The morning call., 1891-08-30
READING MEMS FACES.

1t is fort unate for Mrs. Mary D. Stanton,
whose lectures on scientific physiOgomy are
attracting so much attention. that she did
not live in England in the reign of George
the Second. Had she done so, she would
have been liable to arrest under the Act
II. George ii, C. 5, and might have been
publicly whipped, for pretending to skill in
the Interpretation of the human countenance.
Luckily for her she inhabits an enlightened
country, in which scientific inquiry is en-
couraged. Sheriff Laumeister, instead of
locking her up, is following her demonstra-
tions with interest, as lessons by which he
may profit in dealing with the classes which
chiefly occupy his attention.
The science which she processes is as
old as Aristotle. That philosopher, whose
knowledge was universal. read character in
the human face, as Lieutenant Finley reads
the weather in the barometer. Thus he
says that man with thick, bulbous nose
is swinish, sharp-nosed man irascible,
man with round. large nose is lion-l like,
one with a hooked nose is graspipg, one
with retrousse nose Is luxurious and
girl with snub nose is a mischieYous CO.
quette Whether his science was sound or
not, it is certain that the pecnliarities of
feature which he names are generally re-
garded as indicating the variations Of char
acter he mentions. In modern times
physiognOmists have gone further. Sir
Charles Bell, nearly century ago, in his
Essay on Expression" laid down ssries
of formulas by which a mans character
could be read in his face, and more recently
Darwin carried the investigation to still
further lengths. Mrs. Stanton is now en-
deavoring to raise pbysiognomy to the plane
of a fixed science.
Her idea is that the bulk of vice and
crime is congehital, and that the mental
obliquity which leads to it extends to the
physical organs. In other words, she holds
that almost every person who is deformed
in mind is also deformed in body. The rule
Is not absolute, nor will the converse hold.
All deformed persons are not vicious nor
criminal, and many who are vicious or
criminal are we'll shaped in body. But, as
rule, her studies have led her 10 conclude
that where something is askew in the Wis
ceral organs, or in the muscular or nervous
system, or the shape of the bones, or the
form of the tissues it is safe to suspect that
there will be something askew in the
mind also. She believes that certain
physical defects. such as obliquity of vision,
angularity of the head. cat-like skew of the
eye. crooking of the mouth, crooked fea-
lures, especially if accompanied by crook
ing Of the leg, too flexible fingers, sloping
shoulders and shuffling gait, are liable to
be associated with idiotsm, insanity and
the vicious instincts which mark the thief,
the burglar, the confidence operator and the
liar. She traces close connection between
vice and insanity, which she regards as
phases Of the same disorder, and often pro-
ceeding from common cause. the lunatic
In one generation eDgendering a criminal in
the next, and vice versa.
1t properly appertains to the faculty to
pass sentence on Mrs. Stanton's theories.
But there is evidently enough in them to
commend them to the consideration of the
public at large. Every one who has filled
the position of District Attorney or warden
OF prison will testify that large propor-
tion OF the criminals who come before them
carry their character In their faces. Per-
sons who have had no opportunity Of study.
ing faces see nothing to distinguish them
from the crowd. But those upon whom
study of physiognomy has been forced can
spot them at glance. experienced Dis
trict Attorney can generally tell whether
the prisoner at the bar is innocent or guilty
before he hears the evidence.
Society would be gamer If his knowledge
were shared by the public at large There
would be fewer frauds and fewer crimes of
violence if people generally could discern