Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1888-08-25

Ine WINDOWS OI tue SOuis
Some poetical gentleman has called
the eve "the window of the soul" and
at all Zines and among nearly all peo-
pie it is regarded as the great feature
of expression: that is, by persons who
are neither amateurs i'll nor professors
of that quasi science, physiognomy.
These gentlemen devote their time and
treatises AS much to the nose as to the
ewes. pr0pounding rules or characters
deduced from the wrinkles OF the fore
head and warts on the cheek, the sig
MITIGATION of the chin, She index of the
mouth and score of other diyersities
OF feature.
First. as to the eyes as a feature i'll
national physiognomy. Lavater, when
discussing this question, gives the fol-
lowing as tile result of his observations:
That the Italians have small eyes; the
Germans light eyes, surrounded
with many wrinkles; the English
strong, open, liberal and steadfast eyes,
and the Swiss dull eyes.
The Laplanders, according to Button,
have narrow eyss, the pupils OF yell
low brown, inclining to . black, and the
eyelids retiring toward the temple. The
ewes of the Tartars, he says, are small
and sunken, eyebrows large, covering
the ewes. and the eyelids thick. The
eyes OF the Chinese are small, their
eyebrows large and the eyelids raised.
The New Hollander has dull, lack
eye, thick eyebrows and eyelids half
shut-a habit acquired i'll infancy to
preserve the eyes from the gnats. 10
the Spaniards Button gives good eyes, i"
to the Cloths blue eyes, and to the Fin
landers heavy lids and the iris of IA
deep yellow.
Wmckelmann holds the opinion that
the shape and color Of the eyes are very
largely the result of climate and other
direct conditions. Thus, he says, the
small, half-closed, blinking eyes of the
EsqnimauX are due to natures attempt
to preserve the sight from the dry, cold
air and the effusion of light from the
snow amidst which they live. The small
eyes of all the distant and northern
nations, he says in another place, are
in consequence of the imperfectiOn of
their growth. 1t is upon the authority
of a philosophic writer named De Paw
that the Peruvian has an eye the apple
of which is black and the white not
very clear.
Eyes have always been regarded as
tribal indications. Tacitus, for example,
describes the Germans as fierce, with
blue eyes and red hair" The Celts are
described az swarthy and dark-eyed,
the Gauls are red-haired and light-eyed,
while the Nubians and Egyptians have
always been spoken of as dark-eyed.
These characteristics have not appar-
emily changed, and it may be said
roundly that the people of the temper
ate zone have generally light-cOlored
eyes, while these of the extreme zones
are dark.
OF the races, the only one that can
be said to he lighteyG is the Caucas-
ian, and even this race is by 10 means
uniform rs to color i'll its eyes. The en-.
tire human history goes to prove that
the ight-haired, blue-eyed races are
capable of the highest degree of ciyiliz-
alton, but it does not by any means
prove that the highest degree of clvlliH-
alton is confined to the blonde races.
| There was period when blue-eyed per-
| sons were rarely seen, and to-day seven
eighths of the words inhabitants have
dark eyes Net only is the majority
on the side of the dark-eyed, but statis-
ties would seem to Indicate that that
majority is increasing. In a paper read
some time ago before the Swedish An
thropological Society it was stated that
brown eyes We're becoming more com
mon in Switzerland, North Germany,
Belgium and Sweden, and that ont OF
every one hundred set OF light-eyed
parents tifty-six per cent. OF the chill
dren lad dark cyes.-Sdn francisco
| Chronicle.