Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-08-11
FACE-READING is A SCIENCE.
The Countenance Not Rtflex of the
Soul. but Often Only a Mask

The Countenance Not Rs flex of the
Soul. but Often Only Mask.
"Physiognomy is rather vagary of the
Imagination than a science" said prom
inent student of human nature the other
day, and, therefore," he continued, ="
deny that the expression of mans face is
! really an index of the persons soul, as it
is generally conceded to be, and as the OBJ
ieet of language is said to be the conceal
ment of thought, SO the expression of ones
contenance is but the mask to conceal
ones inner self
There is a tradition that far back in
the days of which history tells us nothing,
there was no speech or language among
men, but that men read each others wants
and wishes in their faces. and, as the
| world was pure, nothing but purity ap-
peared in the expression of the human
face. But wickedness crept in, and men
sought to keep from their faces the evil
that was in their hearts, thus preventing
the countenance from becoming the index
of the soul.
No." the speaker went on, 81 have no
faith whatever in physiegnomy as
science, for as science it is fanciful aud
wild. Take, for instance, the portraits of
men who have become famous in the world
of craftsmanship, philosophy, science, art
and letters, and search and scan their faces
for traces to mark their fame, and how
often you will be disappointed. The same
IS the case with men adopts in vice, cum
ming and crime. Little can be told from
the external appearance of individuals as
to their peculiar traits and characteristics
by which they are known to their fellow
men.
"That certain habits of life afix their
stamp to face and form is, no doubt, true,
but the solution of that condition is not in
the reflex action of the mind and soul, but
for the reason that certain set of muscles
are brought habitually into play and cause
special development. Is the man neces-
sarily all smiles and laughter who has
wrinkles at the outer corners of the eyes
and upward-curving lines around his
mouth? Yet those are the mechanical
lines, which would indicate merry
hearted man, if the science of physlog.
nomy is true. Those lines are only mus
cular, simply the result of habit, and may
be dictated by the rankest hypocrisy.
Naturally the brutal and ignorant
classes will have eoarser features, and viii
possess brutal and animal faces, generally
resulting from inherited qualities, and,
therefore, they will do coarse and brutal
things. 1t would be an easy matter to
trace 4 resemblance between the faces and
the crimes Of such people, in whom bru-
tality and coarseness predominate; but
where will you find the lines and ear
marks of brutality in the faces of the
handsome Wilkes Booth or the.cultured
and elegant Eugene Aram? Look upon
the canyases bearing the portraits of the
beautiful and angelic fends that ruled the
-Emperors of Rome, and you will see only
patrician faces, but they brought the En-
pire to destruction.
Instances of this character might be
given indefinitely, but every one who has
made careful study of the subject will
agree that the connection between the
facial expression and the inner spirit
nal nature is very difficult one toitraee."
l---N. Y Mdit and Express.