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Show 256 CHAP. XL the 1nere wn·n 1 ~1 I.n o- of th e no.s e · The nose is often. slightly contracted~ so as partly to close t~e passage; 3 and this is commonly accompanied by a shght. snort or exp.n.a t •w n. All these actions ar.e the same w· ith t1h o~c. which we employ when we perceive an offensive oc. ont, . 1 · h to exclude or expel it. In extreme cases, as dnC. WlS J. • b h 1' Dr. Piderit remarks/ we protrude and raise ?t Ips, or the upper lip alone, so as to close the nostnls as by a valve, the nose being thus turned up. We seem thus to say to the despised person that he sinells offensively, s in nearly the same n1anner as ';e express to him ~by half-closing our eyelids, .or turning away our faces, that he is not worth loolnng at. It n1ust not, however be supposed that such ideas actually pass . throuah 'the 1nind when we exhibit onr contempt; but as wl~never we have perceived a disagr~eab.le odour or seen a cl.isao-reeable sight, actions of th1s k1nd hnse been perforn1~cl, they have become habitual or fixed, and are now e1nployed under any analogous state of 1nind. Various odd little gestures likewise indicate con .. ~ Dt·. vV. Qo·lo in 1tn interesting paper on tho Sense of Smell (' l\[euico·Ohir~~rgical 'rransactions,' vol. liii. p. 268), shows tl:at '~he~ we wish to smell carefully, instead of taking one deep nas~l Inspu~~wu, we draw in the air by a succession of rapid. short snrffs. If the. "nostrils be watched during this process, it Will be seen that, so ~ar " from Jilatino- they actually contract at each sniff. 'rhe contract~ou " Jocs not in~lude tho whole anterior opening, but only the po::;tertor '' portion."· He then explains tho canso of this movemon.t. .When,~~~ tho other hand, we wi:)h to exclude any odour,.the conttactwn, I P "'Ume affects only the anterior part of the nosh·lls. r: ~ -' 'M' imi.k und Physiognomik,' ss. 84:, 93. Grat1.0 1 e t ('b'd 15J) 1 t • l'· . takes ncal'ly the ~ame view w.i th Dr. P1'd e n. • t respec t'm eo- the ox•p reS310U of contempt and disgust. ots of Scorn implies a strong form of contempt; and one of the ro 1 . . d d(D' t ofEnO'tS1l the word 'scorn' means, accordmg to Mr. We gwoo 10 • • 0 , d Etymology, vol. iii. p. 125), ordure or dirt. A pet·sotl. who IS seome is treated like dirt. CHAl'. XI. DISGUST. 257 tempt; for ins tan c, snapping one·s fingers. TLis, as Mr. Tylor retnarks,6 "is not very iutelli()'ible as we " genera1 1 y see I. t; but when we notice thab t the san1e " ign made quite g ntly, as if rollino- ome tiny obi ct " b 0 J away etween the finger ancl thumb, or the sian of '• flipping it away with the thutnb-nail and forefi~rr r " I d 0 . , are u ua an well-understood deaf:.and-dumb gestures " denoting anything tiny, in igni:ficant, contemptible, it " eems as though we had exaO'()'erated and conven .. " tionalized a perfectly natural ~~tion, so as to lose '' sight of its original meaning. There is a curious " mention .of this gesture by Stt·abo." l\fr. Washington Matthews Informs me that, with the Dakota Indians of North America, contempt is shown not only by move· ments of the face, such as those above described but " conventionally, by the band being closed and l1eld " near the breast, then, as the forearm is suddenly " extended, the hand is opened and the :fingers sepa" rated from each other. If the person at whose ex· " pen e the sign is made is present, the hand is mov d '' towards him, and the head sometimes averted from " him." Thi~ s~1dden extension and opening of the hand perhaps Indicates the dropping or throwing away a valueless object. .. The term ' disgust,' in its simplest sense, means so rue. th~ng o~ensiv~ to t~e taste. It is curious how readily this feeling Is exCited by anything unusual in the appearance, odour, qr nature of our food. In Tierra del Fuego a native ~ouched with his finger so1ne cold pre .. ser:cd meat whwh I was eating at our bivouac, and pltnnly showed utter diso-ust at its softness · whilst J felt utter disgust' ~t my f~od being touched b~ a naJ~ d savag<:, though h1s hands did not appear dirty. ~·i smear of soup on a man's beard looks disgusting, thoug11 6 'Early History of Mankind,' 2nd ed1t. 1870, p. 45. s |