Chapter II: Craniology (4)

Countenances with rounded and mesoprosopic contours belong to the Mediterranean race, and the more closely they come to the _mean average_ of that type and to a _fusion_ of contours, the more _beautiful_ they are.

Faces with angular contours may be: _triangular_ (due to prominence of the cheek-bones, or zygomata, and of the chin); _tetragonal_, further subdivided into _quadrangular_ (chameprosopic) and parallelepipedoidal (leptoprosopic, due to prominence of zygomata and corners of mandible); and polygonal, which may be either _pentagonal_, formed by the protrusion of the zygomata, the angles of the mandible, and the chin; or hexagonal, formed by protrusion of the frontal nodules, the zygomata and the angles of the mandible.

There may occur, in certain types of face, a very notable prevalence of one part over another, so much so as to produce sharply differentiated and characteristic physiognomies. Thus, for example, a prevalence of forehead characterises the higher and superior type of the _man of genius_ (compare the portrait of Bellini or of Darwin). On the other hand, a prevalence either of the cheek-bones, or the lower jaw, or the angles of the mandible, together with an accompanying powerful development of the masticatory muscles, produce three different types, all of them chameprosopic, which represent, in respect to the face, inferior racial types, differing from one another, but which are frequently met with (at least to a noticeable extent) even among our own people, as types of the lower-class face, precisely because of the preponderance of the coarser features.

Combined with the general type of face, there are certain specified particulars of form of the separate parts; as, for example, in the case of the ellipsoid or ovoid types of mesoprosopic face, which seem to have attained the most harmonic _fusion_ of characteristics, and consequently the highest standard of beauty, the eyes are very large and almond-shaped (the _Fornarina_, Maria Mancini, Cavalieri); angular faces are characterised by a narrow, slanting eye, through all the degrees down to that of the Mongolian; faces of low type have an eye characterised less by its form than by its smallness. The nose also shows differences; it is long and narrow (leptorrhine) in the more leptoprosopic faces, and short, broad and fleshy (platyrrhine, flat-nosed) in chameprosopic faces, especially in the _lower types_; in mesoprosopic faces it assumes its proper proportions, and occurs as the last detail or crowning touch of harmony in the perfect faces of the above-mentioned women.

When one starts to make the first draft of an ornamental design, it often happens that the proportional relations are based upon certain _geometric figures_ that might be called the skeleton of the ornamental design that is being constructed from them. Accordingly, when an artist wishes to judge of the harmony of proportions in a drawing, a painting, or a statue, he often reconstructs with his eye a geometrical design that no longer exists in the finished work, but that must have served in its construction. In short, there exist certain secret guiding lines and points which the eye of the observer must learn to recognise, to trace and to judge.

This is the way that we should proceed in studying the facial profile.

Let us take or assume a person with the head _orientated_ (_i.e._, with the occipital point resting against a vertical wall, and the glance level). The line uniting the point of the tragus (the little triangular cartilage projecting from the auricular foramen), with the juncture between the nasal septum and the upper lip, ought, in the case of an æsthetically regular face, to be _horizontal_. We may call this line the line of _orientation_. If it proves not to be horizontal, but oblique, slanting either forward (long nose) or backward (short nose), this in itself denotes an irregularity which is plainly perceptible, even to the casual observer. But it is only in exceptional cases that this line is not horizontal; its horizontality constitutes the _norm_, in our hybrid races.

Naturally, it is horizontal only when the head is _orientated_ in the manner above stated. Hence in normal cases its horizontality is an _index_ of the orientation of the head. The orientated head is perfectly upright; and the line in question marks its _level_.

Everyone knows that this position of the head is known as that of "attention" and constitutes the position which formerly only soldiers, but now school children as well, must assume as a sign of salutation and respect toward their superiors. It is also the anthropologically normal attitude (as we may see in statuary). And it is a known fact that it is a position exceedingly difficult to assume intentionally with absolute accuracy.

In fact, it corresponds to an attitude which has to be called forth by some inward stimulus of emotion, and for this reason I would call it the "fundamental psychological line." The man who is conscious of his own dignity, or who hopes for his own redemption; the man who is free and independent involuntarily holds his head orientated.

It is not the vain man, or the proud man, or the dreamer, or the bureaucratic official, whose head assumes this _involuntary_ _horizontal level_ that is characteristic of the most profound sentiments known to humanity; persons of such types hold their heads slightly raised and the line shows a slight backward slant.

The man who is depressed and discouraged, the man who has never had occasion to feel the deep, intimate and sacred thrill of human _dignity_, has on the contrary, a more or less forward slant in the psychological line of orientation.

Look at Fig. 99, which shows a very attractive group of _Ciociari_ or Neapolitan peasants.

The man, or rather the beardless youth who is just beginning to feel himself a man, and therefore hopes for independence, holds his head proudly level; but the very pretty woman seated beside him holds her head gracefully inclined forward. For that matter, this is woman's characteristically _graceful_ attitude. She never naturally assumes, nor does the artist ever attribute to her the proud and lofty attitude of the level head. But this graceful pose is in reality nothing else than the pose of slavery. The woman who is beginning to struggle, the woman who begins to perceive the mysterious and potent voice of human conflict, and enters upon the infinite world of modern progress, raises up her head--and she is not for that reason any the less beautiful. Because beauty is enhanced, rather than taken away, by this attitude which to-day has begun to be assumed by all humanity: by the laborer, since the socialistic propaganda, and by woman in her feministic aspirations for liberty.

Similarly in the school, if we wish to induce little children to hold their heads in the position of orientation, all that is necessary is to instil into them a sense of liberty, of gladness and of hope. Whoever, upon entering a children's class-room, should see their heads assume the level pose as if from some internal stimulus of renewed life, could ask for no greater homage. This, and nothing else, is certainly what will form the great desire of the teacher of the future, who will rightly despise the trite and antiquated show of formal respect, but will seek to touch the souls of his pupils.

To return to our lines, it follows that the level orientation is the true human position for the head; it ought never to be abased nor carried loftily, because man ought never to make himself either slave or master; it is the _normal line_, because it should be that of the accustomed attitudes; because man cannot normally be perpetually meditating, with his gaze upon the ground, as if forgetful of himself and of his social ties; nor can he forever gaze at the heavens, as though drawn upward by some supernal inspiration. The normal attitude is that of the thinking man, who cannot lean either in the one direction or the other, because he is so keenly conscious of being in close connection with all surrounding humanity; and he looks with horizontal gaze toward infinity, as though studying the path of common progress.

Now, if from the _metopic_ point of the forehead, we drop an imaginary perpendicular to the line of orientation, it ought to form, in projection, a tangent to the point of attachment of the nostrils. Observe the two lines traced on the profile of Pauline Borghese.

This line, if prolonged, passes slightly within the extreme angle of the labial aperture, and forms the limit of the chin (see the portrait of Cavalieri, Fig. 101). In this case the profile is eurygnathous.

When the line does not pass in the aforesaid manner, but the facial profile protrudes beyond it, we have a case of _prognathism_, which may be total, when the whole face projects; maxillary when the mandibles project, nasal when it is only the nose that projects, and mental (or _progeneism_) when it is only the chin that protrudes.

Figures 98, 100 and 103 represent forms of normal prognathism (related to race, Figs. 98, 100), and of pathological prognathism (Fig. 103, form associated with microcephaly). These two microcephalic profiles call to mind the muzzle of an animal; there is no erect forehead, the orbital arch forming the upward continuance; the nose is very long and almost horizontal to the protruding jaw; the fleshy lips constitute in themselves the anterior apex of the visage; while the chin recedes far back beneath them.

But leaving aside these exceptional profiles, which serve by their very exaggeration to fix our conception of _prognathism_, let us examine the series of profiles in Fig. 100, which include some forms more or less peculiar, and others that are more or less customary, of prognathism; forms that serve to characterise the physiognomy.

]

Manouvrier, analysing the forms of prognathism from the point of view of physiognomy and cerebral development, notes that varieties 4 and 5 seem to him to correspond to a more or less serious cerebral development; variety 2, very frequent in France and more particularly, according to the author, among the Jews, is not incompatible with a high cerebral inferiority. Variety 3, more frequent in the feminine sex, is found in conjunction, sometimes with a weakly skeletal system, and frequently with rickets and cretinism; nevertheless, Beethoven showed an approach to this profile.

Variety 4 indicates on the contrary an extremely vigorous development of the skeleton, with the qualities and defects commonly associated with great physical strength; variety 7 is regularly associated with tall stature; in fact, in this case the prognathism is determined by excessive development of the frontal bone-sockets.

It is this development, prevalent in the male sex, that renders subnasal prognathism much rarer in man. As a matter of fact, the feminine type of prognathism shown in No. 8 is not greater in degree than the male type, No. 7. Variety 9 shows us a form of _prognathism in art_, due to a false interpretation of the Greek profile; it is commonly believed that in the Greek profile the frontal line is a continuation of that along the bridge of the nose, and hence we frequently meet with commemorative medals, etc., bearing the monstrous profile shown in No. 9, with pronounced prognathism and receding forehead. The true _Greek_ profile is shown in No. 10, but we can better analyse it by studying the profile of the Discobolus (Fig. 105) and of Antinoous (Fig. 106).

The lines of the facial angle have been traced upon the profile of the Discobolus, but the profile of Antinoous has been left untouched, in order that we may trace the same lines upon it in imagination, and thus judge of its perfect beauty (facing page 270).

Let us first examine these two Greek profiles, without stopping to analyse their separate characteristics, but considering them from the more general point of view of the facial profile in general. Reverting, instead, for our analytical study to the schematic figure shown in Fig. 104, we see that it also shows the line of the facial profile, that of orientation and the vertical, and that these lines form certain right-angled triangles; the right angle _MPA_ is not the facial angle, any more than the corresponding angle shown in the Discobolus is the facial angle. It is said that Greek art considered the right angle as the perfect facial angle; but that is not true. In order to obtain the facial angle it is necessary to draw a third line (_MS_) which extends from the metopic point to the point of attachment of the nasal septum to the upper lip; this is the line of the facial profile, and the angle _MSA_ is the facial angle. It is never a right angle (see the Discobolus), but it approaches very closely to a right angle. Let us examine the triangle _MPS_, bounded by the vertical, the line of profile and the line of orientation; it is right-angled at _P_. Hence, the sum of its other two angles must be equal to one right angle; but the upper angle, corresponding to the nasal aperture, is of only 15°, and consequently the facial angle is 75°. The facial angle of the Discobolus also, like that of Antinoous, like that of the _normal human visage_, is 75°.

Examine further this Fig. 104; in it the line of the facial profile, extending from the metopion to the septo-labial point also passes through the point corresponding to the attachment of the base of the nose (nasion).

The figure is schematic; but anyone who will trace it in imagination upon the profile of Cavalieri, or on that of the seated woman in the group of Neopolitan peasants, or on any of the classic profiles known in art as the Roman profile, will find that the nasal line, connecting the supra- and subnasal points, coincides with the line drawn from the subnasal point to the metopion. But if we observe the Greek profile of the Discobolus, we shall find that the line of profile does not coincide with the base of the nose, but passes behind it.

This is the real characteristic difference between the _Roman_ and the _Greek_ profile: in the Greek profile, the root of the nose is attached further in front of the metopico-subnasal line, and this is due to the special form of the Greek forehead, which, instead of being slightly flattened at the glabella, as in the equally beautiful Roman forehead, is rounded to such a degree that the transverse section of the forehead follows a circular line. Hence, it results that the metopic region of the forehead is more prominent and the nose straight, and hence also the line of the forehead is a perceptible continuation of that of the nose (compare the Antinoous). This unique and essential difference between the Greek and the Roman profile has not hitherto been pointed out, so far as I am aware; it is indicated by just one of the facial lines, the one which forms an angle of 75° with the line of orientation. I had an opportunity to observe these differences in my study of the women of Latium, which I pursued side by side with a study of the statues in the museums of Rome, under the guidance of distinguished art specialists; nevertheless, they had none of them ever defined by mathematical lines the sole difference between the two classic types.

The habit of tracing these imaginary lines renders us far more keen in recognising any and every degree of prognathism, even the least perceptible, and any other imperfection of the profile, than the most complicated system of goniometry would make us. For instance, examine the profile of Pauline Borghese; it is certainly not prognathous, since the vertical line reveals a most impeccable orthognathism. But let us trace the nasal line: it meets the vertical line before reaching the metopic point; in order to meet it at this point, the nose would have had to be narrower from front to back; in that case the profile of Pauline Borghese would have been a perfect Roman profile; but the imperial stigma of the Napoleonic house deprived the beautiful princess of the privilege of perfect classic beauty.

In my studies of the women of Latium, in addition to the Greek and Roman forms of profile which are very frequent (the former distinguished by the morphological peculiarity of having no definite naso-frontal angle nor metopic flattening of the forehead) I found a third profile, less frequent yet quite characteristic, among the representatives of the Mediterranean (Eurafrican) race. It is worthy of note (Figs. 107, 108).

First of all, the forehead has a slight transverse depression along its middle line, and the mandible is slightly elongated; but if we draw our imaginary vertical line from the extreme forward point of the brow, we find that none of the forms of prognathism is involved, and that the auriculo-subnasal line is horizontal. This is the type that has been described by Sergi as Egyptian; and the young woman, shown in profile, really does suggest a reincarnation of the proud beauty of the daughters of Pharaoh; the somewhat fleshy lips and the form of the eyes, not almond-like, but very wide and horizontal, complete the characteristics of the type immortalised in Egyptian art.

In the normal profile two forms can be distinguished which are associated with the two general forms of leptoprosopic and chameprosopic face, and hence also with the dolichocephalic and brachycephalic forms of cranium. In the one case, the features are more elongated and seem to be more depressed laterally, with the result that the profile is more refined, the visage narrower, along the longitudinal line; in this case the profile is _proopic_ (as, for example, in the aforesaid Egyptian profile and in the elongated ovoidal English face, Fig. 90); aristocratic faces of the finer type are proopic. On the other hand, broad faces are anteriorly flattened to such an extent that the flatness shows even in the profile: _platyopic_ _profile_.

These general forms are associated with certain special forms of the separate organs.

Thus, for example, in proopic faces the palate is narrow, long and high; in platyopic faces, on the contrary, it is broad, low and flat; and the teeth corresponding to them may present a widely different appearance (long, narrow teeth; broad teeth).

_Low Types and Abnormal Forms._--Low types, as we have already noted, depend upon the development of the face in its least noble parts (those of mastication); prominence of the cheek-bones and maxillary angles, great development of the upper and lower jaw (prognathism). These conditions are frequently accompanied by a low, narrow, or receding forehead, indicating a scanty cerebral development. Lombroso found a great prevalence of similar forms among criminals; but recent studies have disclosed the fact that such forms of facial development are in some way related to the environment in which the individual has developed, so much so that, on the basis of these morphological characteristics, we might almost succeed in delineating the physiognomies distinguishing the different _social castes_. In fact, while the aristocratic face is ellipsoidal and proopic, that of the peasant is characterised by a pronounced wideness between the cheek-bones, and that of the city labourer by a peculiar development in the height of the mandible. Thus the peasant has a broad face, and the city workman a somewhat elongated face, with very pronounced maxillary angles.

A real and important abnormality which indicates a deviation from every type of race or caste is _facial asymmetry_ or _plagioprosopy_, analogous to plagiocephaly, and frequently associated with it.

It is necessary, however, in the case of the face, to distinguish instances of _functional asymmetry_, due to unequal innervation of the muscles in the two sides of the face; either from some cerebral cause, or from some local cause affecting the facial nerves. In such cases, the trophic state of the muscles and their contractibility being unequal, there is a resultant asymmetry, especially evident in the play of facial expression.

This form of asymmetry must necessarily be limited to the soft tissues and be due to a pathological cause; consequently it should not be confounded with the asymmetry due to a different skeletal development of the two sides of the face, an abnormality analogous to plagiocephaly, which is met with among degenerates as a stigma of congenital malformation. We owe to Brugia a most admirable method for demonstrating the high degrees of facial asymmetry which sometimes reach such an extreme point as to give the two halves the appearance of having formed parts of two different faces. This is precisely what Brugia shows by the aid of photography, uniting each half with a reversed print of itself, making the two prints coincide along the median line. The result is that every asymmetric face gives two other faces formed respectively from one of the two inequal halves, and presenting profoundly different aspects.

Other abnormalities are revealed by the _facial profile_. They are due either to total or partial prognathism (already analysed), or to orthognathism, where the facial angle equals or exceeds a right angle; such a profile occurs in cases of _hydrocephaly_ or of _macrocephaly_ in general, usually resulting from infantile arrest of development.

_The Evolution of the Face._--The human countenance, that is so marvellously beautiful in our superior hybrid races, passes, during its embryonal life, through many forms that are very far removed from such perfection.

Figures 110, 111, and 112 represent the evolution of the face in animals and in man: and the complete evolution of a woman's face from the embryo during the first weeks of its formation to the attainment of old age.

The embryonal face, as may be seen even better in animals than in man, is surmounted by the brain divided and differentiated into its superimposed primitive vesicles; furthermore, it consists of one single, widespread cavity, at the sides of which may be discerned two diminutive vesicles or bulbs, which are offshoots of the brain and constitute the first rudiments of the eyes. In studying a more advanced stage of development, we may note in what constitutes the upper lip of this wide facial cavity, two _nasal ducts_ or furrows, which are the first indications of the nose.

The principal differentiation which takes place in the face consists of the development from its two lateral walls on left and right, of two thin plates or laminæ that advance across the cavity itself, in its anterior portion, and proceed to unite in a median ridge, the _raphe palati_; this constitutes the formation of the palatine vault, which is destined permanently to divide the single cavity into two cavities--an upper or nasal, and a lower or buccal cavity. If this process of formation is not completed, the result is a grave abnormality, the cleft palate, popularly known in Italy as a "wolf's throat," and consisting in the fact that the nasal and buccal cavities to a greater or less extent open into each other; this abnormality, due to an arrest of embryonic development, is almost always accompanied by a hare-lip.

Simultaneously with the formation of the palatine vault, another and vertical septum is formed, which divides the upper cavity into two halves, right and left. This division, however, is limited to the anterior portion; the three cavities thus formed have no such division in the rear, but all three open into the gullet or oesophagus, which represents the only relic of the single original cavity.

The maxillary bones are formed in a manner analogous to that of the nasal and palatal septa, through extroversions destined to become ossified.

It is not until later that the _external nose_ is formed (middle of the second month of embryonal life).

After this, the evolution of the embryo becomes evidently a _perfectionment_ and a _growth_, rather than a transformation.

In the _new-born child_ the face is extremely small in comparison with the cerebral cranium.

If we compare the head of an adult with that of an infant, and draw the well-known line of separation between the facial and the cerebral cranium, the difference in the reciprocal proportions between the two parts at once becomes apparent. The infant's face seems like a mere _appendix_ to its cranium; and the mandible is especially small; in fact, very young children remain much of the time with their mouth open and the under lip drawn back behind the upper.

_a_, eye; _v_, anterior brain; _m_, middle brain; _s_, frontal process; _h_, nasal septum; _o_, _u_, _h_, _d_, _r_, primitive embryonal formations, explained as being _branchial_ (_i.e._, gill) arches; _z_, tongue; _g_, auditory fissure. Note the analogy between the different parts of the head in animals and in man; every species, however, has special embryonal characteristics.]

Consequently, the growth of the face obeys laws and rhythms differing from those of the cranium, in comparison to which the face is destined to assume very different proportions by the time that the adult age is reached. The face grows _much more_ than the cranium.

In its characteristic infantile form, the face is quite round (short and broad), and, when the child is plump, it often happens that at birth the face is broader than it is long. Seen in profile it is _orthognathous_, and this orthognathism endures throughout early infancy, because the profile still remains in retreat behind the plane of the protruding forehead; i.e., the facial angle exceeds a right angle, and the mandibular region is further back than the nasal (compare profile of infant).

In the course of growth it may be said in a general way that the facial index diminishes; that is, the numerical proportion between width and height becomes lowered as the face lengthens; while the facial angle changes from somewhat more than a right angle to a right angle, and finally to an acute angle of 75°.

In order to obtain an exact idea of the transformations of the face, children should have their pictures taken, full face and profile, on every birthday, as is already customary in England for the purposes of the _carnet maternel_, the "mother's note-book."

In the illustrations facing this page we have portraits of the same person taken at successive ages (Figs. 113, 114, 115, 116), _i.e._, at the age of six months, one year and a half, seven, and lastly twelve years; it will be seen that the face has steadily lengthened.

In this case the individual happens to be noticeably leptoprosopic; but observe the rotundity of the infantile face at the age of six months.

An analogous observation may be made in the case of the girl represented in Figs. 118 and 119, at the age of ten months and thirteen years respectively.

Even in the case of abnormal children the same law holds good; an examination of the three pictures of an incurable idiot boy, taken at the ages of six, eleven, and sixteen years (Figs. 121, 122, 123 facing page 276), shows that the face, from being originally rotund has become elongated.[42]

We owe to Binet the most exact and complete studies that exist in anthropologic literature on the subject of the growth of the face. He has made a great number of facial measurements, both of children and young persons of the male sex, from four to eighteen years of age, taking the measurements at intervals of two years. The measurements chosen by Binet are all the possible distances that will serve to give the various widths of the face, the distance of the ear from the various points of the profile, and the heights of the various segments; namely (for an exact understanding of these measurements, see section on _Technique_), auriculo-mental diameter, auriculo-nasal diameter, auriculo-subnasal diameter, auriculo-ophryac diameter, auriculo-metopic diameter, frontal diameter, biauricular diameter, bizygomatic diameter, length of nose, length of chin, subnase-mental distance, height of forehead.[43]

Binet's conclusions are as follows: the growth of the whole head may be divided into three rhythms: that of the cerebral cranium, that of the face apart from the nose, and that of the nose.

If the total development of the cerebral cranium from the fourth to the eighteenth year shows a proportion of 12 per cent., the facial development shows an increase of 24 per cent. and that of the nose 39 per cent. Consequently the face increases twice as much as the cranium, and the nose three times as much. In the growth of the face, however, the transverse dimensions must be distinguished from the longitudinal dimensions, because the _facial index_ varies greatly according to the age. The width of the face follows very nearly the same rhythm as the cranium, never exceeding the latter's proportional increase; the length of the face, on the contrary, follows the special rhythm of the growth of the face, which lengthens far more than it broadens.

If we consider the distances of the various points in the profile from the auricular foramen, we find that these distances show a greater increase in proportion as the points in question are further from the forehead and nearer to the chin.

The central section (the nose) and the mandible are the portions which contribute most largely to the increase in length of the face.

While in the case of the cranium there is a _very slight_, and often imperceptible puberal acceleration of growth, the puberal transformations of the head are, on the contrary, most notable in respect to the face.

The entire region of the upper and lower jaws, but more especially the lower, undergoes a _maximum increase during the period_ _of puberty_.

In regard to the nose, its rapid growth begins at the time immediately preceding puberty; that is, it undergoes a _prepuberal_ _maximum increase_. When a boy is about to complete his sexual development, the nose begins to gain in size.

The puberal growth of the mandible has long been a familiar fact, and bears a relation to the development of the sexual glands.

A special characteristic noted by Binet and by myself is that the height of the lower jaw in boys who have reached the prepuberal stage is greater in the boys who are least intelligent; just as in the case of these boys the nose is less leptorrhine and the face less broad. This means that at the period of puberty the most intelligent boys not only have a greater development of head, but also certain distinctive facial characteristics. They should have, for instance, a more ample forehead, a broader face, especially in the bizygomatic diameter (between the cheek-bones), and a leptorrhine nose (infantile leptorrhine type). The backward boys, on the contrary, have a longer face, accompanied by a higher mandible and a flat or "snub" nose. Here are the comparative figures:

FACIAL MEASUREMENTS

Binet Children from the elementary schools of Paris from 11 to 13
years of age
Montessori Children from the elementary schools of Rome from 9 to
11 years of age
--------------+--------------------------+--------------------------
| Binet's figures | Montessori's figures
+---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+-------
Measurements |Brightest|Backward|Differ-|Brightest|Backward|Differ-
| pupils | pupils | ence | pupils | pupils | ence
--------------+---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+-------
Minimum | | | | | |
frontal | | | | | |
diameter | 104 | 102 | 2 | 99 | 98 | 1
Height of | | | | | |
forehead | 46 | 45.5 | 0.5 | 57 | 56 | 1
Mento-subnasal| | | | | |
distance | 62 | 64.6 | 2.4 | 54 | 56 | 2
Bizygomatic | | | | | |
diameter | 124.8 | 122.9 | 1.9 | 109 | 107 | 2
Bigoniac | | | | | |
diameter | 93.5 | 92.1 | 1.4 | 87 | 86 | 1
--------------+---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+-------

COMPARATIVE FACIAL MEASUREMENTS OBTAINED FROM THE
BRIGHTEST AND THE MOST BACKWARD PUPILS IN THE
SCHOOLS OF ROME (MONTESSORI)

------------------------+-----------+----------+-----------
Measurements and indices| Brightest | Backward | Difference
in millimetres | pupils | pupils |
------------------------+-----------+----------+-----------
Height of mandible | 34 mm. | 36 mm. | 2 mm.
Length of nose | 47 mm. | 45 mm. | 2 mm.
Width of nose | 28 mm. | 29 mm. | 1 mm.
Nasal index | 59 mm. | 64 mm. | 5 mm.
------------------------+-----------+----------+-----------

These results would seem to prove that there are high and low _infantile_ types of face, analogous, let us say, to types of social caste; and in school life they correspond to the castes of the _intelligent_ and the _backward_ pupils.

Intelligent children tend to preserve the infantile form of face more intact (broad and short) or rather, if we extend our researches to pupils who have reached the prepuberal age, we may conclude that intelligent pupils develop according to the normal laws--the growth is confined to the nose; backward children invert the order of growth--the lower jaw is already enlarged before the nose has even begun the acceleration of puberal growth. This difference remains permanent in the adult, and we have in consequence _low_ types of face characterised by a flat nose and heavy lower jaw.

=Facial Expression.=--The study of the human face cannot be limited to a consideration of the form alone; because what gives character to it is the _expression_. Internal thought, sensory impressions and all the various emotions produce responsive movements of the facial muscles, whose contractions determine those _visible phenomena_ corresponding to the inner state of mind.

The teacher ought to understand facial expression, just as a physician must train himself to recognise the _facies_ corresponding to various diseases and states of suffering. The study of expression ought to form a part of the study of psychology, but it also comes within the province of anthropology, because the habitual, life-long expressions of the face determine the wrinkles of old age, which are distinctly an anthropological characteristic.

The facial muscles may be divided into two zones: one of which comprises the frontal and ocular region, and the other the buccal region; corresponding to which are the two upper and lower branches of the frontal nerve.

Accordingly we may speak of a frontal or higher zone of expression and of an oral or lower zone.

The expressions of pure thought (attention, reflection) group themselves around the forehead; those of emotion, on the contrary, call forth a combined action of both zones, and frequently irradiate over the entire body. But as a general rule the man of higher intelligence has a greater intensity of frontal expression, and the man of low intelligence (uneducated men, peasants, and to a much greater degree, imbeciles, idiots, etc.) have a predominance of oral expression.

In children the frontal zone has slight mobility, and the oral zone has a preponderance of expression; infantile expression, however, is diffuse and exaggerated and is characterised by _grimaces_. Undoubtedly there are certain restraining powers, which develop in the course of time and serve to limit and definitely determine the facial expressions.

As for the mechanics of expression, they consist of the facial
nerve, and the surface muscles stimulated by it, which are: the
_frontal muscle_, which covers the entire forehead and merges
above into the epicranial aponeurosis; the _superciliary_ _muscle_
extending transversely along the superciliary arch and concealed
by the _orbicular muscle of the eyelids_ (_m. orbicularis
palpebrarum_), which surrounds the eye-socket like a ring; the
_pyramidal_ muscle (_m. pyramidalis nasi_), which is connected with
the point of origin of the frontal muscle at the inner angle of the
eyebrow, and separates below into four symmetrical fasciæ, two of
which are attached to the _ala_ or wing of the nose, and the other
two to the upper lip.

A group of very delicate muscles controlling the sensitive
movements of the wings and septum of the nose (_m. compressor
narium_, _m. depressor aloe nasi_, _m._ _levator aloe nasi_,
_anterior_ and _posterior_, and _m. depressor septi_) have their
points of attachment around the nasal _aloe_ (just above the upper
incisor and canine teeth). There is a great wealth of muscles
surrounding the mouth; no animal, not even the anthropoid ape, is
equipped with so many muscles; it is due to them that the human
mouth is able to assume such a great variety of positions. The
greater number of these muscles are arranged like radii around the
mouth; and there is one which, unlike the rest, surrounds the oral
aperture like a ring.

The radiating muscles, descending from the sides of the nose down
along the chin are: the levator muscle of the upper lip (_m.
levator labii superioris_, starting from the bony margin below
the infraorbital foramen); the levator muscle of the angle of the
mouth (_m. levator anguli oris_, starting from the fossa of the
upper maxilla); the large and small zygomatic muscles (starting
from the anterior surface of the malar bones); the risorial
muscle (_m. risorius_), the smallest of all the facial muscles,
which has its origin in the soft surface tissues (aponeurosis
parotido-masseterica); the depressor muscle of the mouth angle (_m.
depressor anguli_ _oris_, or _m. triangularis_) originating on the
lower margin of the maxilla; the depressor muscle of the lower lip
or quadratus muscle of the chin (_m. quadratus labii_ _inferioris_
or _quadratus menti_, also originating on the lower maxilla); the
levator muscle of the chin (_m. levator menti_) between the two
_musculi quadrati_, also has its origin in the lower maxilla; the
buccinator muscle, hidden beneath the preceding, has its origin
behind the molar teeth in the alveolar process of the two maxillæ,
and extends horizontally, terminating in the two lips, in such a
manner that its two fasciæ; partly cross, so that the upper fasciæ
of the muscle starting from the mandible extend to the upper lip,
and the lower fasciæ of the muscle starting from the maxilla extend
to the lower lip. Consequently the contraction of this muscle
stretches the angles of the mouth in a horizontal direction only;
it is the most voluntary of all the muscles, and plays a greater
part than the others in forced laughter; in consequence it robs
this movement of its characteristic charm.

Lastly we must note the _orbicular_ muscle of the lips (_m.
orbicularis oris_ or _sphincter oris_), which constitutes the
fleshy part of the lips and surrounds the oral aperture like a ring.

The contraction of these muscles produces antagonistic motorial
action; for instance, the orbicular muscle tends to close the mouth
into a circular orifice; the various muscles which radiate from
the corners of the mouth (especially the buccinator) tend, on the
contrary, to enlarge and stretch it in a transverse direction;
certain muscles tend to raise the mouth, and others to lower
it. Accordingly, there results a _play_ between the muscles of
expression and upon their continual antagonism depend the changing
expressions of the human countenance.

Here are a few of the principal facial expressions, described in a masterly manner, and for the first time, by Charles Darwin:[44]

_Expression of Sorrow._--The muscles that are principally brought into play are the superciliary, the frontal and the triangular or depressor muscles of the lips; the eyebrows are furrowed, being drawn upward by the action of the frontal muscle; this, however, cannot contract completely because drawn downward laterally by the superciliary muscles, and hence the forehead wrinkles only at its middle point and together with the slanting eyebrows assumes a shape that suggests three sides of a quadrilateral.

Simultaneously there is a drooping of the corners of the mouth, which, when exaggerated in infancy, forms the characteristic and charming _grimace_ of a child who is on the point of crying. Accordingly, sorrow draws the frontal zone upward, and the labial zone downward; in other words, it _lengthens_ the face.

_Expression of Pleasure._--On the contrary, _laughter_ and _happiness_ shorten the face; all the muscles are brought into play that stretch the corners of the mouth, as well as those which raise the upper lip, in consequence of which the upper teeth are disclosed.

The frontal zone remains in repose; excepting that there is a contraction of the orbicular muscle of the eyelids, especially in its lower portion; the lower lid is drawn upward and the skin is puckered at the external angle of the eye; the lachrymal gland is compressed, the circulation of blood stimulated, as always results from every expression of joy, the secretion of the gland is increased, and consequently a few tears are readily shed. The eye, grown smaller and half hidden, shines brilliantly, because moistened from without and irrigated from within by an abundant flow of blood.

_Expression of Various Emotions_: _Anger._--During _anger_ the superciliary muscles prevail in exceedingly energetic action, drawing the forehead strongly downward, wrinkling it vertically, and also producing transverse wrinkles on the nose. In the labial zone the orbicular muscle is intensely active, and the lips contract. When anger endures for a long time, the condition above described diminishes in intensity, leaving only a slight frown, while the closed lips protrude in tubular form. An expression usually described by the terms, to _sulk_ or _pout_.

This is the way in which little children express their displeasure; and the pouting lips sometimes rise clear to the tip of the little nose, in sign of proud defiance. This form of grimace is common to the children of every race: it has been observed in the children of Hottentots and Chinese, as a sign of prolonged anger and ill humor.

Hence the contraction of the mouth is a characteristic sign of anger; and when the emotion is very strong, even the masticatory muscles may enter into play, causing a _grinding of the teeth_.

_Surprise._--In _surprise_, on the contrary, the entire labial zone is in repose, and there is complete and free contraction of one muscle alone, the frontal; consequently it produces longitudinal lines across the entire forehead, uplifting the eyebrows, which passively follow the elevation produced by the frontal muscle, forming two arches around which the wrinkles of the forehead form themselves in parallel lines. The eyes in consequence are stretched to their widest. The oral zone is so far relaxed that the lower jaw droops in obedience to gravity and the mouth gapes open: _bouche béanie_. Sometimes a less intense degree of surprise fails to do away with the contraction of the orbicular muscle of the lips, which, without being actively contracted, but simply because relieved from the interference of antagonistic muscles, closes the mouth in a rounded or tubular aperture.

This same facial expression, which is a very striking one, exists in all races.

When children are still too young to contract the frontal muscle completely, they show surprise by a gaping mouth, and a puckering of the entire forehead, in place of the transverse furrows.

_Expression of Thought._--In addition to the expressions of the emotions, the authorities describe those due to thought, and give special consideration to the expression of _external_ or sensory _attention_, and _internal attention_ (reflection, meditation). The young child is capable of intense sensorial attention, which is manifested especially in visual attention.

I have been able to make many observations in the "Children's Houses," where children two or three years old take part in games that demand attention, comparison, and the exercise of reason, without tiring their minds or encountering any great difficulty. These children wrinkle their foreheads and hold their mouths slightly open.

This is the expression also noted by Darwin, and the one which notoriously produces those vertical lines in the middle of the forehead, known as the _lines of thought_.

When these children are obliged to make an effort of thought or when they are for any reason troubled and anxious, slight contractions pass across their foreheads, like a continuous succession of broken shadows (Darwin).[45]

It should be noted that in any case a contraction of the eyebrows during intellectual work denotes _effort_, a _difficulty_ to be overcome. Pure thought, by itself alone, produces no such contractions.

The contemplative man, absorbed in profound meditation, shows a face overspread with serenity, due to muscular repose; the gaze is fixed upon the void, and the head, as though no longer sustained by the relaxed muscles, is inclined forward.

If his eyes retain steadfastly the same original direction, even after the body has dropped forward, they give the impression of being turned on high. Such is the expression of the man sunk in profound thought, so long as his thought follows an uninterrupted course.

But when a difficulty arises, see how he begins to knit his brow. It is the difficulty which has arisen, and not the course of his thoughts, that has produced this muscular reaction.

The movement is similar to what occurs in the case of any difficulty to overcome, as, for instance, the threading of a needle.

Consequently the wrinkles of thought are the wrinkles of the _fatigue of thought_.

The mystics, who are purely contemplative thinkers, and not solvers of difficulties, have a forehead without lines. Similarly in art, the faces of the Madonna or of the Saints have an intense expression of thought in their gaze, but the serene countenance shows neither contractions nor lines.

De Sanctis[46] has made some interesting observations regarding the facial expression of the mentally deficient. They have a singular difficulty in contracting the frontal muscle even at the age of eleven or twelve years; even when urged by example and command, they frequently do not succeed in contracting the forehead. Labial expression, on the other hand, is much more developed, and frequently attention is indicated by a contraction of the orbicular muscle of the lips into a circle; and surprise is shown in the same way.

In general, however, what characterises the face of the imbecile, the idiot, the epileptic, is its _immobility_: hypomimia or amimia.

There are, however, frequent cases of cerebrophlegia (a progressive malady of the brain occurring during the early years of childhood), in which exaggerated contractions of the face occur as the result of the least mental effort. The French give the name of _grimaciers_ to children who show such symptoms; from pathological causes they exhibit a hypermimia that transforms their facial expressions into grimaces. Furthermore, there are certain degenerate children in whom the muscular reactions do not correspond to the normal expression of their feelings; for example, they exhibit sorrow when they mean to show attention, etc. In such cases the play of the opposite and contradictory facial muscles has become perverted: _dismimia_.

One of the most frequent occurrences among the abnormal is asymmetry of the facial expressions; the muscles contract more on one side of the face than on the other. This symptom, however, in a mild degree, is met with also in normal persons.

From what has been said, it is evident that for the examination of the face we must depend, if not exclusively, at least far more upon anthroposcopy than upon anthropometry; and since the minute description required is too difficult and too lengthy a task, especially as regards the _facial expressions_ (which are so characteristic of the individual) it is necessary in pedagogic anthropology to resort to photography.

The instantaneous photograph, in all progressive countries, is already within the reach of mothers. It ought also to form part of the equipment of our schools.

THE NECK

The neck is a part which is anatomically of much importance, but not of equal importance from the anthropological side. The skeleton of the neck is formed of the seven cervical vertebræ. Notwithstanding that in all the higher vertebrates the neck is constituted of the same number of vertebræ, it can assume the most varied dimensions, all the way from the giraffe to the whale. Similarly, at the different ages of man it is at one time barely indicated and almost wanting altogether, as in the new-born child, and again long and flexible, as in the lovely women of some of the higher races.

Godin has observed that the maximum increase of the neck takes place between the fourteenth and sixteenth year, _i.e._, at the epoch of puberty; but at the fourteenth year it undergoes such a rapid increase that it surpasses proportionally the puberal increase of the total stature.

This is shown in the following table:

PROPORTION OF LENGTH OF NECK TO THE STATURE REDUCED TO 100

Age in years: 13-1/2 14 14-1/2 15 15-1/2 16 16-1/2 17 17-1/2
Proportions: 10 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Consequently the proportion between neck and stature is a datum that tends strongly to remain a _fixed_ quantity. The result, however, is different if we study the proportion between the neck and the vertebral column as a whole.

PROPORTION OF LENGTH OF NECK TO THE TRUNK REDUCED TO 100

Age in years: 13-1/2 14 14-1/2 15 15-1/2 16 16-1/2 17 17-1/2
Proportions: 34 35 34 35 35 35 35 35 34

Accordingly it is about one-third of the trunk.

The circumference of the neck is also taken, for it shows whether the neck is _slender_ or _thick_; and this often bears a relation to the degree of development of the thyroid gland.

In my work upon the women of Latium I have shown that the small, dark women have a longer and more flexible neck than those who are fair and of tall stature. Therefore this is a racial difference, similar to the difference we have already noted for _types of stature_. The macrosceles have a long and slender neck, and the opposite is found in the case of the brachysceles; consequently, a very long neck is an indication of a weak constitution.

FOOTNOTES:

[36] See the application to pathological surgery of this anatomo-physiological condition of the cranium, as given by Tillaux, _Anatomia topografica_.

[37] Broca gives, not as mean averages, but as extreme limits, 70.0 for dolichocephalics (Tasmanians) and 90 for brachycephalics (natives of the Sandwich Islands).

[38] BONNIFAY, _On the development of the Head from the point of view of cephalometrical_ _measurements taken after birth_. Thesis, Lyons, 1897.

[39] MONTESSORI, _Sui caratteri antropometrici in relazione alle gerarchie dei fanciulli nelle_ _scuole_, p. 51. ("Anthropometric characteristics in relation to the grading of children in schools").

[40] LOMBROSO (who died while this book was in press) defended the principle of the innate inferiority of woman and regarded her, in comparison with man, as a case of infantile arrest of development.

[41] The above elucidation and illustrations of the face are taken from MANOUVRIER, _Cephalométrie Anthropologique_.

[42] From THULIÉ, _Le Dressage des jeunes dégénérés_, page 633.

[43] BINET, _Le croissance du crâne et de la face chez les normaux entre 4 et 18 ans_.

[44] CHARLES DARWIN, _The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals_.

[45] CHARLES DARWIN, _Op. cit._

[46] SANTE DE SANCTIS, _La Mimica del Pensiero_ (The Expression of Thought).