234 - DECISION. Chap. IX. 



the mouth is not habitually and firmly closed, is com- 

 monly thought to be characteristic of feebleness of char- 

 acter. A prolonged effort of any kind, whether of body 

 or mind, implies previous determination; and if it can 

 be shown that the mouth is generally closed with firm- 

 ness before and during a great and continued exertion 

 of the muscular system, then, through the principle of 

 association, the mouth would almost certainly be closed 

 as soon as any determined resolution was taken. Now 

 several observers have noticed that a man, in commenc- 

 ing any violent muscular effort, invariably first distends 

 his lungs with air, and then compresses it by the strong 

 contraction of the muscles of the chest; and to effect 

 this the mouth must be firmly closed. Moreover, as soon 

 as the man is compelled to draw breath, he still keeps 

 his chest as much distended as possible. 



Various causes have been assigned for this manner of 

 acting. Sir C. Bell maintains 13 that the chest is dis- 

 tended with air, and is kept distended at such times, in 

 order to give a fixed support to the muscles which are 

 thereto attached. Hence, as he remarks, when two men 

 are engaged in a deadly contest, a terrible silence pre- 

 vails, broken only by hard stifled breathing. There is 

 silence, because to expel the air in the utterance of any 

 sound would be to relax the support for the muscles of 

 the arms. If an outcry is heard, supposing the struggle 

 to take place in the dark, we at once know that one of 

 the two has given up in despair. 



Gratiolet admits 14 that when a man has to struggle 

 with another to his utmost, or has to support a great 

 weight, or to keep for a long time the same forced atti- 

 tude, it is necessary for him first to make a deep inspira- 



13 ' Anatomy of Expression,' p. 190. 

 " ' De la Physionomie,' pp. 118-121. 



