MIND EXPRESSED IN THE FACE. 313 



descriptions given of the proportions of the human 

 body do not agree. 



Some points in favour of the study of nerve- 

 muscular conditions of the face are illustrated by 

 the passive, expressionless face which may be woke 

 up, " lighted up," made to express " the whole soul 

 in the face" simply by conditions of tension of 

 the facial muscles resulting from the mental state. 

 Thus often great and most pleasing beauty is seen 

 in faces unattractive when at rest. Conversely 

 some faces are beautiful in their passive condition, 

 but lack expression and interest when in action 

 from mental work; such women talk but little. 

 Surely from these two considerations it is sug- 

 gested that the passive form and colour of a face 

 are qualities not as great, not as much mind-indi- 

 cating, as the mobile expressions produced by 

 muscular tension. 



Possibly we may for a moment be allowed to 

 step out of our groove and see how education, and 

 thoughts and habits of thought, and feeling, im- 

 planted in the individual can and do produce an 

 effect on the individual's higher nerve-centres ; for 

 certainly direct observation shows that these prin- 

 ciples, these forces or modes of force, alter the facial 

 expression. 



It is presumed that in composing and executing 

 a work of art the object is to give expression and 

 beauty to the whole. The expression, to tell its 

 tale to the looker-on at the picture, must be more or 

 less true to nature. The beauty of the picture is 

 not a quality of the picture merely; it is such a 



