The Republican journal., 1910-11-24
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS IN ANIMALS.

''Have you ever noticed" remarked a
friend to Sir Edwin Landseer, chow
cooks '0 'Ni
Yes" replied the great animal paint
er. Il have noticed it, but I didn't
think anyone else had. And if | dared
to put that dogs smile in a picture the
critics would declare l was guilty of an
absurdity.''
Not only was the charge frequently
brought against Landseer, but it has
been brought against numerous animal
painters that they endow their horses.
dogs, and cats with human expressions.
"A dog expresses joy by wagging his
tail, wrote a critic in the Examiner.
land not by the play of his facial mus
cles. Where MIR. Landseer commits a
blunder is by seeking to portray emotion
IN brutes by the same signs that serve
for the human ANIMAL
Is this true? Has your dog or cat no
power to express delight, sorrow, dejec-
ton, contentment, amusement, disap-
polntment on it's countenance in the
same way, if not to the same degree, as
its master and mistress can? Scient ific
observers seem to disagree on this ques-
ton. Sir Charles Bells statement that
the faces of animals seem chiefly capa-
Die OF expressing rage and fear' has
been fatty denied by Darwin, who says:
He who will look at dog preparing to
attack another dog or a man, and at the
same ANNA! when caressing its master,
or Will watch the countenance of mon
key when insulted and when fondled by
its keeper, will be forced to admit that
the movements of their features and
thelr gestures are almost as expressive
as those of man.
But, as another great naturalist points
out, there will always be unobservant
people who from lack of application will
remain sceptical. They see the purely
canine or feline expressions without no.
tlclng those which resemble the human.
When, for instance, dog is about to
spring on his antagonist he utters saw
age growl; the ears are pressed CLOSELY
backward and the upper lip is retracted
out of the way of his teeth. These move
ments may be observed with dogs and
puppies at play. But if dog gets really
savage in his play his expression immedi-
ately changes. This, however, is simply
due to the lips and ears being drawn back
with much greater energy. If dog only
snarls at another, the lip is generally re-
tracted on one side alone-i. e., toward
his enemy. Alpthis is easily understood,
as is the expression of fear and disgust.
But how many persons understand that,
through centuries of association with
man, dogs and cats have gradually as
simulated, and are still further assimi-
lating, to mans expressions?
Sir c.. Pell, in his ''The Anatomy of
Expression, remarks: dogs, in their
expression of fondness, have a slight
aversion of the lips, and grin and sniff
amidst their gambols in way that re-
sembles laughter. Some persons speak
OF the grin as smile, but if it had been
really smile we should see similar.
though more pronounced, movement of
the lips. and ears when dogs utter their
bark of joy; but this is not the case,
although bark of joy often follows a
grin. On the other hand, dogs, when
playing with their comrades or masters,
almost always pretend to bite each other,
and they then retract-though not ener-
getically- lips and ears. From
the November Strand Magazine.