natural defect take lessons in physiognomy of some capable teacher, or read works on this subject and commence a course of observation and analysis; observe the voice and compare it with the actions and walk; learn the meaning of the forms and colors of the human face, nose, eyes, forehead, and chin, and endeavor to suspend judgment of character until sound, scientific knowledge reveals their significance. Facial and Bodily Signs.-The most prominent sign for the faculty of Human Nature is found in the height or elevation of the tip of the nose above the plane of the face, causing it to stand FIG. 74.-MARY ANDERSON. (TRAGIC ACTRESS.) Born in California, 1859. Principal facial sign, Human Nature, shown by height of the point of the nose above the plane of the face. The law of the curve governs this face. Keenness of sensation is one of the leading factors in this character. The talent for tragedy is shown by the curving lower jaw. The signs for Firmness, Conscientiousness, Pneumativeness, Love of Home, and Patriotism are marked. Amativeness and Modesty in the upper lip are large, Approbativeness and Friendship in the cheeks well defined, while the signs in the nose of Human Nature, Constructiveness, Acquisitiveness, Ideality, Hope, Analysis, Sublimity, Veneration, Executiveness, and Self-will are remarkably conspicuous; so also are Form, Size, Language, Observation, Memory of Events, and Intuition, with the color-sense sufficiently developed to give force and magnetism to her impersonations. far out and above the surrounding part. It assists also in giving width to the tip in conjunction with Ideality and Sublimity. Each of these traits adds to the development of width at this point. General size of the entire nasal organ usually accompanies a gifted endowment of the faculty of Human Nature. Fineness of the texture of the skin and brightness of the eyes are also secondary signs. Other signs of this power are shown by width between the eyes (Form) and fullness of the ethmoid bone at the inner corner of the eye (Size). Examine the physiognomies of Aristotle, Lavater, Porta," John Locke, Desbarolles, Delsarte, Dr. John Hunter, and Dr. William Harvey for the signs of a talented degree of the faculty of Human Nature. DESCRIPTION OF HUMAN NATURE.-Says Swedenborg: If we cannot read Nature's secret in her countenance, can we expect to divine it from her very brains ?* Dissections of all the brains in the universe would afford us but little knowledge of character. Neither would the weighing of all these brains reveal any natural gifts or tendencies; nor does *Animal Kingdom, Swedenborg, p. 342. the exterior form of the skull give us a complete knowledge of character. The human mind is made up of a series of faculties having their base and ground of action in physical functions. When these functions are destroyed partially or completely, the mental faculties derived from them are partially or entirely destroyed; hence, it must be patent to all unprejudiced minds that in order to fully comprehend all the different phases of human character we must examine every part of the anatomy and every part of the mechan ism through which Mind is alone able to manifest its powers. A high degree of the capacity for comprehending Human Nature is found only in the most developed persons of the most advanced races. This faculty is one of quality, and belongs to a progressed evolution. Although a certain degree of this trait is found in all races and peoples, yet its highest manifestations are exhibited by such persons as Aristotle, Porta, Lavater, Socrates, Desbarolles, Del Born in England, 1564. Quality of the highest. Conspicuous facial sign, Human Nature, shown by the height of the tip of the nose from the plane of the face. The law of the straight line and curve governs this physiognomy. The lower third of this face is well sarte, and other gifted developed; the chin is rounded, the lower jaw curved,physiognomists. Their countenances, as well as their writings, corroborate Sublimity, Hope, Analysis, Constructiveness, Acquisi the signs for Human Nature, which in the instances named are very prominent and noticeable. thus showing the dominance of dramatic power. Amativeness, Love of Home, Patriotism, Love of Young, Friendship, Approbativeness, Color, and Sanativeness are well defined. The mental signs in the nose are all large. Human Nature, Mental Imitation, Ideality, tiveness, Veneration, Executiveness, and Self-will unite to form a nose of the highest class. The outline of the nose is straight,-sign of poetic or æsthetic capacity. The signs of Prescience, Observation, Calculation, Form, and Size are uncommonly developed, while Memory of Events, Reason, and Intuition take on a sublime cast. This faculty, then, being the special gift of highly-organized beings, we shall naturally look to a development of that feature which is the most distinctively human, viz., the nose, for our proofs of its existence. Not only should we examine this feature as a whole, but we should closely scrutinize the portion which is most developed in developed people. Now, the lower third of the nose is this part, and in the physiognomies of all the great character-readers of the world we find that the point of the nose extends high above the plane of the face, and, as there is a concurrence of this peculiarity in this class of minds, we are justified in stating that this is the most decided and primary sign for this capacity. The neighborhood, too, in which this sign is situated is another proof of its high origin, for in its immediate vicinity are found all of the most highly-developed signs of character, such as Analysis, Ideality, Sublimity, Constructiveness, and Mental Imitation. The logic to be deduced from this combination of physiognomical evidence is that the faculty of Human Nature is derived from a high development of mind and body; in other words, from a finely-organized condition of the entire mental mechanism, particularly of the brain and nervous system. The tip of the nose is composed of cartilaginous or muscular fibres, and is supplied with nerves from the second division of the fifth pair of the cranial nerves, which is, as Dalton states, "the most acutely sensitive nerve in the whole body,"* and uncommon sensitiveness of any part denotes high organization; in other words, it indicates superior intelligence. Now that the physiological base of this faculty has been traced and described, I shall proceed to expound some of its leading mental uses and manifestations. In defining the scope and meaning of Human Nature, I understand it to be a faculty which gives the power of discerning not only the character of human beings, but also the character and condition of all natural objects, laws, and truths. It is manifested in different ways and degrees by the various minds who exhibit its presence. The physician, divine, teacher, lawyer, statesman, actor, merchant, painter, and muse all depend upon its power for their success. The animal-trainer has great need of its power in training animals either for domestic service or for exhibitions. The same faculty is brought to bear upon dogs, horses, camels, elephants, monkeys, and other brutes useful to man. the higher animals are good natural readers of human character, as well as of animal character; while trained domestic animals, birds, insects, and reptiles even evince great capacity in this direction when trained and permitted to be the companion of man. On this subject Dr. Lindsay observes thus: All The dog becomes also a very keen and successful student of man's physiognomy. It carefully scans his countenance in order to the detection of its earliest clouds or sunshine. If it sees its master's face covered with frowns, it infers anger and expects kicks, an inference and anticipation that lead it quietly to get out of the way. If, on the other hand, it meets smiles or laughs, it greets its master joyously, in its own way reflecting and Dalton's Treatise on Human Physiology, p. 453. |