Chap. XI. CONTEMPT. 255 



by movements about the nose, or round the mouth; but 

 the latter movements, when strongly pronounced, indi- 

 cate disgust. The nose may be slightly turned up, which 

 apparently follows from the turning up of the upper 

 lip; or the movement may be abbreviated into the mere 

 wrinkling of the nose. The nose is often slightly con- 

 tracted, so as partly to close the passage; 3 and this is 

 commonly accompanied by a slight snort or expiration. 

 All these actions are the same with those which we em- 

 ploy when we perceive an offensive odour, and wish to 

 exclude or expel it. In extreme cases, as Dr. Piderit 

 remarks, 4 we protrude and raise both lips, or the upper 

 lip alone, so as to close the nostrils as by a valve, the 

 nose being thus turned up. We seem thus to say to the 

 despised person that he smells offensively, 5 in nearly 

 the same manner as we express to him by half-closing our 

 eyelids, or turning away our faces, that he is not worth 

 looking at. It must not, however, be supposed that such 

 ideas actually pass through the mind when we exhibit 

 our contempt; but as whenever we have perceived a dis- 



3 Dr. W. Ogle, in an interesting" paper on the Sense of 

 Smell (' Medico-Chirurgical Transactions,' vol. liii. p. 268), 

 shows that when we wish to smell carefully, instead of 

 taking* one deep nasal inspiration, we draw in the air by 

 a succession of rapid short sniffs. If " the nostrils be 

 watched during this process, it will be seen that, so far 

 from dilating, they actually contract at each sniff. The 

 contraction does not include the whole anterior opening, 

 but only the posterior portion." He then explains the 

 cause of this movement. When, on the other hand, we wish 

 to exclude any odour, the contraction, I presume, affects 

 only the anterior part of the nostrils. 



4 ' Mimik und Physiognomik,' ss. 84, 93. Gratiolet (ibid, 

 p. 155) takes nearly the same view with Dr. Piderit respect- 

 ing the expression of contempt and disgust. 



5 Scorn implies a strong form of contempt; and one of 

 the roots of the word ' scorn ' means, according to Mr. 

 Wedgwood (Diet, of English Etymology, vol. iii. p. 125), 

 ordure or dirt. A person who is scorned is treated like 

 dirt. 



