222 REFLECTION. Chap. IX. 



he finds it too tight. Some persons are such habitual 

 frowners, that the mere effort of speaking almost always 

 causes their brows to contract. 



Men of all races frown when the} 7 are in any way per- 

 plexed in thought, as I infer from the answers which 

 I have received to my queries; but I framed them badly, 

 confounding absorbed meditation with perplexed reflec- 

 tion. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Australians, 

 Malays, Hindoos, and Kafirs of South Africa frown, 

 when they are puzzled. Dobritzhoffer remarks that the 

 Guaranies of South America on like occasions knit their 

 brows. 4 



From these considerations, we may conclude that 

 frowning is not the expression of simple reflection, how- 

 ever profound, or of attention, however close, but of 

 something difficult or displeasing encountered in a train 

 of thought or in action. Deep reflection can, however, 

 seldom be long carried on without some difficulty, so 

 that it will generally be accompanied by a frown. Hence 

 it is that frowning commonly gives to the countenance, 

 as Sir C. Bell remarks, an aspect of intellectual energy. 

 But in order that this effect may be produced, the eyes 

 must be clear and steady, or they may be cast downwards, 

 as often occurs in deep thought. The countenance must 

 not be otherwise disturbed, as in the case of an ill-tem- 

 pered or peevish man, or of one who shows the effects 

 of prolonged suffering, with dulled eyes and drooping 

 jaw, or who perceives a bad taste in his food, or who 

 finds it difficult to perform some trifling act, such as 

 threading a needle. In these cases a frown may often be 

 seen, but it will be accompanied by some other expres- 

 sion, which will entirely prevent the countenance hav- 



4 ' History of thte Abipones,' En£\ translat. vol. ii. p. 59, 

 as quoted by Lubbock, ' Origin of Civilisation,' 1870, p. 355. 



