PHYSIOGNOMIC CURIOSITIES. 823 



that might pass for intelligent and manly, if not for beautiful, in our 

 days ; but, in contrast with the living models of our classic statuary, 

 the Mongolism of his features may have appeared more glaring. The 

 Grecian profile, indeed, has always remained the beau-ideal of perfect 

 beauty. " The proof that the straight profile constitutes beauty," says 

 Michael Angelo, " is furnished by the effect of the deviating profile. 

 The stronger the inflection of the nose the further the face deviates 

 from its perfect form. The Grecian nose is the most human of all 

 features ; all other noses are a compromise with animalism." 



These noses, as a national type, have utterly disappeared. Accord- 

 ing to Francisco Diaz, a Portuguese historian and philosopher of the 

 eighteenth century, the last remnant of the favored race inhabited a 

 district northeast of Cadiz, which neighborhood their Grecian ances- 

 tors had settled some two thousand years ago. They were peaceful 

 tillers of the soil, but their adherence to the unitarian dogmas of Mo- 

 hammed involved them in the fate of the wretched Moriscoes, who 

 were expelled by order of the Rey Catolico. We shall not look upon 

 their like asjain. 



The muscles about the mouth are mapped out like a town-chart by 

 Dr. Carus, and for not less than eleven " qualities " he provides lodg- 

 ings in that neighborhood. Love has the under lip all to himself, but 

 four of his relatives, clemency, pity, the love of children, and benevo- 

 lence, are crowded together in the narrow dell between the mouth and 

 the chin. Five more inhabit the upper lip and the place below the 

 nose, while cheerfulness has reserved seats in the corners of the mouth. 

 Tumid lips must be a sure sign of sensuality, since nearly all physiog- 

 nomical authorities insist on that thesis, and even Winckelmann, who 

 commonly has an opinion of his own, is here, at least, neutral. He 

 admits it to be a suspicious sign, but believes that after it has once 

 become hereditary, as among certain African and South Asiatic tribes, 

 it denotes merely a sanguine temper. But, if the upper lip protrudes 

 so far upward that it fails to cover the teeth, the indication is even 

 more unfavorable ; it then means lasciviousness and stupidity com- 

 bined. The habit some children have of keeping the mouth constantly 

 open is also ominous of future imbecility, if we may believe Dr. Hal- 

 ler. Dr. Redfield's observation about prominent canine teeth has al- 

 ready been referred to ; deformed (because decayed) teeth may indi- 

 cate indolence (as implying a neglect of sanitary precautions), but are 

 often hereditary, like weak lungs and short-sightedness. Short and 

 white teeth in adults, as Lavater says, are frequently combined with 

 uncommon bodily strength, and visible interspaces between the front 

 teeth are a favorable omen of longevity. 



That the art of mind-reading is yet in its infancy is sufficiently 

 demonstrated by some of the " general rules " which, modern as well 

 as ancient, physiognomists have recorded as the result of careful obser- 

 vation. 



