DARWIN MEMORIAL. 87 



DARWIN ON THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS. 



By Frank Baker, M. D. 



From the tendency of the imagination to magnify the unknown 

 and remote, arises a popular error that to attain eminence a man of 

 science must be able to gather facts from great distances — from the 

 sources of the Nile, and from polar snows. But the near and com- 

 monplace are subject to the same laws as the atoms of interstellar 

 space, and true scientific insight may discover in the very dust 

 under our feet secrets hitherto concealed. 



Darwin's work upon the Expression of the Emotions is continu- 

 ous with and supplementary to his larger and better-known treatise on 

 the Descent of Man. As with other matter bearing directly upon 

 the development hypothesis, its publication was deferred as long as 

 possible, in order that the evidence might be fully weighed. Pro- 

 jected in 1838, it was not published until thirty-five years later. 

 One class of objections to the hypothesis was not considered in the 

 main work. It was generally held that, by his emotional expres- 

 sion, man was widely separated from the lower animals. The emi- 

 nent anatomist, Duchenne, who remains to-day the best authority 

 on muscular movements, merely expressed the views of the time 

 when he stated that no cause could be assigned for facial ex- 

 pression, except the "divine fantasy" of the Great Artificer. 



Having projected his work, how does Darwin proceed? From 

 the gentlemen who have preceded me you have learned of his 

 methods. To test the truth of his conceptions he commences a 

 series of most minute and careful observations, omitting nothing 

 within his reach. His most important field is that which is nearest; 

 his own children, his friends and companions, even the dogs that 

 accompany his daily walks, come under that powerful scrutiny. 

 Where, indeed, can we find so perfect an observer? The calm 

 sanity of his mind keeps him equally aloof from egotism and from 

 self-depreciation. A fact is a fact, to be stated with the fairness 



