The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-06-26
TOLD BY THE TEETH.
Character Revealed by the Forma-
ton of the Ivories.
Large Teeth Indicate a Broad Tempera-
ment and Small Ones Show Mentality
of the Minute Order-An In
teresting Study.

ment and Small Ones Show a Mentality
of the Minute Order-An In
teresting Study.
Have you ever thought that you may
tell a persons character long after his
death, when his body has decayed and
there Is nothing left but few bonesf
Probably you have not, but it Is quite
possible, for character may be judged
by the teeth.
In one important respect, character
reading by means of the teeth is more
reliable than that by means Of the
hands, lips, nose, eyes, feet or other
parts of the body, valuable as they may
seem in some particulars. 1t has been
said that a mans mode of inner life,
the working of his conscience, will leave
some visible trace, some material In
fuence on his general appearance, thus,
in a measure, thwartirg the original
design of nature. For example, by
properly schooling the mind from jo-
cose to a serious temper, a nose with an
inclination to pugness may be made to
take decided downward turn; mouth
may be made to droop at the corners,
wrinkles may be induced at the cor
ners of the eyes, the contour and lines
Of the hands may change and the feet
may take on different expression.
But the teeth are exceptional. No
habit of thought will have any influence
whatever in their shape and character
AS far as concerns them Mrs. Nature
has laid her plans with a determination
%lo4 fhary bo II not 1>a modified
Phrenologists have not agreed upon
any stated set of rules for judging
persons character from an inspection
of his teeth. The best that they pretend
to do is to arrive at general estimate
This is not as satisfactory from the
point Of view of completeness and
minuteness as the methods of reading
character by means of other parts OF
the body; but it has It's advantages In
its increased reliability. By a careful
examination of the teeth 1t may be
definitely announced whether or not
person is q coward or high-spirited
weak or strong-minded, slovenly OF
punctilious. This determination will
reveal the character as it was at birth
the native character. There are thou.
sands of cases where individuals have
''lived down NATURE" so to speak, and
have evolved an artificial character OF
one sort from q natural character OF
the opposite sort. This, provided the
change has been from poorer to
better character, is highly commend.
able, and is a strong argument against
the doctrine that has recently beer
promulgated, to the effect that most
criminals should be excused because
they were born with criminal instincts
and couldn't help it.
And yet, after all, when you are deal.
ing with man you will be better sat,
isfied to know his real, than his artificial
character, and so you may know it only
by an examination of his teeth. This
examination will usually have to be
conducted covertly, as it is not likely
that the general run of persons whom
you meet will lend themselves to o.
minute investigation of their dental
arrangement.
You may start out with the general
broad statement that small teeth mean
smallness, and big teeth mean bigness
It makes not much difference to what
qualities you apply these terms. A
man with small, short teeth can hardly
be concerned in anything big-be II
charity, or crime, nobleness or deviltry
His temperament Is of the minute order;
his compass Is limited. If engaged IL
business, he will work on basis oi
hundreds, when man with large teeth
would be dealing with thousands. II
he engages in crime, he would be fa1
more apt to steal coppers from news
boy than to explode bank safe.
On the other hand, a man with large
teeth is a man who goes into things
on big scale. His mind, like the law
does not care for trifes, mon minima
curat." If he is charitable, he is gen.
erous to fault, and will be dividing his
last penny with needy friend, while
the small -toothed man would hedge or
his charitable instincts as soon as he
saw that they were beginning to cause
him the slightest inconvenience. The
man with the big teeth, if a criminal,
would revel in holding up trains and
In robbing them single-handed - in
picking the pockets of the chief of po
lice, and in administering Knockout
drops to the commissioners. Bigness
is his watchward.
But it is possible to read by means OF
the teeth finer shades of character than
merely those of bigness and littleness
We may also note insipidity, courage
heedlessness, ferocity, ideality and
other qualities. Ifyou will examine the
accompanying sketches you will observe
many types that are no doubt familiar
You will find it of interest to COM
pare some of these teeth with those OF
animals, and to speculate as to whether
similarity in this respect means q SIM
ilarity of character. Canine and feline
teeth are remarkable for their point
cdness, being larger at the base than
at the tip. This characteristic may be
observed in some human teeth, and
there are those who say that it denotes
the possession of canine or feline In,
stincts.
Teeth which are separated by a gapl
denote, usually, needless, thought
less, or even slovenly character. On
the other hand, teeth which are close
together denote alertness of the mind
Whether this alertness Is directed to-
ward great or small things depends
upon the size of the teeth. When the |
teeth slant in one direction, as is rare