60 EXPRESSION. 
shut and mouth open, evidently roaring. Cover 
with a card all but the face, and draw on the card 
the body of a fat old man lying back in his chair, 
and the child’s face, without a stroke of change, will 
be converted into the bald head of the old man con- 
vulsed with laughter. How so? Simply because 
old men are more given to roar with laughter than 
to bellow like children. 
There is another of Mr. Darwin’s illustrations with 
which a similar experiment may be made, namely, 
Plate V. fig. 1, a female head expressing disdain. 
Hide the neck, and make that head bend over a 
figure so drawn that the head shall have a droop in 
keeping with the direction of the eyes, and the ex- 
pression of contempt completely disappears, giving 
place to one which is serious and quiet. The ex- 
periment, however, could not have been successful 
if the expression had been carried further by the 
curling of the upper lip. When contempt is ex- 
pressed merely by attitude, it is done, as I have 
said, by upward and backward motion of the head, 
and a glance in precisely the opposite direction. 
When the features aid the expression, they act on 
the same principle. While the angles of the mouth 
are free from all elevation, or are even depressed, in 
token of the depressing effect of the unpleasant, re- 
treat upwards and backwards from that which excites 
