Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1897-11-05
THE CHIN AS AN INDEX.
"a Faec-Render Tells What He Thsnlu
of Some Mems Features.

a. Facc-Reader Tells What He TtsNl,
of Some Mems Features.
When a face reader was asked fol
his opinion of an article, "The Chin as
an Index" printed in the st. Louis
Clinique, he replied'
"The thing is unscientiflc. The writer
says the protruding chin marks the get.
there type of man; that the broad chin
denotes dignity; that the dimpled chin
indicates coquettishness; that the re-
treating chin is thechin of failure, and
that the other kinds Of chin which he
describes stand for the other traits OF
character which he associates with
them. His statements are unsupported
by proofs or illustrations froiu life or
from pictorial art. Had he given the
names of people, notable historical per-
sons, rather than contemporaries, hay
ing chins Of the several varieties spoken
of, his description of the traits of their
possession would have been more EN-.
tertaining; for, in each case presented,
one could have formed his own opin.
ion as to the correspondence between
the feature and the mental quality
which he seeks to associate with it.
Cortez, for example, Cromwell and
Peter the Great were certainly men OF
the get-there type, but he would hardly
say that they had protruding chins.
$50 also in regard to the other kinds
of chin, from the dignified and coquet'
fish to the executive and the humble.
l would say, let him show me the por'
traits of some of the parties whose chins
give confirmation to his theory. My
own study of the pictured features OF
the eminent men of past and present
times has led me to believe that face
reader must be very wary when he
makes remarks upon the chin as an
index to character. could refer you
to the features of plenty of men who
are yet among the living. There was
in New York last year famous Chi
nese statesman of the get-there type,
Ii Hung Chang, not very yielding OF
helpless or easily discouraged; yet no
one who saw him while he was here
failed TO observe that he has a retreat
ing chin, one which retreats almost
out of sight, so that not even his best
friend would speak of it as protruding
What about that? Again, it will be adj
mitted that Bismarck belongs to the
get-there type Of humanity; and yet
his chin falls behind the frontal line
and also the line of the molar bone; it
is far from protrusiye. Look at the chin
of the pugilist, Fitzsimmons.
81 could take up all of the kinds OF
chin described in the Clinique's article
and show you that plenty of the peo-
pie who have any one of the kinds dc
not possess the mental or moral char.
acter set down oyer against 1t by the
writer in that periodical, who must be
n very poor sort of face reader.
"There are physiognomists who, after
studying mans features from his chin
and nose to his upper story, can make
q pretty fair guess as to the nature OF
his invisible traits. But they cannot
always be sure that they get things
right, and everybody knows that they
often get things wrong, more especial
ly when they have not previously had
any knowledge of the mans life OF
idiosyncrasies. repeat that it is very
hard to get at the characteristics OF
anyone's mind by his chin; and, IN
truth, it is not easy to get at them by
any or all Of the lineaments of his face
Many a great man has had features
which would very surely lead the sharp
est physiognomist to draw erroneous
conclusions from them. Who, upon see
ing the face of Thomas Carlyle, with
out knowing of his works, would evel
have taken him to be the great thinker
that he was?
"There have been plenty of heroes
whose looks were misleading; and lott
of poets whose features could not b'
made to rhyme; and some saints whose
faces would never remind you OF
cherub; and any number of other PEG
pie between whose facial conformation
and mental traits it would be impossi
BILE to trace the correspondence.
know a strong character who has
neck of no account, an anomalous
mouth, inexpensive eyes, a marrow
brow, and not much of chin; yo'
couldn't guess what kind of soul h
had by looking at him. A witty write
once said that if Cleopatra's nose ha'
been shorter, the face Of the worl'
might have been changed; and perhap
1t might. Look at that feature il
Socrates, or in some of the mummie'
Egyptians who were once lords OF tn
Nile, or in several of the English kings
or in nearly all the illustrious Chinese
most of the Finnish bards, or in squad
of the German princes. have seen
picture of Capt. Kidd, once famous a
q pirate, and it seemed, when CAREFUL
scanned, as though genius were there
1t was said of Mirabeau that he wa
ugly enough to be the nephew of tn
Old Serpent. Thus things were, an
thus they are yet. So it goes all alon
in history, and all through the inscru
able apparitions of time.
"You had better throw into you
waste basket the article of the II
, consequential speculator in the Cllniqu
who talks about chins."-N. Y. Sun.
The Queens Irish Ancestors.
Is "the emerald gem Of the wester
world set in the crown of stranger
I think not. The throne of Great Bri
ain and Ireland is occupied by so
ereign descended from an Irish rae
The most ancient blood flowing in tn