In the ordinary course of Nature women do not conceive before the menses appear, nor after they have ceased. The age at whichmen first acquire the powers of procreation is less distinctly marked. His body must obtain a certain degree of growth, before the seminal fluid can be produced; and before it can be formed and perfected, that growth must become still greater. This usually happens between the age of twelve and eighteen; but the period at which the procreative faculty of man ceases, Nature seems to have left undetermined. At sixty or seventy, when age begins to enfeeble the body, the seminal fluid is less copious, and often unprolific; yet there are many instances of men still continuing to procreate at the age of eighty or ninety.
There also are examples of boys who have propagated at eight, nine, and ten years; and of girls who have conceived at seven, eight, and nine. But such facts are exceedingly rare, and ought to be classed as singular phenomena. The external sign of virility appears in infancy, but that is not sufficient; in order to accomplish the act of generation, there must be a previous production of semen; and this is never effected till the growth of the body is nearly finished. At first the quantity is very small, and for the most part unfruitful.
Some authors have mentioned two signs of conception. The one is, a kind of tremor which they say begins at the time of conception, and continues for several days after; the other is taken from the orifice of the matrix, which they assure us is entirely closed after conception. These signs are, however, in my opinion, very equivocal, if not altogether imaginary.
This tremor is mentioned by Hippocrates, and, according to him, it is so violent as to make the teeth chatter. Galen, on the authority of some women, imputes this symptom to a contraction of the matrix; others explain it by a vague sensation of cold over the whole body, and almost all establish the fact, like Galen, from the testimony of different women.
Opinions, however, vary as to the changes which happen in the matrix after conception, some maintaining, that the edges of the orifice are drawn together so closely that there is not the smallest vacancy left between them; and others, that these edges are not exactly close till after the two first months of pregnancy. They nevertheless agree, that immediately after conception the orifice is closed by a glutinous humour; that the matrix, which, butfor the pregnancy, might receive through its orifice a substance of the size of a pea, has no longer any perceptible aperture, and that the difference is so evident that a skilful midwife may distinguish it. If these assertions were true, even in the first days of pregnancy, its certainty or uncertainty might be ascertained.
The advocates on the other side urge, that if after conception the orifice of the matrix were closed, there could be no superfœtation. To this it may be replied, that the seminal liquor may penetrate through the membranes of the matrix; that even the matrix itself may open to admit the superfœtation; and that at any rate superfœtations happen so rarely, that they make a very trifling exception to the general rule. Other authors have maintained, that this change never appears but in women who have conceived before, and borne children. In first conceptions, indeed, the difference must be less sensible; but be it as conspicuous as it may, ought we thence to conclude that it is a certain and positive sign? No; it is unaccompanied with sufficient evidence.
Neither from the study of anatomy, nor from experiments, can we, as to this point, acquire more than general conclusions, whichon a particular examination are often found to be highly erroneous. It is the same also with respect to the tremor or convulsive cold, which some women have said they felt at the time of conception. As most women do not experience this sensation; as others assure us, on the contrary, that they have felt a burning heat; and, as others still confess, that they are utter strangers to all such feelings; the natural conclusion is, that such signs are highly dubious, and that when they do happen, it is less perhaps in consequence of conception, than of other consequences.
On this subject I shall add but one fact, from “Parson’s Lectures on Muscular Motion,” which proves that the orifice of the matrix does not close immediately after conception; or that at least the seminal fluid may even then find a passage into it. A woman of Charles-Town, in South-Carolina, was delivered, in 1714, of two children, one immediately after the other. To the utter astonishment of all present, one child was black and the other white. From this evident testimony of her infidelity to her husband, the woman acknowledged that a negro had one day entered her chamber, where her husband had justleft her in bed, and by threats of immediate death compelled her to gratify his desires. This fact proves that the conception of two or more children does not always happen at one time, and gives great weight to my opinion, that the semen penetrates through the texture of the matrix.
Many other equivocal symptoms of pregnancy are said to distinguish it in the first months; as a slight pain in the region of the matrix and loins; a numbness over the whole body; a continual drowsiness; a melancholy and capricious disposition; the tooth-ach, head-ach, and vertigo; yellow eyes, with the pupils contracted, and lids oppressed; paleness of countenance, with spots upon it; a depraved appetite, with loathing, vomiting, and spitting; hysteric symptoms; the fluor albus; stoppage of the menstrual discharge, or instead of it hæmorrhage; the secretion of milk in the breasts, &c. Many other symptoms might be adduced, which are supposed to be the signs of pregnancy, but which are frequently nothing more than the effects of particular maladies.
Of these we shall leave the discussion to physicians. Were we to consider each of them inparticular, we should deviate too far from our subject; nor could we do it with advantage, without entering into a lengthened series of profound investigation. It is with this as with a number of other subjects that relate to physiology and animal economy, the authors, very few excepted, who have written on these subjects, have treated them in a manner so vague, and explained them by affinities so remote, and hypotheses so false, that it is not surprising their remarks should have been attended with as little information as utility.
CHAPTER IV.
A DESCRIPTION OF MAN.
The body attains its full height at the age of puberty, or at least a few years after. Some young people cease growing at fourteen or fifteen; while others continue their growth till two or three and twenty. During this period most men are of slender make; their thighsand legs small, and the muscular parts are as yet unfilled; but by degrees the fleshy fibres augment, the muscles swell, the limbs assume their figure, and become more proportioned, and before the age of thirty the body, in men, has acquired its most perfect symmetry.
In women, the body sooner attains this symmetry; their muscles and other parts being less strong, compact, and solid than those of men; and being also less in size, they require less time in coming to maturity. Hence it is that a woman is as completely formed at twenty, as a man at thirty.
The body of a well-shaped man ought to be square, the muscles expressed with boldness, and the lines in the face distinctly marked. In woman superior elegance prevails; her form is more soft, and her features more delicate. Strength and majesty belong to the former, grace and softness are the peculiar embellishments of the latter.
In both, their external forms declare their sovereignty over every living creature. Man supports his body erect; his attitude is that of command; and his face, which is turned towards the heavens, displays a superior dignity. The image of his soul is painted in his countenance;the excellence of his nature penetrates through the material form in which it is enclosed, and gives to his features a lively animation. His majestic port, his firm and resolute step, announce the superiority of his rank. He touches the earth only with his extremity, and beholds it as if at a disdainful distance. His arms are not given to him for pillars of support; nor does he render his hands callous by their treading on the ground, and losing that delicacy of feeling for which they were originally designed. His arms and hands are formed for very different purposes; they are formed to second every intention of his will; to defend himself, and to enable him to seize and enjoy the gifts of Nature.
When the mind is at rest, all the features of the visage are in a state of profound tranquillity. Their proportion, their union, their harmony, seem to mark the sweet serenity, and to give a true information of what passes within. When the soul, however, is agitated, the human visage becomes a living picture, where the passions are expressed with as much delicacy as energy; where every motion is expressed by some corresponding feature; where every impression anticipates the will, and betraysthose hidden agitations, that he would often wish to conceal.
It is particularly in the eyes that the passions are painted, and most readily discovered. The eye seems to belong to the soul more than any other organ; it seems to participate of all its emotions; the softest and most tender as well as the most violent and tumultous. These if not only receives, but transmits by sympathy into the soul of the observer all that secret fire with which its mind is agitated; and thus does passion often become general. In short the eye is the lively index of the mind, and forcibly speaks the language of intelligence.
Those who are short-sighted labour under a particular disadvantage in this respect, being in a manner deprived of the intelligent expression of the eye; and which frequently gives an air of stupidity to the finest face. It is strong and violent passions alone that we ever see marked on such countenances, and which often produce very unfavourable prepossessions. However intelligent we may afterwards find such persons, it is with difficulty we renounce our former prejudices. We are so habituated to judge by external appearances that we too often decide on men’s talents by their physiognomy;and having perhaps at first, caught up our judgments prematurely, they mechanically influence us all our lives after; nay the colour, or cut of the clothes will sometimes influence conclusions as to their abilities; and that not always without reason: therefore since strangers may decide upon understanding by so trifling an article as dress, we ought not to be totally inattentive to it, trifling as it may appear.
The vivacity, or the languid motion of the eyes, gives the strongest marks to the countenance; and their colour contributes still more to enforce the expression. The different colours of the eyes are dark-hazle, light-hazle, green, blue, grey, and whitish grey. These different colours arise from the different colours of the little muscles, that serve to contract the pupil, and they very often change colour with disorder, and with age.
Those most frequent are, the hazle and the blue, and very often both these colours are found in the same eye. Those eyes which are called black are only dark-hazle, which may be easily seen upon close inspection, and only appear black from the contrast with the white of the eye; in all those which have a blue shade that colour becomes the most predominant.Those eyes are reckoned the most beautiful where the shade is the deepest; and either in the black or the blue, the fire, which gives to the eye its finest expression, is most distinguishable. For this reason, the black eyes, as they are called, have the greatest force and vivacity; but the blue are the most delicate, and have the most powerful effect in beauty, as they reflect a greater variety of rays from the tints of which they are composed.
This variety in the colour of the eyes, is peculiar to man, and one or two of the brute-creation; in other animals, the colour in any one individual is the same in all the rest. The eyes of the ox are brown; those of sheep of a watery colour; those of goats are grey, &c. and it may also be remarked, that the eyes of most white animals are red; as the rabbit, ferret, &c. “According to Aristotle, in the human species grey eyes are the strongest; blues eyes are weak; full eyes are near sighted, and brown ones require a good light.”
Though the eye, when put in motion, seems to be drawn towards either side, yet it only moves round its centre; by which its coloured part moves nearer, or farther from the angle of the eye-lids, and is thus elevated or depressed.The distance between the eye is less in man than in any other animal; in some it is so great that it is almost impossible that they should ever view the same object with both eyes at once.
Next to the eyes, that which gives most character to the face are the eye-brows, which being, in some measure, totally different from the other features, their effect is most readily distinguished. The eye-lashes have an effect in giving expression to the eye, particularly when long and close, they soften its glances, and improve its sweetness. Man and apes are the only animals that have eye-lashes both upon the upper and lower lids, all other animals want them on the lid below, and even man has less on the under than on the upper.
The eye-lids serve to guard the ball of the eye, and to furnish it with a proper moisture. The upper lid rises and falls; the lower has scarce any motion; and though their being moved depends on the will, yet the will is unable to keep them open when sleep, or fatigue, oppresses the mind. In birds and amphibious quadrupeds the lower lid alone has motion; and fishes and insects have no eye-lids whatsoever.
The forehead makes a large part of the face, and chiefly contributes to its beauty. It ought to be justly proportioned, neither too round nor too flat, neither too narrow nor too low, and it should be regularly surrounded with the hair. The hair tends greatly to improve the face, and baldness takes away from beauty. Borrowed locks, however, do not justly supply the place of real ones, as the true character cannot be so well traced in the countenance when the one is substituted for the other. The highest part of the head, and that immediately above the temples, first becomes bald; the hair under the temples, and at the back of the head, is seldom known to fail.
It has been observed by some authors that baldness was peculiar to man, and that it never happens to women in the most advanced periods of life. The hair is, in general, thickest where the constitution is strongest, and more glossy and beautiful where the health is most permanent. The ancients supposed the hair to be produced like the nails, the part next the root pushing out that immediately contiguous. But the moderns have found that every hair may be truly said to live and to receive nutriment like other parts of the body. The roots donot turn grey sooner than the extremities, but the whole hair changes colour nearly at the same time, and we have many instances of persons who have grown grey in one night’s time. When turned white it gradually loses its strength and falls off. Aristotle asserts, that no man ever became bald previous to his intercourse with women.
The nose is the most prominent feature in the face, but as it has scarce any motion, even in the strongest passions, it rather adds to the beauty, than to the expression of the countenance. The form of this feature, and its advanced position, are peculiar to the human visage alone. Other animals, for the most part, have nostrils with a partition between them, but none of them have an elevated nose. Apes themselves have scarce any thing else of this feature but the nostrils, the rest of the feature lying flat upon the visage, and scarce higher than the cheek-bones. This organ serves man and most animals not only to breathe but to enjoy odoriferous scents. Birds have merely two holes for these purposes.
The mouth and lips, next to the eyes, are found to have the greatest expression. The passions have great power over this part of theface, and the mouth marks its different degrees by its different forms. The organ of speech still more animates this part, and gives it more life than any other feature in the face. The ruby colour of the lips, and the white enamel of the teeth, have such a superiority over every other feature that they seem to form the principal object of our regard. In fact, the whole attention is fixed upon the lips of the speaker; however rapid his discourse, and however various the subject, the mouth takes correspondent situations, and deaf men have been often found toseethe force of those reasonings, which they could nothear, by attending to the motions of the lips.
Notwithstanding the opinion of Aristotle, with regard to the crocodile, I am convinced, that in that, as well as in man, and other animals, the under jaw alone has the power of motion. In the human embrio, and in monkeys, the under jaw is very much advanced before the upper. In instances of the most violent passion this jaw has often an involuntary quivering motion; and often also pain and pleasure, as well, as languor produces another, which is that of yawning.
When the mind is affected with ardent desire, or reflects with regret upon some good unattained or lost, it feels an internal emotion, which acting upon the diaphragm, elevates the lungs, and produces a sigh; when the mind perceives no prospect of relief the sighs are repeated, sorrow succeeds, and tears often follow; the air rushes into the lungs, and gives rise to an inspiration stronger than sighs, termed sobbing, in which the voice becomes more evident; from this it proceeds to groans, which are a species of sobs continued to some length, and are longer or shorter according to the degree of anxiety the mind is labouring under. The plaintive shriek is a groan expressed with a sharp tone of voice; which when violently excited, generally continues the same tone throughout, but when moderate, usually falls at the end.
Laughter is a sound of the voice, interrupted and pursued for some continuance. The muscles of the belly, and the diaphragm, are employed in its weaker exertions; but those of the ribs are violently agitated in the stronger; the head and breast are sometimes thrown forward, in order to raise them with the greaterease. The chest remains undisturbed, the cheeks swell, the mouth naturally opens, and the belly becoming depressed, the air issues out with a noise, and which in violent fits continues for some time, and is often repeated; but in more tranquil emotions, although the cheeks swell, the lips remain close, and in some persons dimples are formed near the corners of the mouth. This smile is often an indication of kindness and good-will; it is also often used as a mark of contempt and ridicule.
The cheeks are features without any particular motion, and rather seem as an ornament to the face than for the purpose of expression, as may also be said of the chin and temples. The former indeed may be considered in some measure a picture of the mind, from the involuntary paleness and redness with which they are at limes overspread. Blushing proceeds from different passions; being produced from shame, anger, pride, Or joy, while paleness is ever an attendant on fright, fear, and sorrow. These alterations in the colour are entirely involuntary; all the other expressions of the passions are, in some small degree, under control; but blushing and paleness betray oursecret thoughts, and we might as well attempt to stop the circulation of our blood, by which they are caused, as to prevent their appearance.
The whole head, as well as the features of the face, takes peculiar attitudes from different passions; it bends forward to express humility, shame, or sorrow; it is turned to one side, in languor, or in pity; it is thrown with the chin forward, in arrogance and pride; erect in self-conceit and obstinacy; it is thrown backwards in surprize or astonishment; and combines its motions to the one side and the other, to express contempt, ridicule, anger, and resentment.
The parts of the head which give least expression to the face are the ears. These which are immoveable, and make so small an appearance in man, are very distinguishing features in quadrupeds: they serve in them as the principal marks of the passions, and discover their joys or their terrors with tolerable precision. The smallest ears in men are said to be most beautiful; but the largest are found the best for hearing. Some savage nations bore their ears, and so draw down the tips to rest upon their shoulders.
The different customs of men appear still more extravagant in their manner of wearing their beards. Some, and among others the Turks, cut the hair off their heads, and let their beards grow. The Europeans, on the contrary, shave their beards and wear their hair. The American savages pluck the hairs off their beards, but are proud of those on the head; the Negroes shave their heads in figures at one time, in stars at another, and still more commonly in alternate stripes. The Talapoins of Siam shave the heads and the eye-brows of such children as are committed to their care. Every nation seems to have entertained different prejudices, at different times, in favour of one part or another of the beard. Some have preferred the hair upon the upper lip to that on the chin; some like the hair hanging down; some chuse it curled; and others like it straight.
Though fashions have arisen in different countries from fancy and caprice, yet when they have become general they deserve examination. Mankind have always considered it as a matter of moment, and they will ever continue desirous of drawing the attention of each other, by such ornaments as mark the riches,the power, or the courage of the wearer. The value of shining stones is entirely founded upon their scarceness or their brilliancy. It is the same with respect to shining metals, of which the weight is so little regarded when spread over our cloaths. These ornaments are designed to draw the attention of others, and to excite the idea of wealth and grandeur; and few there are who, undazzled by the glitter of an outside, can coolly distinguish between the metal and the man.
All things rare and brilliant will, therefore, continue to be fashionable, while men derive greater advantage from riches than virtue, and while the means of appearing considerable are more easily acquired than the title to merit. The first impression we make on strangers arises from our dress; and this varies in conformity to the character we are ambitious to obtain. The modest man, or he who would wish to be thought so, endeavours to shew the simplicity of his mind by the plainness of his dress; the vain man, on the contrary, takes a pleasure in displaying his superiority in finery and external appearance.
Another object of dress is, to encrease the size of our figure, and to take up more roomin the world than Nature seems to have allotted us. We desire to enlarge our dimensions by swelling out our cloaths and raising our heels; but how bulky soever our dress may be, our vanities still exceed them. The largeness of the doctor’s wig arises from the same pride as the smallness of the beau’s queue. Both want to have the size of their understanding measured by the external dimensions of their heads.
There are some fashions that seem to have a more reasonable origin, which is to hide or to lessen the defects of Nature. To take men altogether, there are many more ordinary faces and deformed bodies, than beautiful countenances and handsome figures. The former, as being the most numerous, give laws to fashion, and their laws are generally such as are made in their favour. Women begin to colour their checks with red when the natural roses are faded, and the younger are obliged to follow the example, though not compelled by the same necessity. In all parts of the world this custom prevails more or less, and powdering and frizzing the hair, though not so general, seems to have arisen from a similar desire of displaying the features to most advantage.
But, leaving the draperies of the human picture, let us return to the figure unadorned by art.
The head of man, whether considered externally or internally, is differently formed from that of all other animals. The head of the monkey has some similitude, but in that there are differences, which we shall take notice of in another place. The bodies of almost all quadrupeds are covered with hair, but the head of man alone has this ornament before puberty, and that more abundantly than any other animal.
There is a great variety in the teeth of all animals, some have them above and below, others have them in the under jaw only: in some they stand separate from each other, while in others they are close and united. The palate of some fishes is nothing but a bony substance studded with points, which perform the office of teeth. All these substances, that is, the teeth of men, quadrupeds, and fishes, the saws, &c. of insects, like the nails, horns, and hoofs, derive their origin from the nerves. We before remarked that the nerves harden by being exposed to the air; and as the mouth gives free access to it, the nerves that terminate therein,being thus exposed, acquire a solidity. In this manner the teeth and nails are formed in man, and the beaks, hoofs, horns, and talons of other animals are produced.
The neck supports the head, and unites it to the body. This part is more considerable in the generality of quadrupeds, than in man. Fishes and other animals that have not lungs similar to ours, have no neck. Birds in general have the neck longer than any other kind of animal; those of them which have short claws have also short necks, and so on the contrary.
The human breast is larger in proportion than that of other animals; and none but man, and those animals which make use of their fore feet as hands, such as monkeys, squirrels, &c. have collar-bones. The breasts, in women are larger than in men; they however seem formed in the same, manner; and sometimes milk is found in the breasts of the latter. Of this there have been many instances about the age of puberty, and I have seen a young man press a considerable quantity out of one of his breasts. Among animals there, is a great variety in this part of the body. Some, as the ape and the elephant, have but two teats, whichare placed on each side of the breast, Bears have four. Sheep have but two, placed between the hinder legs. Other animals, such as the bitch and sow, have them all along the belly. Birds and other oviparous animals have no teats; but viviparous fishes, as the whale and the dolphin, have both teats and milk. The form also of the teats varies in different animals, and in the same animal at different ages. Those women whose breasts are shaped like a pear, are said to make the best nurses. In the belly of the human race the naval makes a conspicuous figure, but which is scarcely perceptible in other animals.
The arms of men but very little resemble the fore legs of quadrupeds, and much less the wings of birds. The ape is the only animal that is possessed of hands and arms; and they are fashioned more rudely, and with less exact proportion, than in men. The shoulders are also much larger in man than in any other animal, and of a form widely distinct.
The form of the back differs not much from that of many quadrupeds, only that the reins are more muscular and strong. The buttock, however, in man is different from that of all animals whatsoever. What goes by that namein other creatures is only the upper part of the thigh, and by no means similar: man being the only animal that can support himself perfectly erect, the peculiar hardness of this part enables him to sustain that position.
The human feet are also different from those of all animals, even apes not excepted. The foot of the ape is rather a kind of aukward hand; its toes, or rather fingers, are long, and that in the middle longest of all; the foot also wants the heel. In man the sole of the foot is broader and more adapted to maintain the equilibrium of the body in walking, dancing, or running.
The nails are smaller in man than those of any animal. If they were much longer than the extremities of the fingers, they would obstruct the management of the hand. Such savages as suffer them to grow long, make use of them in flaying and tearing animals, but though their nails are considerably larger than ours, they are yet by no means to be compared to the hoofs or the claws of other animals.
There is little known exactly with regard to the proportion of the human figure, for the same parts do not bear similar proportions in any two individuals; nor even in the same, for seldom is it that the right leg or arm is of equaldimensions with the left. It is not by taking an exactresemblancethat we can determine on the best proportion of the human figure; we must seek for it in taste and sentiment, which have exceeded the laws of mechanism in the imitation of Nature; and in which imitation we recognize her perfections more conspicuously than in her own productions; and by the same rule the beauty of the best statues is much better conceived by observation than by measurement. The ancients executed statues in so high a degree of perfection, that they have ever been considered as exact representations of the most perfect human figures. These statues, which were at first copied after the human form, are now considered as the most perfect models of it; and for this plain reason, that they were not formed after any one individual, but from a diligent observation of the perfect symmetry that was to be collected, as it were, from the whole species. In doing this, these artists also considered each part of the human frame should be of certain dimensions to become the standard of perfection; for instance, that the body should be ten times the length of the face; and that the face should also be divisible into three equal parts, the first form the hair on theforehead to the nose, the second the nose, and the third from the nose to the end of the chin. In measuring the body they use the term nose as the third of the face, one of which they reckon in height, from the top of the forehead to the crown of the head, therefore from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is a face and one third, and from the chin to the upper part of the breasts two thirds more, which of course makes two tenths of the whole body; to the bottom of the paps another, to the navel a fourth, and from thence to the division of the lower extremities a fifth, or half the body; two more faces are assigned to the thighs, half a one to the knee, two from the knee to the top of the foot, and the other half from thence to the sole, which completes the ten. This division does not hold good in men of a more than ordinary size, in whom about half a face is allowed between the paps and the commencement of the thighs, which in them is not the middle of the body. The arms being stretched out, measure from the ends of the middle fingers ten faces, or exactly the length of the body. The hand is the length of the face, the thumb that of the nose, as is also the longest toe, and the bottom of the foot, is one sixth part of thelength of the body. The space between the eyes is the breadth of the eye: the breadth of the thickest part of the thigh is double that of the thickest part of the leg, and treble the smallest. Were any individual measured by these rules, those we consider as the most perfect would be found highly deficient.
These correspondences are, however, extremely arbitrary. In infants the upper parts of the body are larger than the lower; the legs and thighs do not constitute any thing like half the length of the body; as the child increases in age the inferior parts increase more than in proportion, so that the body is not equally divided till it has acquired its full growth. In women the anterior part of the chest is more prominent than in men; but as in the former the chest is more thick, so in the latter it is more broad. In women too the hips are considerably more bulky, and so different is the conformation of those two parts, that it is sufficient to distinguish the skeleton of a woman from that of a man.
The total height of the human figure varies considerably. Men are said to be tall who are from five feet eight or nine inches to six feet. The middle stature is from five feet two tofive feet seven inches; and such as fall under these measures are said to be of small stature. Women in general are two or three inches shorter than men. As for giants and dwarfs, of them we shall have occasion to speak in another place.
Though the body of a man is more externally delicate than that of any animal, it is exceedingly muscular, and for its size perhaps more strong. Were we to compare the strength of a lion with that of a man, we ought to consider that the former is armed with teeth and talons, which give a false idea of its power. The arms which man has received from Nature are not offensive; and happy were it if Art had never furnished him with weapons more terrible than those which arm the paws of the lion.
But there is another, and perhaps a more just manner of comparing the strength of man with that of animals, namely by the weights which either can carry. We are assured that the porters of Constantinople carry burthens 900 pounds weight; and M. Desaguliers tells us of a man in an upright posture, who, by distributing a certain number of weights, in such a manner that every part of his bodybore its share, was able to support a weight of 2000 pounds. By the same expedient a horse, which is at least six or seven times our bulk, ought to be enabled to carry a load, of 12 or 14,000 pounds; an enormous weight in comparison of what that animal can support, even when the weight is distributed with every possible advantage.
The strength of a man may be still further estimated by agility and the continuance of his labour. Men accustomed to running outstrip horses, or at least continue their speed for a greater length of time. A man will walk down a horse if they continue together, and perform a long journey much sooner, and with less fatigue. The royal messengers of Ispahan, who are runners by profession, go 36 leagues in 14 or 15 hours. Travellers assure us, that the Hottentots out-run lions in the chace, and that the savages, who live by hunting, pursue the elk and other animals with such speed as to take them. Many other surprising things are told of the nimbleness of savages, and of the long journeys they accomplish on foot, over the most craggy mountains, and the most unfavourable roads, where there is no path to direct, and every obstacle to oppose. A thousandleagues are these people said to travel in less than six weeks, or two months. Birds excepted, whose muscles are indeed stronger in proportion than those of any other animal, no other creature could support such a continuance of fatigue. The civilized man is ignorant of his own strength; nor is he sensible how much he loses of it by effeminacy, and how he might add to it by the habit of vigorous exercise.
Sometimes we find men of extraordinary strength; but this gift of Nature, which would be valuable to them in a primitive state, is of very trifling service with the polished part of mankind, among whom mental perfections are held in higher estimation than bodily, and manual exertions are confined to persons of the lowest classes.
Men are much stronger than women; and this superiority they have too often employed, by tyrannically enslaving a sex, which was formed to partake with them the pleasures as well as the pains of life. Savage nations subject their women to a continued series of labour. On them is imposed every office of drudgery, while the husband indolently reclines in his hammock. From this inactive situation he isseldom roused but by the calls of hunger, when he is obliged to seek food by fishing or hunting. A savage has no idea of taking pleasure in exercise; and nothing surprises him more than to see an European walk backwards and forward, merely for his amusement or recreation. All men have a tendency to laziness; but the savages of hot countries are not only lazy to an extreme, but tyrannical to their women, beyond any other classes of men. In civilized countries men dictate laws to women, which are the more severe, as their manners are rough and untaught, and it is only among nations highly polished that women are raised to that equality of condition which is naturally their due, and so necessary to the true enjoyment of society. These refinements flow from themselves; and to strength they oppose arms more sure to conquer, when by modesty they teach us to pay homage to the empire of beauty; a natural advantage, superior to strength. But much skill is requisite to manage and increase its influence, as is evident from the different ideas which different nations entertain of beauty. These indeed are so widely opposite, so palpably contradictory, that there is every reason to suppose the sex have gained more byrendering themselves amiable, than even by this gift of Nature, about which men are so much divided. As from the difficulty of obtaining it, the value of a thing still increases, so beauty has always had its admirers, and its votaries, respect necessarily encreased as soon as the possessors of it maintained a becoming dignity, and turned a deaf ear to every address of which virtue was not the positive basis; this naturally introduced a delicacy of sentiment, and polished manners followed of course.
So widely did the ancients disagree with us in respect of beauty, that, with them, a small forehead, and eye-brows joined, were accounted ornaments in the female countenance; and even to this day, in Persia, the union of the eye-brows is held in high estimation. In several parts of the Indies, it is necessary that the teeth should be black, and the hair white, to form a beauty; and, in the Marian islands, it is a principal occupation of the women, to blacken the teeth with herbs, and to whiten the hair by certain lotions. In China and Japan, the essential ingredients of beauty are, a large visage, small eyes, and almost concealed, a nose flat and bulky, little feet, and a belly enormously big. Some of the Indians of Americaand Asia, in order to enlarge the countenance, compress the heads of their children between two planks, others flatten them from the crown only, and others exert every effort to render them round. Every nation, and every individual, has a peculiar prejudice, or taste, with respect to beauty, which probably originates from some pleasing impression received in infancy, and therefore depends more, perhaps, on habit and chance than on the disposition of our organs.
When we come to treat of the different senses, we shall perhaps be able to determine what stress is to be laid on the ideas of beauty which we receive from the eyes. In the mean time let us examine the human countenance as it appears when agitated by the passions. In grief, joy, love, shame, and compassion, the eyes swell, and overflow with tears. The effusion of these is always accompanied with a tension of the muscles of the face, which opens the month. The natural moisture in the nose becomes increased by the tears flowing through the lachrymal ducts; they do not, however, flow uniformly, but burst out by intervals.
In sorrow the corners of the mouth are lowered, the under lip raised, the eye-lids nearlyclosed, the pupil elevated, and almost covered with the eye-lid; the other muscles of the face are relaxed, so that the space between the mouth and the eyes is larger than ordinary, and of consequence the .countenance appears lengthened. [Seefig.13.]
In fear, terror, or horror, the forehead is wrinkled, the eye-brow raised, the eye-lids are extended as much as possible, and discover a part of the white over the pupil, which is lowered, and somewhat concealed by the lower eye-lid: the mouth, at the same time, is widely opened, and the lips separating, both the upper and under teeth are seen. [Seefig.14.]
In contempt and derision the upper lip is raised on one side, and on the other there is a little motion, resembling a supercilious smile; the nose is shrivelled on the same side that the lip is raised, and the corner, of the mouth is extended; the eye on the same side is almost shut, while the other is open as usual, but the pupils of both are lowered as when looking from a height. [Seefig.15.]
In jealousy, envy, and malice, the eye-brows fall down, and are wrinkled; the eye-lid is raised and the pupil lowered; the upper lip is raised on each side, while the corners of themouth are rather lowered; and the middle of the under lip is raised, in order to join the middle of the upper lip. [Seefig.16.]
In laughter the two corners of the mouth are drawn back and somewhat raised; the upper part of the cheeks is raised; and the eyes are more or less closed; the upper lip is raised, while the under one is lowered; and in immoderate laughter the mouth is opened, and the skin of the nose is shrivelled. [Seefig.17.]
The arms, the hands, and the body in general, likewise assist the countenance by different gestures, in the expression of the emotions of the soul. In joy, for example, the eyes, the head, the arms, and the whole body, are agitated by quick and varied movements. In languor and melancholy the eyes are sunk, the head is reclined, and the whole body is motionless. In admiration, surprize, and astonishment, all motion is suspended, and we remain in one and the same attitude. These expressions of the passions are independent on the will; but there is another sort of expression, which seems to be produced by a reflection of the mind, by a command of the will, and by which the eyes, the head, the arms, and the whole body, are put in action. They appearto be so many efforts of the mind to defend the body, or at least so many secondary signs sufficient to express particular passions. In love, desire, and hope, we raise the head and eyes towards heaven, as if to implore the good we wish for; we bend the head forward, as if to hasten, by this approach, the possession of the desired object; and we extend the arms, and open the hands, in order to embrace and seize it. On the contrary, in fear, hatred, and horror, we advance the arms with precipitation, as if to repel the object of our aversion; and in order to shun it we turn aside the eyes and head, and shrink back. These movements are so quick that they appear involuntary: but it is by habit we are deceived, for they are motions which depend on reflection, and which mark the perfection of the springs of the human body, by the readiness with which each member obeys the dictates of the will.
As the passions are agitations of the mind, and as most of them have an affinity to the impressions of the senses, they may be expressed by the movements of the body, and especially by those of the visage. Of what passes within we may form a judgment from the external motions of the body, and can know the actualsituation of the soul by inspecting the changes of the countenance. But as the soul has no form which can have any relation to that of matter we cannot judge of it by the figure of the body, or by the features of the countenance. An ill-formed body may contain an amiable mind; nor is the good or bad disposition of a person to be determined by the features of the face, these features having no analogy with the nature of the soul on which any reasonable conjectures may be founded.
To this kind of prejudice, nevertheless, the ancients were strongly attached; and in all ages there have been men who have attempted to form into a science of divination their pretended skill in physiognomy; but it is evident that this divination can only extend to the situation of the mind when expressed by the motion of the eyes, visage, and other parts of the body, and that the form of the nose, the mouth, and other features, are no more connected with the natural disposition of the person, than is the largeness or the thickness of the limbs to that of thought. Shall a man have more genius because he has a better-shaped nose? Shall he have less wisdom because his eyes are little, and his mouth is large? It must be acknowledged, therefore, that the divination of physiognomists is without foundation, and that nothing can be more chimerical than their pretended observations.