Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-02-01
READING THE HUMAN FACE.
The Character Generally Drawn Upon it In
Unm: stakRble Lines.
GnA IrrnnnInnn Gall


An extract from an Eastern exchange
lately published in the Call, contained
the following sentence: "Every vicious
soul marks the dwelling of its body with
the sign of it's crime, is to beIreadlSnd I'M
derstood by I'll men," This is sound
thought, tersely expressed; it contains
the germ OF doctrine which is destined
to hgure largely in the penology of the
future.
Every one knows that mems passions
propensities and peculiarities, as well
as their calliDgs, are reflected in their
faces, but 1t is only the few who have
made the study Of physiognomy an es-
pecial pursui. who are gifted with the
power Of reading those faces. Judges
who have served long terms on the bench,
lawyers in large practice and doctors Of
eminence possess the power of interpret
ing sphysiognomies more largely than
other people. But any one can acquire
the rudiments Of the ert by dint Of study
It is as impossible to disguise face as
q handwriting. When the expert comes
the disguise Is torn of and the face tells
the true story cot the spirit inside the
body. Oae only needs to visit the peni-
Tertiary to realize how uudenisble vice
writes It's sign manusl on the features
It is not the drunkard only whose red
nose, fiabby cheeks and rheumy eyes be-
tray him; it is the eensualist whose vice
is read in his lips, the knaVe whose pro-
pensity Is revealed in the shspe Of his
mouth, the man of violence who is sur.
rendered by his eyes. An experienced
detective or trained jailor seldom needs
to ask the crime of which the prisoner
was guilty. Ha csn tell 1t by his face.
1t is quite evident that in the future
the study OF physiognomy is going to be
pursued more vigorously than it has
been. AS means Of preventing crime II
may prove invsiusble. How constantly
do we hear Of men "falliDg from grace"
SIS the phrase goes. Yet these men must
have carried their crime in taeir face fol-
long time. If any one had been able to
read their features the mischief might
have been syerted. How often are we
assured that this or that criminal en-.
joyed the perfect confidence of his en-
ployers and the public till the very day
Of his detection; an expert physlogomist
would probably hsVe spotted him long
before. Again, face reading might be
turned to fine account in business. II is
well known that every m;n's face Is more
or less STAMPED by the pursuit ne fol-
lows. An experienced observer can gen.
orally detect lawyer, or doctor, or S
merchant, or C'erk, or mechanic, or q
clergyman, oy merely studying his face
The study might oe carried much fur.
Their. TIE same rule which enables an
observer to distinguish q lawyer from 8
merchant viii, when followed out, enable
keen eyes to separate able lawyers from
lawyers who are incompetent, merchants
VINO are going to make fortune from
merchants who are going to fail. Men
often carry their destinies as well as theil
character in their face Indeed, the Tor.
mer depends so largely upon the latter
that 1t would be singular If 1t were other
wise. Women, too, will be able to dis
criminste among their lovers and to picb
out the man who will make good hus
bsnd from one who viii have TO be
dragged into divorce court. All the
advantages which Fowler mistakenly told
Us we were going to derive from the
study of phrenology we may possibly
gain from the older snd more mysterious
science of face reading -