ON ACQUIRED FACIAL EXPRESSION. 385 



been partially created by his habit of working his jaws concomi- 

 tantly with his shears. Let any one watch a person cutting a 

 piece of tough material with scissors, and he will see that the 

 lower part of the face wags in rhythmic and spontaneous unison, 

 with the blades. Shepherds and farm laborers who join sheep- 

 shearing gangs certainly acquire a different expression while en- 

 gaged in this kind of work. The cast of countenance by which 

 one so easily recognizes a groom is partially explicable from the 

 fact that the muscles which close the jaw and compress the lips 

 are always called into play when we are asserting our will over 

 that of a horse. Nearly all jockeys and other horsey men have a 

 peculiar set of the mouth and chin, but I have been unable to dis- 

 tinguish any special characteristic about the eye or upper part of 

 the face. It is instructive to compare the visage of the ruler of 

 horses with that of the ruler of men. The horseman's face shows 

 command in the mouth, the drill-sergeant's in the mouth and the 

 eye. The last is undoubtedly the most effective instrument in ex- 

 acting obedience from our own species. Here we get a hint of the 

 cause of that want of dignity, that element of coarseness, which is 

 discernible in the countenances of some men and women who have 

 much to do with horses. The higher and nobler method of ex- 

 pressing authority is outweighed by the lower and more animal 

 one. 



Generally speaking, it is a strenuous contest with minor diffi- 

 culties which produces a thin and rigid set of lips. It is seen al- 

 most invariably in housewives of the Martha type, who are " care- 

 ful and troubled about many things," and whose souls are shaken 

 to the center by petty worries within doors-, and strife a outranee 

 with shortcomings of the scullery maid or the cook. 



The compressed lip so loved (and so often misinterpreted) by 

 novelists is a sign of weakness rather than strength. It tells of 

 perpetual conflicts in which the reserves are called into the fray. 

 The strong will is not agitated into strenuous action by the small 

 worries of the hour, and the great occasions which call for its 

 whole forces are too few to produce a permanent impress of this 

 kind upon the features. The commanding officer, assured of his 

 men's obedience, does not habitually keep his lip muscles in a 

 state of tension. Look at the sea captain, the most absolute mon- 

 arch on earth. He carries authority and power in his face, but it 

 resides in his eye and the confident assurance of his easily set 

 mouth. Every spar and shaft and muscle in his floating realm 

 must obey him, and he knows it. This is probably a reason why 

 the sea captain's and the engine driver's show a certain similarity 

 of type. The engine driver can make his captive giant, strong as 

 ten thousand men, obey the pressure of his finger. His lips are 

 usually calm, like those of the statues of the wielder of thunder- 



VOL. XLV. 30 



