The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-06-30

Traits of Character Indicated by
tho Featuros.
pecrliarities OF Human Nature Easily Dis
ocrned ~ Systematic Observation
;. Different Types Denoted by
Facial indications

"Phrenology Is an exploded dcfu-
sion," said an anthropologist to Wash
ington Star writer. mo sensible per-
son any longer believes that it is possi-
Bile 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 regarded as q science. Certain
trh!ts, moral and intellectual, are plain
| ly reflected In the countcnance. Thus
we are very commonly able to distin-
| guish al ill-tempcrcd Individual. Ncc-
essarily, the emotional nature is ex-
pressed most clearly by the mouth,
which is altered by tho operation Of tho
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 ut tho weapon Of
his adversary, but at his opponents
eye. In order to see how the blow or
thrust is coming. One easily distin-
guishcs the crafty from the benevolent
eye.
& i'There are only crude distinctions,
such as everyone perceives instructive
ly and without having mode any study
OF the subject. But it is possible to go
| very far beyond this by systematic OBJ
servation. There are certain peculiari-
ties of physiognony which stamp the
person who Is not trustworthy, and these
you find exaggerated in the faces Of
criminals. Often they are accompanied
by marked abnormalities. It has al
ready been ascertained that criminals
usually have peculiarly shaped heads,
but that is a subject too complex TO 90
into briefly. Look over the photographs
in 'rogues' gallery and you will t.is-
cover that, without any experience in
such matters, you are able to pick out
with accuracy the burglars and the
sneakthievcs or pickpoclscts, dis
tinguishing one class from the other.
They represent palpably different crirni-.
nal types.
"Thc police detectives IN city have
no difficulty on n festal day, when the
streets are thronged, In going through
the crowds and picking ont for arrest
crooks whom they have never seen be-
fore and who are present for predatory
purposes The types speak of are un-
mistakable. They are difficult to
analyze, but certain brute lines are
characteristic OF each. In the thief
there is suggestion Of the fox, in the
burglar something Of the wolf, and 80
on. Composite photographs Of crimi-
nails show these traits In the most pro-
uounced way. Strange to say, however,
| such portraits-each taken from twenty
or thirty robbers or murderers- obliter-
ate the evil that Is stamped upon the in--
dividual face, and present simply types
Of persons whose physiognomy indi-
Gates predisposition TO commit crime.
''Are individuals born with predis-
| position for crime? Undoubtedly tho
instinct exists In the infant unborn and
Is transmitted by heredity from genern-
ton to generation. An instance Is re-
ferred 70 by the celebrated DR.. Mauds-
ley, Of England, where there were five
generations of criminals In one family.
The question naturally suggests itself:
How far are such individuals RESPONSE
BILE for their actions? No satisfactory
answer will ever be given. but for its
own protection society Is compelled to
wage perpetual war agninst them OBJ
viously the most humane method Of re-
straining them is to keep them In prison.
where they can do no harm, and so
there is only one crime at present which
we punish more severely namely. de-
iberate homicide. Only century ago
there were more than q hundred differ
ent kinds Of offcnscs which were pun
ished in England with death, and indi-
viduals convicted Of no more serious
crimes than petty thieving were SEN
teaced to mutilation by cutting OF their
hands OF otherwise. In this respect we
have certainly grown more civilized.
and the time Is pretty sure to arise be-
fore long when no more serious punish
ment than life imprisonment viii be Inn
posed upon murderers.
Character being legibse In the fco-
lures Of the face there can hardly be q
moro useful as well as interesting study
than that OF the human physiognomy.
How desirable II would be II we could
choose our friends for the qualities we
most admire. by the moral graces which
their rcountenances express, viewed from
reasonably exact scientific standpoint.
There are plenty Of people even In the
higher walks Of life who have criminal
impulses which they do not oct upon
merely because there Is no necessity
which calls them into action For ex-
ample. there Is a young man OF my ac-
quaintance who Is born sneak thief
] can read II in his face as well as II II
were written across his forehead; but he
had the good fortune to be born in o
rich family and so he has never had any
occasion to steal anything. But should
not like to trust him ignorantly as q
friend Every now and then You read
in the newspapers of rich women who
have been caught shoplifting. 1t SIM
ply means that their criminal impulses
have got the better OF them. Take my
word for it. the noblest study OF man
kind Is man. as Pope says. and II we
would really know people as they are
| we cannot do better than t0 study their