PHYSIOGNOMY. 



horizontal eye-brows, and is considerably 

 rounded towards the temples. Perpen- 

 dicular foreheads, which, however, pro- 

 ject so as not to rest on the nose, and 

 which are short, small, shine, and 

 are full of wrinkles, give undoubted in- 

 dications of a weakness of the thinking 

 faculties ; perseverance and oppressive 

 violent activity, united with vigour and 

 harshness, belong to the forehead com- 

 posed of various confused protuberances ; 

 and on the other hand, when the profile 

 of this part of the head affords two well 

 proportioned arches, the lowest project- 

 ing, it is a certain sign of a good tempera- 

 ment and a sound understanding. All 

 great and excellent men have been found 

 lo have their eye bones firmly arched, 

 and well defined; and circumspection, 

 followed by stability, attends square fore- 

 heads, with spacious temples, and eye- 

 bones of the above description t when 

 perpendicular natural wrinkles appear, 

 they express power of mind and applica- 

 tion ; but horizontal, interrupted in the 

 middle, or broken at the extremities, be- 

 tray, in general, negligence, if not want of 

 ability. 



Deep indenting in the bones of the fore- 

 head, situated between the eye-brows, 

 and extending in a perpendicular direc- 

 tion, mark the happy few who possess ge- 

 nerous and noble minds, connected with 

 excellence of understanding ; besides, a 

 blue vena frontalis, in the form of a Y, 

 situated in an arched smooth forehead, is 

 an indication of similar advantages. La- 

 yater having given the above hints, des- 

 cribes the following characteristics, which, 

 lie asserts, give " the indubitable signs of 

 an excellent, a perfectly beautiful and 

 significant, intelligent, and noble fore- 

 head." Such must be one-third of the 

 face in length, or that of the nose, and 

 from the nose to the chin ; the upper 

 part must be oval, in the manner of the 

 great men of England, or nearly square ; 

 the skin must be smooth, and wrinkled 

 only when the mind is roused to just in- 

 dignation, or deeply immersed in thought, 

 and during the paroxysms of pain ; the 

 upper part must recede, and the lower 

 project; the eye-bones must be horizon- 

 tal, and present a perfect curve upon "be- 

 ing observed from above ; an intersecting 

 cavity should divide the forehead into 

 four distinct parts, but with that slight 

 effect as 10 be only visible with a clear de- 

 scending light; and all the outlines should 

 be composed of such, that if the section 

 of one-third only is observed, it would be 

 difficult to decide whether they were cir- 



cular or straight ; to conclude this por- 

 trait of a transcendent forehead, the skin 

 must be more transparent, and of a finer 

 tint, than the remainder of the face. 

 Should an infant, a relative, or friend, 

 who possesses a forehead resembling the 

 above description, seriously err, the good 

 enthusiast entreats, that the corrector 

 may not despair of success, as in all hu- 

 man probability the latent seeds of virtue 

 may be roused into growth by perseve- 

 rance, and finally produce the desired 

 fruit. 



The eyes of mankind are composed of 

 various shades of colour, the most com- 

 mon of which are grey mixed with white, 

 grey tinged with blue, and shades of 

 green, orange, and yellow According 

 to Buffon, the orange and blue are most 

 predominant, and those colours often 

 meet in the same eye ; those generally 

 supposed be black are not really so, and 

 may be found on attentive examination, 

 and with a proper disposition of the light, 

 to consist of yellow, a deep orange, or 

 brown, which being violently opposed to 

 the clear white of the ball, assumes a 

 darkness mistaken for black. The same 

 naturalist observes, that shades of yel- 

 low, orange, blue, and grey, are visible 

 in the same eye, and when blue, even of 

 the lightest tint, appears, it is invariably 

 the predominant colour, and may be found 

 in rays dispersed throughout the iris : the 

 orange is differently disposed, at a tri- 

 fling distance from the pupil, is in flakes, 

 and round ; but the blue so far overpow- 

 ers it, that the eye assumes the appear- 

 ance of being wholly of that colour. The 

 fire and vivacity emitted by the eye can- 

 not be so powerful in those of the lighter 

 tints ; it is therefore in the dark ones 

 alone that we look for the emotions of 

 the soul quiet and mildness, and a cer- 

 tain degree of archness, are the charac- 

 teristics of the blue. Some eyes are re- 

 markable for the absence of colour ; the 

 iris is faintly shaded with blue or grey, 

 and the tints of orange are so light that 

 they are hardly observable ; in eyes thus 

 constituted, the black of the pupil ap- 

 pears too conspicuous, and it may be said 

 that portion is alone visible at a little dis- 

 tance, which circumstance gives the per- 

 son a ghastly and spiritless appearance. 



There are eyes whose iris may be said 

 to be almost green ; but these are very 

 uncommon. It would require the pen of 

 an inspired writer to describe the aston- 

 ishing variety of expression of which the 

 eyes are capable : being situated near the 

 supposed seat of the soul, every sensa- 



