THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE MOUTH. 



683 



When we make any very violent bodily effort, as to pnt on a 

 tight boot, or to open a tightly closed door, besides contracting 

 the muscles of the arm, we stiffen the neck, clinch the teeth, and 

 press the lips close upon one another. It is very evident that 

 these muscles do not in any way contribute to the attainment of 

 the end proposed ; but at the moment when the man is calling 

 upon all his strength and energy to overcome a difficulty by 

 means of a bodily effort, the 

 intensity of his will is mani- 

 fested not only in the muscles 

 that serve to produce the de- 

 sired effect, but also in all 

 the muscular apparatus of 

 the body. Every muscle con- 

 tracts ; and, of course, the con- 

 traction of the weaker muscles 

 is neutralized by that of the 

 smaller ones. These simulta- 

 neous movements, without in- 

 tention or object, appear more 

 evidently in the facial mus- 

 cles, and notably in the vig- 

 orous muscles of mastication. 

 In all violent or difficult move- 

 ments we are accustomed, by the contraction of the muscles, to 

 press the lower jaw against the upper, as if we were tearing or 

 breaking some hard object. 



The fact that we have noticed in connection with the bitter 

 trait that the movement of the lower jaw is accompanied with a 

 similar movement of the mouth is likewise observed in the 

 pinched trait. As in the former case we remove, as far as pos- 

 sible, not only the upper maxillary from the lower maxillary, but 

 also the upper lip from the lower ; so, in the latter, we press the 

 lower maxillary against the upper, and the lower lip against the 

 upper. In consequence of the contraction of the orbicular labial 

 muscle and of the incisor muscles, the lips are closely shut and 

 their red edges are turned within ; but at the same time the lower 

 lip is energetically pressed against the upper, by the action of the 

 two levators of the chin. These muscles start from the upper 

 edge of the lower jaw, near the median incisives, directing their 

 fibers downward and outward, and lose themselves in the skin of 

 the chin. They lift the middle of the lower half of the orbicular 

 labial muscle, and press the skin of the chin closely against the 

 bone. In consequence of this movement, the middle of the lower 

 lip seems to be raised, and simultaneously two wrinkles or inden- 

 tations appear, which, beginning at the middle of the lower lip, 



Fig. 7 Head prom Hasenklever's "Wink- 

 tasting," Scrutinizing Expression. 



