Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-01-15
THE FACE AS AN INDEX
Influence OF tho Emotions on It's
Appearance.
Brave Men Sometimes Turn Pale In tho
Face OF Danger ~ Vol as Coward
/ -VloWs OF Learned Individual
on tho Subject.


who pales and trcmblcs under great ex-
element is called NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
ever that mny mean-and, is looked
upon as q coward. In fact, there are
but few people who do not hold that ex-
cessive pallor il one Of the distinguish
ing marks of a mean, dastardly spirit.
IN cgrcgious error this, and one that
should have been dispellcd along with
the belief in witches, the divine right of
kings and similar popular monstrosities
Well grounded in this belief. a reporter
of tho San Francisco Chronicle set out
to secure data on the subject from re-
liable sources.
$40 the brave turn pale2"
'Of course they do" said DR.. j. f.
quiry was propounded, land red, too,
for that matter"
1T is not, then, only tho towards who
turn palo and trcmble in the face of
dangerp" ..-.
''Ry no means" said tho doctor; 81
have seen tho bravcst men get as white
as death whom laboring under intense
excitement. / have seen men pale and
tremblc under the excitement caused by
intense pain, and they were men, too,
who showed their bravcncss by refus-
ing to be put under the influence of an
nnesthctic. and who did not utter a
single cry when the knife was inflicting
the most cxcruciating fortunes. Under
the Same circumstances I have seen
other men turn red, the blood seeming
TO burst through their skin. The
truth is that the various . eX-
pressions of emotions shown by
men can not be made guide
as to his inner thoughts and feel
ings. The only things these express
sions do show is that the individual is
undergoing intense excitement. but
whether of fear. angoE, valor or pleas
,ire, can Dry be determined by the indi-
vidual's Gctions." .. .
DIR. 6. Is. Clevcngcr, the famous writer
on nervous diseases, in n recent publicn-
ton says:
Tho matter of blushing or paling is
wholly beyond the control of the in6i-
r>dual, and differs with the individual.
The condition Of the heart has much to
10 with these manifestations. as has the
irritability of the brain. Rage. fright.
pleasure or pain, or excessive emotion of
any kind, often produces pallor in per-
SONS healthy or unhealthy. Again. these
Same emotions, or any ono of them,
may be habituaDy Displaced by great
rcdncss or flushing Of the face: Or, as
II to make matters still moro complex,
a person may pale at one time and blush
~ another from idcnticully the same
cause. ....,.
Herbert Spencer, in his 'Principlcs of
Psychology" sums up these emotional
expressions rs the ''undirected overflow
of nerve force"
While it is thus seen that p5ycholog-
lists and physiognomists and men of sci
Cntiiic'rescarch are agreed that the eX-
Irrcssions of emotions do not manifest
themselves the same way in the same
individuals, tho question as to the origin
Of these forms Of expressions and their
various causes has not bc"~ so definitely
settled or SO clearly dciiL.-~ In the dis
Cussion of this subject C!'orlcs Darwin,
tho great evolutionist, gives some very
intcrcGting data. In his 'ExDrcssionS
Gf Emotions in Man and Animals" he
sayG:
Tho most striking case, though q
rare and abnormal one, which can be
Gtlduccd of tho direct influence Of the
nervous system when strongly affected,
on the body, is tile loss of color in the
}l2ir, which has occasionally been OBJ
served nftcr eXtrcrnc terror or grief.
Ono authentic case has been recorded in
ttfs ease Of d man brought out for exc
e!,tion, in which the change of color of
+ac hnh'was so rapidns to be pcrcepti-
BIC to tho eye. ... ..l. 49,.
''hnothcr good case Is that of the
ircglbliog of the muscles. -, 81 y OF
all cmotiono fcnr notoriouely is the most
OpG to produce trembling, but so do
often great Joy and anger, 1 remember
once seeing boy who had shot lie first
Eripo on tho wing, and his hands trcm-
blcd to ouch degree from delight that
nc could not for sonue tirnc reload his
gun" -...r.g'. .sr.z.e,r,
LILLE lhrnrv Ct Nnnnlnntn LII On I1nd