The Washington weekly post., 1899-12-19
HOW TO SPOT LIAR.
Detectives De n b, the Little Tricks Of His
Optics.
Frnn a. - y, ~

VFttcs.
From ihe New York Press
1t Is little realized in how many things
eyes betray their owner. Many people
without at all protesting 20 be psgysi0gnO-
Irists frequently are led TO form opinions
about their ncfghbors BY purely physiog
n0nical signs We often hear n man say.
That man Jones ia the biggest fool in
town. He has the most foolish. express
sionless, bovine pair Of eyes I've ev'r
seen. Young parents. in particular. are
fond OF planning bright futures for their
children. basing their Judgment entirely
ION a most wonderfully Intelligent look in
our baby Joe's eyes" The proud mother
will add: Il am sure he'll some day be a
great poet" Men. more sensibly. will b.
led In their business dealings by opinions
formed In Just this way. Few. indeed.
will be found Inexperienced enough TO re-
pose any confidence in a man having
pair OF round, shifting eyes. closely set to-
Sether tn tine head and usually accoT1pa-
nied BY pair Of narrow, slOping shout.
derS. This Is the makeup of a typical
sneak thief. But man not knowing this
viii still say. II don't Ike his looks. he
looks too slippery for me-" When the ay-
eTage man, however. having some secret
conviction that he is a born physiOgno-
mist, tries TO form positive judgments
about people by mere Individual signs. he
Is likely to err sadly. Many a naturally
gifted orator has been pronounced by
such judge as man given over to dis
sipation because his full prominent. sau-
eer-lke eye bears some resemblance to an
eye full by dissipation. The latter case,
however. is easily distinguished Ply
seal pleasure has a tendency to draw up
the lower eyeud as though to half close
the eve. II soon becomes thicker, fieshier
ana ana remains pressed up against the eye
IKE a soft cushion, giving this appearance
OF fullness TO the eye, the sign for fiuency
and great command of language
Undoubtedly much is told about US by
our eyes. Dogs and children have been
called natural physiognomists A dog
sometimes will refuse any caresses or lid.
bits from some stranger. and stink on.
out Will run up TO another man equally az
strange TO him, wagging his tail and 52gin
70 llck Ms nahd Children also know we'll
who will grant their request ana who
Will refuse gruhiy. A seven-year-old boy
who went up to a stranger to ask him To-
90 something, when asked why he went
10 that man when his uncle was by. an
swered; We'll, because the man had yes
written in his eyes"
Many professions apply some trait or
othef OF the human eye to their own
particular use. SurgeOns and dentists
remembering that some Of the most deli,
eye, when giving anesthetics, Judge by
MS eye when the patient Is sufficiently
under the influence of the drug. They Iift
the upper eyelid and feel the eyeball with
their hnger. When the eyeball no longer
answers TO the touch of the finger the
surgeon feels assured that the patient Il
sufficiently ObliyiOus TO the influence Of
the outer world for him to begin opera
soning can be told by the condition in
which the eye Is found. Habitual use OF
drugs, ike laudanum, opium &c have a
marked effect on the eye. and the unnat-
uraHy distended pupil of victims TO the
influence Of such drugs easily gives them
away"
But the most interesting of the eyes
give aways" is its use as an effective
detector of double dealing A private de-
tective, in a discussion as to how far the
eye can be depended upon to detect false
hood, says:
1T is sometimes pretty hard TO tell
from the manner of a smart fluent talk
er whether he Is telling the truth or not.
or course, in the case of an unskiUfu
amateur liar. the thing Is simple Even
the average man, who usually Is a pretty
poor observer, can determine for himself
whether the man lies, for the wouId-be
preyaricatOr usually takes good care TO
betray himself He invountarily seeks
TO avoid meeting the eyes Of his intended
victim by aVerting his face and shifting
his eyes. He no more can refrain from
dttiilb HI iuiS SuSpttiouS iildfiftf IMAM can
a man look straight at some bright light
after staying In dark room for some
time. The action Of both In avoiding 10
look at thing too strong for the delicate
nerves of the eye is instructive and in
voluntary. But the liar. by sufficient
practice, can acquire enough self-controI
TO refrain from showing these telltale
signs. To detect falsehOod I'm cases of
this kind We employ a delicate test,
which, in the hands of a clever man, Is
infallible. We call il the eye test The
sharp detective puts a sudden. direct
question to the crook. which admits Of
no equivocal reply. and which goes TO
the root of the matter. As the man tries
TO answer the detective steadily looks
into the pupils of his eyes and carefully
observes any changes or movements of
the iris. Should the man lie in answer
ing il will be shown by the muscular
twitching OF the eye, as il trying TO make
the aperture of the eye smaller. This is
the same movement as results in trying
TO avoid too strong a light. The eye
thus seems to be equally susceptible TO
beams of truth and beams OF light"