68 KANSAS ACADEJIY OF SCIENCE. 



rors the feelings and gives expression to the impulses. It is the visible record, the 

 map of the heart, advertising the character of the man to all who care to read. It 

 is the herald of the heart, proclaiming the man. It betrays the impulses which 

 underlie his actions. The face also serves the mind when it is afifected by the heart 

 and the emotions ; and as most actions and thoughts are caused by the emotions, 

 the face is often summoned to picture forth the feelings that affect volition. It 

 thereby reflects the mind by betraying the impulses that prompt thoughts or ac- 

 tions. It is, therefore, the servant of the conscious activities. It does not reflect 

 unconscious or automatic thoughts or actions. It is the mirror of the living soul, 



— not of the house in which it lives nor of the machine which it moves. 



As Sir Thomas Brown said long ago, "There are mystically in our faces certain 

 characteristics which carry in them the motto of our souls." 



The face is the expressional area, par excellence, wherein the physiognomy of the 

 individual, as revealing his character, is most indicated. The face is, indeed, phys- 

 iognomy condensed. While it is but a factor of the sum total of the physiognomy 

 of the individual, as expressed in all parts of the body, it is the most important 

 factor, and is far more expressive than any or all the other parts. Physiognomy is 

 merely a division of physiology — not an occult science for the reading of character 



— and indicates the impress of psychic influences upon physical structures; i.e., the 

 body takes the impress of the mind and heart, and their visible appearances are 

 observed in the outward form and peculiarities of the individual. As thus indicating 

 character, the physiognomy of the face is the concentrated expression of the pecul- 

 iarities of his mind and heart. While character is revealed in all the parts of the 

 body and their motions — the trunk and its carriage, the limbs and their gestures, 

 and the walk, the head and its poise, the dress and its disposal ^ — it is in the face that 

 it is most clearly written. Indeed, very early in the history of the race it was no- 

 ticed "that the good and evil passions by their active exercise stamp their impress 

 upon the face, and that each particular passion had its own expression. From a 

 very early age of human thought this fact attracted philosophic consideration." 

 (Alex. McAlister.) As the "Son of Sirach" had it, "The heart of a man changeth his 

 countenance, whether for good or evil " 



Therefore the expressional duty of the face is to symbolize character. In com- 

 mon with the physiognomical functions of other parts of the body, the face assists 

 in symbolizing the man, and depicts him as he is, in unmistakable signs. It is 

 superior to them also in that it is the especial messenger of the emotions, and exag- 

 gerates the manifestations of character which the less effective parts merely indicate. 

 The other parts bear a passive share in this symbolical work, but the face is active 

 and aggressive. The symbols are not occult and secret and known only to the ini- 

 tiated, but are so open and plain that even a child may read and know plainly and 

 simply the heart of the wearer of them. Of course experience and long and close 

 observation of men increases the skill of and faculty in reading faces aright; but 

 yet the power is instinctive in all men, for it is born with them, and is exercised 

 unconsciously from the cradle. "I am much of Lavater's opinion," says Cowper, 

 "and am persuaded that faces are as legible as books, and are less likely to deceive 

 us; in fact, I cannot recollect that my skill in physiognomy ever deceived me." 



The accomplishment of reading faces by the outward natural signs and symbols 

 of character is valuable in proi^ortion as men have dealings and intercourse with 

 each other; and in this day of mutual and extensive dependence the faculty is of 

 inestimable worth to all men. As a writer well says: "Knowledge of the world 

 includes the ability to tell or guess well, at sight, what a man is, or will do, or feel, 

 in certain events. It comprehends a swift and intuitive perception of character as 

 displayed in form, and such a perception as penetrates far beneath the surface of 



