Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-12
HOW TO READ THE FACE.
There L. Much In Peoples Features That Il
Well Worthy OF Study.

Well Worthy OF Study.
"pHRENoLoGY IS AN EXPLODED DE-
Il fusion" said an anthropologist to a SrAR
writer. mo sensible person any longer be-
ieves that it is possible to determine anybody's
character or mental faculties by bumps on the
head But the study Of the features OF the face
is progressing so far that before long it will be
reg irded as science. Certain traits moral
and intellectual, are plainly reflected in the
countenance. Thus We are very commonly
able to distinguish an iii-tempe red individual.
Necessarily, the emotional ma ture is expressed
most clearly by the mouth, which is altered by
the operation Of the muscles with every change
of feeling. In the eye. on the other hand. is
found the expression Of Thought The boxer
or fencer LOOKS not at the weapon Of his ad-
versary, bnt az hi, opponents eye, in order to
see how the blow thrust is coming. One
easily distinguishes the crafty from the benevo-
lent eye.
These are only crude p distinctions such as
every one perceiyes instiBctiveiy and without
having made any study OF the subject. But it
Is possible 20 go very lar beyond this by sys-
tematlc observation. There are certain pecu-
liarities of physioguomy which stamp the per-
son who is not trustworthy, and these you find
exaggerated i'll the faces OF criminals. Often
they are accompanied by marked abnormal
ties. 1t has already been asccr.a.ncd tina:
criminals usually have peculiarly shaped heads,
briefly. Look over the photographs in a
'rogues gallery and you VIII discover that,
without any experience in such matters. you
are able to pick out with accuracy the buI siars
and the sneak thieves or pick pockets, dlstin-
gushing one class from the other. They rep
resent paipabiv different criminal types.
PICKING OUT CRIMINALS.
do in n cit h,vn al,
on festal day, when the streets are throngcd
in going through the crowds and picking out
for arrest crooks whom they nave never seen
before and who are present for predatory pur-
poses The types / speak of are unuiistake-
able They are difficult TO anaIyze, but Ger
tain brute lines are characteristic of each. In
the thief there Is suggestion OF the fox, in the
burglar something OF the wolf, and on. Com
posite photographs Of criminals show these
trtIts IN the most pronounced way. Strange
to say, however, such portraits--each taken
from twenty or thirty robbers murderer
obllterate the evil that is stamped upon the
individual faces and present simply types of
persons whose physiognomy indicates predis
position to commit crime.
PREDIsPosIrIoS TO CRIME.
"Are individuals born with predispositio
for crime? Undoubtedly the instinct exists in
the infant unborn and is transmitted by hered-
ity from generation to generation. An in
stance is referred to by the celebrated DIR.
Maudsley OF England, where there were Eve
generations OF criminals III one family. The
question naturally suggests itself, How far are
saen individuals responsible for their actions!
No satisfactory answer will ever be given, but,
for its own protection, society il compelled to
wage perpetual war against them. Obviously
the most humane method Of restraining them
is to keep them i'll prison, where they can DO no
harm, and SO there is only one crime at present
xyh! 10 ya oil
deliberate homicide. Only century ago there
were more than a hundred different kinds
Of offenses which were punished in England
with death, aud individuals convicted Of no
more serious crimes than petty thieving were
sentenced to mutilation by the cutting off OF
their hands or otherwise. In this respect We
have certainly grown much more civilized and
the time 10 pretty sure to arrive before long
when no more serious punishment than life
imprisonment will be imposed upon murderers.
AN INTERESTING STUDY.
Character being lsgible in the features Of
the face there can hardly be more useful as
we'll as interesting study than that OF the
human pbysiognomy. How desirable it would
be il we could choose our friends for the quail
tiles we most admire, by the moral grsces which
their countenanee express viewed from a
reasonably exact scientific standpoint. There
are plenty of people even in the higher walks of
life who have criminal impulses which they do
not act upon merely because there is no neces-
sity which calls them into action. For ex-
ample, there is a young man OF my acquaint-
ance who is born sneak thief. i can read it
in his face as well as il it was written across
his forehead, but he had the good for
tune to be born in a rich family, and
so he has never had any occasion to
steal anything. But should not like to trust
him ignorantiy rs . friend. Every now and
then you read in the newspapers Of rich women
who have been caught sAoplifting. It simply
means that their criminal impulses have got
the better Of them. Take my word for it, the
noblest study Of mankind is man, as Pope says,
and. II We would really know people a. they
are. we cannot do better than to study their
moral and mental attributes In their features"