Year: 1876

That striking resemblances may


sometimes be perceived between


human faces and the faces OF the low.


er creatures is a well known and un-


questioned fact. Nearly every one


can call to mind at least one instance


OF some such resemblance within


their own circle OF acquaintance; and


all have 10 doubt frequently heard of


men with leonine heads, or aquiline


features, or monkey faces, or with


cOUntenances which in some way


suggest the countenance OF the brutes.


IL is not unusual with George Nc


Donald, the novelist, to speak of the


dog face OF man and, indeed, the


human face often strikingly suggests


the canine face, The same pencil


strokes that delineate the massive


mug Of Bill Sykes suffice also for the


physiOgnomy OF his bull terrier and


one clever artist OF Punch, when rep


resenting a certain class of whiskered


dandy, invariably crowns the human


trunk and limbs with the head of the


ordinary Scotch terrier.


But the resemblance In such cases


is not merely u physical one. The


man with the leOnine head has gen.


orally something OF the strength of


the lion in his character, and he with


the aquiline features something of the


eagles keen vision and Underwriting


purpose. For the same reason, no


man with q monkeys face was ever


more than mankind. The brutality
Of Bill Sykes Is simply the brutality
OF the bull dog in excess, because hui
man reason whets the brute prOpensi-
ty, and at the same time provides OBJ
jects for its exercise. The whiskered
dandy eXcels in impudence the Scotch
terrier, and the only very noticeable
difference between the two are, that
the one wears an eyeglass while the
other does not, and that the nose of
the man is red aud warm, while that
Of the dog is black and cold.


While everybody has very possibly
met with several examples Of such re-
sembIances as we have mentioned, we
never knew but one person who made
q business OF observing and studying
them. This person is a Brooklyn
lady, and TO her we are indebted for
liberty to make known the simple
particulars contained in this article.
A number OF years ago, when sunk
into very low state of health, the
medical attendant very frankly told
her she was beyond the help OF his
medicines. "Your complete restOrs-
ton Is in your own hands," he added,
however. ''There Is no use in my
treating you physically for malsdy
which Is not physical in its seat. You
must cure yourself by keeping your
mind occupied and diverted. Now
suppose you take up some study-sSy
bOtahy or astronomy, or language, or
TO keep your thoughts from |
This is what you must |
do, l assure you and on the day you |
set about it your recovery begins.n
The lady took her physicians advice, |
and began to study the human cOun- |
tenanee but for q considerable time |
her studies had no reference to resem-
blanees between human faces and the |
faces of animals. A mere accident |
served to give her inquiries in this di- |
rectiOn, for being introduced to q gen. |
temRn whose face struck her rs being /
like the face OF fox, she |
thought it worth while to discover |
whether there was any of the "fOXY"
in his nature, and was so as
lAoeOIA1hCO anu WIN IDC
suit of her observations on this point /
that thereafter she confined her stud
les almost wholly to this branch of
Lavater's faVOrite science. Having
an exceedingly large circle OF friends
and visiting Rcquaintances, she had
ample opportunities for pursuing her
She instituted at her
house a series OF weekly receptions, to
which large numbers came, little /
Of the chief objects of such
or that in the eyes Of their
hostess, they each and every one bore
some resemblance, more or less def
mite, to q beast or bird, q fish or q
beetle. She had sometimes selecter
also OF two or three or
half a dozen persons, to which, con-
trary to the rule understood TO be in
variahly observed by hosts and hos
tesses on such occasions, she often in
Ylted only such people as she expected
10 antagOniZe-that is to disagree with |
each other and evince all sorts OF an
tipathies. But that she had other
reasons for bringing together such in
elements the sequel will |
make plain.


As we have limited, this lady's most |
intimate friends we're Kept in the dark |
rs to the peculiar character of her |
studies in physiOgnomy neverthe-
less there was scarcely one OF them |
whose face she had not learned to as
sOciate with the face Of some lower
creature. From the first the writer \
Of these lines had been made q par
taker of her confidence, and had be-
come'in some sort her disciple in |
She had told him,
moreover, that she could trAee in his
no resemblance to the
fsce OF any living creature except the
horse, and although the announce
ment was scarcely hatteripg to his
vanity, he was permitted to congratu-
late himself that he bore no resem-
blance 70 the Rss, and that neither
horse nor man can be held response
BILE for the ties that bind them to /
their long cared relatives. For sever
si years he continued to derive both |
and amusement from his 1
friends studies, and what is hereafter
related is merely one example among
many of the extraordinary results
they led to.


Among the lady's visitors was
Miss T. Miss T. was petite and
plump with a little nose delicately
the Roman with a full,
bright, black eye, and a voice that
warbled. While in the act OF listen
ing, or OF speaking, or even walking
on the street, Miss T. had a trick Of
carrying her head on one side, that
was exceedingly bird-like. In short,
there was no misdOubtlng the fact
that Miss T. had likeness TO q bird,
II to any creature at all. But what
bird


Now, which do yOu suppose ?n
said the fair physiOgnOmist, when the
object came up. "a parrot or a
wren ?n


"a wren, of cOurse.D