THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE MOUTH 



679 



from the lower lip as the palate is removed from the tongue by 

 the levator muscles of the lip and of the wings of the nose draw- 

 ing it up. Each of these two muscles rises near the inner corner 

 of the eye, and ends in two points one of which is attached to 

 the wing of the nose, and the other to the middle lateral half of 

 the upper lip. When these muscles come into play, the expression 

 of the face is modified in a striking manner. The red edge of the 

 upper lip is drawn up in the middle of its upper half, and this 

 part of the lip is turned over, so as to give the line of its profile 

 a broken appearance. The wings of the nose are raised, and the 

 naso-lateral grooves, which, beginning at these wings, continue 

 in an oblique direction to the commissure of the lips, appear near 

 their beginning strongly pronounced and unusually straight. A 

 still further effect of the movement is an even folding of the skin 

 of the back of the nose (Fig. 1). The expression thus depicted, 

 appearing primarily with bitter tastes, is also associated with 

 other disagreeable feelings, which have become characterized by 

 the term bitter. 



While in ordinary disagreeable representations and disposi- 

 tions the skin of the forehead alone is wrinkled vertically, the 

 bitter trait of the mouth also appears in such as are very disagree- 

 able (Fig. 2). The significance and importance of this expression 



Fig. 1. Bitter Expression. 



Fig. 2. Bitter Expression, with Vertical Wrinkles 

 on the Forehead. 



vary essentially according to the nature of the look. If it is dull, 

 the face bears the impress of bitter suffering, and it is a sign that 

 the person is suffering from bitter feelings and trials ; but if it is 

 firm and energetic, the face then wears the marks of lively reac- 

 tion and violent irritation. When the eyes are directed upward 

 in ecstasy, the vertical wrinkles are of course absent, and then, 

 while the upper lip is contracting bitterly, the face expresses a 

 painful concentration. Such is the expression which painters 

 have sought or should have sought to represent in the penitent 



