Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-03-14
Noses.

FROM Ine SATURDAY
In spite of the learned Slswkenbergius,
1t is probable that no really valuable trea-
tise on noses exists. A new edition of
Notes on Noses originally published in
1s4S, has just been issued Bentley & Son.
Such a work needs the best illustrations
tie woodcuts in Notes on Noses are use
less. For some reason the nose is usually
treated as a comicsl and unimportant fea-
ture. The novelist, 80 rich in details about
his heroine's eyes, lips, brow, chin, ankles,
hair and so forth, never says much about
her noss. Perhaps ths most sgrseable sort
of femsle noss is nsmeisss; it is Greek,
with more vivscity, bat nobody knows
what to call it. The ordinary classes OF
noses are familiar, and are made by the
mind, not the mind by the nose, according
to our author. The Bsrdolphian noae,
however, Is created and colored by solid
personal industry. The Roman nose re-
ceives great credit for energy, frmness,
"absence of refinement, and disregard OF
the bienseances of life" Among people
of note with Roman noses our author in
cludes Rsmesss H.. but perhaps we need Q
new name for the Egyptian nose SO famil-
lar on the monuments. William Wallace,
according to our authority, had a Roman
nose; but we cannot tell how he got his
information.
William of Orange, we know, had Ro-
man nose, and the srtist ''put old Mas
sau's hook-nosed head ON poor Eneas'
shoulders" instead of the Trojan nose
which he probably possessed. Perhaps
the correct or Dsrwinisn theory is that
Eneas, by e freak or "sport" of nature,
really had a Roman nose. Hence he was
better fitted to survive than the other Tro-
jams, and he handed the nose down to his
descendants, the Romans. On any other
theory It Is hard to discover why the
Greeks had straight noses, while those of
the Romans were hooked Nor, after all,
are we quite certain that the Greeks really
had Greek noses. 1t may have been q
convention of their art. The future gene
rations, If they only possess Mr.. Burne
Jones' and Mr.. Rossetti's works, will come
to very erroneous conclusions about Brit
| ish chins We learn that the nose of So
crates was not Greek, b such as Greek
/ artiets usually assigned 70 sstyrs. Ocoa-
sionslly, as in a beautiful group of sstyr
| playing dice with a nymph on q bronze
| mirror, they gave sstyrs another kind of
! nose. The noses of the ladies In the Ia
| nsgra terra cottss are of all agreeable or
/ GERS OF EOsSt uOt necessarily dtcck. 1Ho
! chances are that the Greeks varied as
much as We do in their noses. while the
tradition of their art preferred the con-
ventional straight nose. In the same way
the kind of Romans who had their por-
traits done on coins and gems were just
the sort of energetic conquering people
! who have Roman noses everywhere, like
| William of Orange and the Duke of Wei
lington. Milton, it seems, had q Greek
nose in youth; 1t afterwards became q
Puritanic nose. A habit of turning 1t up
In moments of indignant morality would
affect the contour and expression. OF Gle.
opatrs's nose, on which, according to PISS,
cal, hung the fate of the world, we really
know nothing. One coin makes 1t an ex.
aggeration of the nose with which Mr.. Du
Msurier commonly equips his duchesses
In this shape 1t may be called too long
even beaky; but we may hope that the
coin is not q good likeness. Concerning
the nose of Mary Stuart, Mr.. Charles
Kirkpatrick Sharpe conceived, after much
comparative study, that she had two nosel
ONE low and one high. Perhaps, Hk,
Milton, she modified her nose by mer,
force Of character; perhaps her painter
were extremely untrustworthy.
We can say little of scientific valu
about noses in relation to character whil
portraits are such dubious Hksnsssss, An,