The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-01-06


Is simply probN
would bdee signeeA -y1.Ose ss,iis..
sent the mental character, and on this,
ground they dogmatlcally declare that
the expressions Of rage, or grief or fear.
have been divinely designed on purpose
that The inner mind may be known 10
those who watch the outer man. The
persons who use such arguments and
have recourse 10 such assumptions never
propose to make any inductive compare
son of certain number OF well measured
forms with the we'll asceriained mental
phases with which they are associated.
Were auch experiments made they would
yield no result. Notwo physiognomists,
acting sepSrAtely, would agree in. meas
uring and characterizing The TOMS and
indications of the head, the features, the
hands, and the feet of the patient; and
no two men-neither the sagacious Judge
on the bench, nor his shrewd counsel at
the bar-could determine the real char
acter were they TO conjure with all the
events of his life. In this new physiog-
Monty a head large in the mid region i'm
dicates predominance of the feelings over
the other faculties proneness TO super
stition and fanaticism is shown by lit
tie increase in the elevation, and a head
large behind evinces practical ability ;
and, as DIR. Carus says, characterises a
race which will give birth to great his
toric names Small heads, however, are
not to be despised. They indicate tall
ent, but not genius, while very small
ones belong, he says, 70 the excitablo
class from whom "a great part of The
misery of society arises.
IN the varying expressions Of The Lu-
man face, ply iesoiuists find better
support for tkeirNs IS, That the EMO
tons OF the pas aTe ptesent Leave
permanent traces or ttie human conn
lenance is doubtless true, audto this cx.
tent we are alls physiognomisis, often
very presumpiupus ones, aud exeenting
acciuentaf condolences, always in the
wrong when we infer from any external
appearance The character and Disposition
of our ncighbor. 10 every class of socie-
ty, ne encounter faces which, we ipstinc-
lively shun, and others TO which we as
instinctively cling. But how frequently
have we found our estimates TO be false ?
The repulsiye aspect has proved TO be
the result of physical suffering, of do
mestic disquiet, or of ruined fortunes :
and under the bland and smiling counte-
nance a heart deceitful and vindctive and
desperately wicked" has often been
found concealed.
The countenance, too, which in man
hood was noble and benign, we may have
seen SCARED in the Battle of Life, and
furrowed with the deep lines which the
baseness of friends and the injustice of
this world never fail 10 imprint And
when the manly aspirant after wealth or
fame has been cruelty worsted in the
race of ambition, and has displayed on
the outer man the impress Of the emo
tons which disturbed him, how often
have we seen him, under similar circum-
STANCES, resuming the Joyous expression
OF his youth, which misfortune has but
temporarily disguisedy These views will
acquire additional support il we examine
large groups of individuals living under
the same influences, and, therefore, likely
TO have the same external development
In the haunts of vice, within the pre-
cincts Of the Jail, in the stock exchange
aud in the marts of commerce, we shall
find the same variety Of form and ex-
prossion, and the same difficulty in dis
covering vice or virtue in the outer man
The criminal in the dock, charged with
murder, will often bear an honorable
comparison with the functionary who
persecutes him, The advocate who de-
tends Ihim, or the Judge who tries him.
In descending TO individual features,
the eyes, nose, mouth, chin, cars, and
even hair, are said TO instruct us in the
character of our neighbor aud the
neck, trunk, hands, and feet become
monitors in the same school. or al
these teachers, the eye and The nose are
The most accomplished. DR.. Carus tells
as that the eye speaks to rs ipits colors
and in its lustre; that yelloa indicates
genius dark blue effeminacy; hight blue
and gray, activity; green, courage and
hazel, mental depth and he pronounces
this organ TO be so richly symbolical,
that, instead Of saying that the style
is the man" we might more justly say
shat the eye is the man. Ia refulation
Of such assumptions, We assert that there
is no expression whatever in the human
eye. ball, consisting of transparent cor
nea, colored iris, with the pupil 10 It's
center, and the white selerotic coat You
may as hopefully search for expression
in q waich-glass as In the cornea; a.
hopefully ina colored water, with a hole
in the center, as 10 the iris; and as we'll
q A. ~. 4. Al. l.