3.

"The line which separates the repletion from the excess of nature, is very small."

Not to be measured by industry or instrument, yet all powerful, as every thing unattainable is.

4.

"A mind as beautiful as was that of Raphael, in an equally beautiful body, is necessary, first to feel, and afterwards to display, in these modern times, the true character of the ancients.

5.

"Constraint is unnatural, and violence dis

order."

Where constraint is remarked, there let secret, profound, slowly, destructive passion be feared; where violence, there open and quick destroying.

6.

"Greatness will be expressed by the straight and replete, and tenderness by the gently curving."

All greatness has something of straight and replete; but all the straight and replete is not greatness. The straight and replete must be in a certain position, and must have a determinate relation to the horizontal, on which the observer stands to view it.

"It may be proved, that no principle of beauty exists in this profile; for the stronger the arching

of the nose is, the less does it contain of the beautiful; and if any countenance seen in profile is bad, any search after beauty will there be to no purpose."

The noblest, purest, wisest, most spiritual and benevolent countenance, may be beautiful to the physiognomist, who, in the extended sense of the word beauty, understands all moral expressions of good as beautiful; yet the form may not, therefore, accurately speaking, deserve the appellation of beautiful.

7.

"Nothing is more difficult than to demonstrate a self-evident truth.”

CHAP. XL.

Extracts from Aristotle and other Authors concerning Beasts.

THE writings of the great Aristotle on physiog nomy appear to me very superficial, useless, and often self-contradictory, especially his general reasoning. Still, however, we sometimes meet an occasional thought which deserves to be se lected. The following are some of these:

"A monster has never been seen which had the form of another creature, and, at the same time, totally different powers of thinking and acting. Thus, for example, the groom judges from the mere appearance of the horse; the huntsman, from the appearance of the hound.

We find no man entirely like a beast, although there are some features in man which remind us of beasts.

"Those who would endeavour to discover the signs of bravery in man, would act wisely to collect all the signs of bravery in animated nature, by which courageous animals are distinguished from others. The physiognomist should then examine all such animated beings, which are the reverse of the former, with respect to internal character, and, from the comparison of these opposites, the expressions or signs of courage would be manifest.

"As weak hair is a mark of fear, so is strong hair of courage. This observation is applicable not only to men but to beasts. The most fearful of beasts are the deer, the hare, and the sheep, and the hair of these is weaker than that of other beasts. The lion and wild boar, on the contrary, are the most courageous, which property is conspicuous in their extremely strong hair. The same also may be remarked of birds; for, in general, those among them which have coarse feathers are courageous, and those that have soft and weak feathers are fearful.

This may easily be applied to men. The people of the north are generally courageous, and have strong hair; while those of the west are more fearful, and have more flexible hair.

"Such beasts as are remarkable for their courage simply give their voices vent, without any great constraint while fearful

beasts utter vehement sounds. Compare the lion, ox, the barking dog, and cock, which are courageous, to the deer and the hare. The lion appears to have a more masculine character than any other beast. He has a large mouth, a fourcornered not too bony visage. The upper jaw does not project, but exactly fits the under; the nose is rather hard than soft, the eyes are neither sunken nor prominent, the forehead is square, and sometimes flattened in the middle.

"Those who have thick and firm lips, with the upper hung over the under, are simple persons, according to the analogy of the ape and monkey."

This is most indeterminately spoken. He would have been much more true and accurate had he said, those whose under lips are weak, extended, and projecting, beyond the upper, are simple people.

"Those who have the tip of the nose hard and firm, love to employ themselves on subjects that give them little trouble, similar to the cow and the ox."

Insupportable! The few men, who have the tip of the nose firm, are the most unwearied in their researches. I shall transcribe no farther. His physiognomonical remarks, and his similarities to beasts, are generally unfounded in experience.

Porta, next to Aristotle, has most observed the resemblance between the countenances of men and beasts, and has extended this inquiry the

farthest. He, as far as I know, was the first to render this similarity apparent, by placing the countenances of men and beasts beside each other. Nothing can be more true than this fact; and, while we continue to follow nature, and do not endeavour to make such similarities greater than they are, it is a subject that cannot be too. accurately examined. But, in this respect, the fanciful Porta appears to me to have been often misled, and to have found resemblances which the eye of truth never could discover. I could find no resemblance between the hound and Plato, at least from which cool reason could draw any conclusions. It is singular enough, that he has also compared the heads of men and birds. He might more effectually have examined the excessive dissimilarity than the very small and almost imperceptible resemblance which can exist. He speaks little concerning the horse, elephant, and monkey, though it is certain that these animals have most resemblance

to man.

A generic difference between man and beast is particularly conspicuous in the structure of the bones. The head of man is placed erect on the spinal bone. His whole form is as the foundation pillar for that arch in which heaven should be reflected, supporting that scull by which, like the firmament, it is encircled. This cavity for the brain constitutes the greater part of the head. All our sensations, as I may say, ascend and descend above the jaw-bone, and