| OCR Text |
Show 2 INTRODUCTION. Sir Charles Bell, so illustrious for his discoveries in physiology, published in 1806 the first edition, and in 1844 the third edition of his 'Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression.' 4 l-Ie may with justice be said, not only to have laid the foundations of the subject as a branch of science, but to have built up a noble structure. His work is in every way deeply interesting; it includes graphic descriptions of the various emotions, and is admirably illustrated. It is generally admitted that his service consists chiefly in having shown the intimate relation which exists between the n1ovements of expression and those of respiration. One of the most important points, small as it may at first appear, is that the muscles round the eyes are involuntarily contracted during violent expiratory efforts, in order to protect these delicate organs from the pressure of the blood. This fact, which has been fully investigated for me with the greatest kindness by Professor Donders of Utrecht, throws, as we shall hereafter see, a flood of light on several of the most important expressions of the human countenance. The merits of Sir C. Bell's wor~r have.been undervalued or quite ignored by several fore~gn writers, but have been fully admitted by some, for Instance by M. Lemoine,5 who with areat justice ~ays :-" Le livre de Ch~ Bell devrait etre 5 medite par quiConque essaye de fane parler le visage de l'hommo, " par les philosophes aussi bien que par les artistes, " car, sous une apparence plus leaere et sons le pretexte " de 1' es th e't •1 que, c' est un debs plus beaux monu- 4 I always quote from the third edition, 1844, which wns published after tho. .d eath of Sir C· Bell , an d con t am· s h1' s latest correctw· ns. Tho first ed1t~on of 1.806 is much inferior in merit, and docs not include some of h1s more Important views. p. ;~1~e la Physionomie et de la Parole,' par Albert Lemoine, 18G5, INTRODUCTION. 3 " ments de Ia science des rapports du physique et du '' moral." From reasons which will presently be assigned, Sir C. Bell did not attempt to follow out his views as far as they might have been carried. He does not try to explain why different muscles are brought into action under different emotions; why, for instance, the inner ends of the eyebrows are raised, and the corners of the mouth depressed, by a person suffering from grief or anxiety. In 1807 M. Moreau edited an edition of Lavater on Physiognomy,6 in which he incorporated several of his own essays, containing excellent descriptions of the movements of the facial muscles, together with many valuable remarks. He throws, however, very little light on the philosophy of the subject. For instance, M. Moreau, in speaking of the act of frowning, that is, of the contraction of the muscle called by 6 'L'Art de connaitre les Hommes,' &c., par G. Lavater. The earliest edition of this work, referred to in the preface to the edition of 1820 in ten volumes, as containing the observatioos of M. Moreau, is said to have been published in 1807; and I have no doubt that this is correct, because the' Notice sur Lavate1·' at the commencement of volume i. is dated April13, 1806. In some bibliographical works, however, the date of 1805-1809 is given; but it seems impossible that 1805 can be correct. Dr. Duchenne remarks ('Mecanisme de la Physionomie Humaine,' 8vo edit. 1862, p. 5, and 'Archives Generales de Medecine, Jan. et Fev. 1862) that M. Moreau" a compose pour son ouvrage un art-icle important," &c., in the year 1805 ; and I :find in volume i. of tho edition of 1820 passages bearing the dates of December 12, 1805, and another January 5, 1806, besides that of April 13, 1806, above referred to. In consequence of some of these passa~es having thus been composed in 1805, Dr. Duchenne as~igns to M. Moreau the priority over Sir C. Bell, whose work, as we have seen, was published in 1806. This is a very unusual manner of determining the priority of scientific works; but such questions aro of extremely little importance in comparison with their relative merits. The passages above quoted from M. Moreau and from Le B1·un a1·e taken in thil:i and nil other cnses from the edition of 1820 of Lavater, tom. iv. p. 228, and tom. ix. p. 27!J. B 2 |
