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Show 226 REFLECTION. CHAP. IX. at the commencement of every crying or s~re~~ing fit it has become firinly associated with the Incipient sen' se of. somet h1' ng d1' s t ress1·n g or~ disa<oY reeable. Hence under similar circumstances it would be apt to be r.ontinuecl duri· ng matur1' t y, a lthoug·h . n· ever then .d e-v loped into a crying-fit. ~creaJning or. wcep~ng beO'ins to be voluntarily restrained at an eaily. per1ocl of life, whereas frowning is hardly ever r~strain.ecl at any age. It l·s perhaps worth .n otice .t hat with child1r e·n. nluch given to weeping, anything whwh perplexes. t 1eu mi·n ds ' and which woulcl cause most other csh ildr.e hn merely t.o frown, readily makes them we~p. o w1t . certain classes of the insane, any effort of mind, however slio-ht which with an habitual frowner would cause a sli~ht' frown leads to their weeping in an unrestrained m~1ner. It is not more surprising that the habit of contractino- the brows at the first perception of something distr~ssing, itlthough gained d~ring infancy, shoul~ be retained during the rest of our hves, than that man) other associated habits acquired at an early age should be permanently retained both by man and the lo~ver animals. For instance, full-grown cats, when feehng warm and comfortable, often retain the habit of alternately protruding their fore-feet wit.h extended t~es, which habit they practised for a definite purpose whilst sucking their mothers. Another and distinct cause has probably strengthened the habit of frowning, whenever the mind is intent on any subject and encounters some difficulty. Visio~ is the most important of all the senses, and dunng primeval times the closest atte~tion mu~t have been incessantly directed towards distant obJects for the sake ~f obtaining prey and avoiding danger. I ren1en1ber being' struck, whilst travelling in parts of Sm~th A 111eri0a, whjf'h w0re dangerous f1·nm tho pre~PnrP CJfAP. IX. REFLECTION. 227 of Indians, J1ow ince santly, yet as it app ared unconsciously, the half-wild Gauchos closely scann d th whole horizon. Now, when any one with no covering on his head (as must have been aboriginally the a e with 1nankind), strives to the utmost to distinguish in broad daylight, and specially if the ky is Lrjght, a distant object, he almost invariably contracts his brow. to prevent the entrance of too much light; the low r eyelids, cheeks, and upper lip being at the same tim\ raised, so as to lessen the orifice of the eyes. I have purposely asked several persons, young and old, to look, under the above circumstances, at distant objects, making them believe that I only wished to test the power of their vision; and they all behaved in the manner ju t de cribed. Some of them, also, put their open, flat hands over their eyes to keep out the excess of light. Gratiolet, .after making some remarks to nearly the same effect, 5 says, '' Ce sont la des attitudes de vision " difficile." He concludes that the muscles round tho eyes contract partly for the sake of excluding too much light (which appears to me the more in1portant end), and partly to prevent all rays striking the retina, except those which como direct fro1n the object th~ t is crutinized. Mr. Bowman, who1n I consulted on this point, thinks that the contraction of the surrounding muscles may, in addition, "partly sustain the consen uaL "movements of the two eyes, by giving a firmer support " while the globes are brought to binocular vision by " their own proper muscles." As the effort of viewing with care under a bright light a distant object is both difficult and irk ome, and 5 'De la Physionomie,' pp. 15, 144, 146. l\:lr. Herbert Spenc r accounts for frowning exclusively hy the habit of contracting the brows as a shade to the eyes in a brjght light: see 'Prinripi<'R of PRychnlogy,' 2nrl edit. 1 72, p. 54G. Q 2 |
