Lavater thought blue eyes, in general, signified effeminacy and weakness, and yet he acknowledged that many eminent men have had blue eyes; still he was con vinced that strengh and manhood more particularly belong to the brown : in op position to this opinion, the Chinese, who are known to be an imbecile people, rarely have blue eyes; these contradic tions, it must be confessed, weaken the reliance we are inclined to place on ap pearances during the quiescent state of the eyes, and the indications of their co lour. Men intemperate in anger, and easily irritated, may be found with eyes of all the usual colours ; when they in cline to green, ardour, spirit, and cou rage, are constant attendants. People of a phlegmatic habit, but who may be rous ed to activity, have clear blue eyes, which never belong to those inclined to melancholy, and they rarely belong to the choleric. Benevolence, tenderness, ti midity, and weakness, are exhibited by the perfectly semicircular arch formed by the under part of the upper eye-lid : persons of acute and solid understandings have a generous open eye, composing a long and acute angle with the nose ; and when the eye-lid forms a horizontal line over the pupil, it is a strong indication that lie who possesses it is subtile, able, and penetrating. Widely opening lids, sheaving the white of the ball under the other colours, may be observed in the phlegmatic and timid, as well as in the courageous and rash ; but upon compar-: ing these marks in the different charac ters just mentioned, a very perceptible difference is discovered in the character. istics of the eyes ; the latter are less ob lique, better shaped, and more firm.
The eye-brows are essential in the ex pression of the eyes, in anger they are brought down and contracted ; in all plea sant sensations, and in astonishment, they assume a fine arch ; in youth they are na turally and regularly arched ; the hori zontal and rectilinear eye-brow belongs to the masculine bias of the soul ; and the above designations combined shew strength of understanding, united with feminine kindness ; those that are de ranged in their appearance, and the hairs growing in various directions, demon strate a wild and perplexed state of mind ; but if the hair is fine and soft, they signi fy gentle ardour. The compressed firm eye-brow, formed of parallel hairs, is a certain proof of profound wisdom, true perception, and a manly firm habit of thought. There are eye-brows which meet across the notes ; this circumstance gives the person an air of ferocious gloom, which is admired by the Arabs, but the ancients, versed in physiognomy, conceived such to be characteristic of cunning ; Lavater, on the contrary, ob serves, that he had discovered them on the most worthy and open countenances, admitting at the same time that they may denote a heart ill at ease. Those who think profoundly, and those equally pru dent and firm in their conduct, never have high and weak eye-brows ; in some measure equally dividing the forehead, they rather betray debility and apathy, and though men of an opposite character may be found with them, they invariably signify a diminution of the powers of the mind. Thick angular eye-brows, inter
rupted in their lengths, signify spirit and activity ; and when they approach the eyes closely, the more firm, vigorous, and decided, is the character ; the reverse spews a volatile and less enterprizing disposition ; when the extremes are re mote from each other, the sensations of the possessor are sudden and violent. White eye-brows are demonstrative of weakness, in the same degree that the dark-brown are of firmness.
The good Lavater considered the nose as the abutment, or buttress, of the fore head, the seat of the brain, without which the whole face would present a misera ble appearance ; indeed an ugly or dis agreeable set of features is never accom panied by a handsome nose : but there are thousands of fine and expressive eyes where a perfectly formed nose is want ing; he describes this portion of the face as requiring the following peculiarities : " Its length should equal the length of the forehead ; at the top should be a gentle indenting; viewed in front, the back should be broad, and nearly parallel, yet above the centre something broader ; the bottom, or end of the nose, must be nei ther hard nor fleshy, and its under out line must be remarkably definite, well delineated, neither pointed nor very broad; the sides, seen in front, must be well defined, and the descending nostrils gently shortened ; viewed in profile, the bottom of the nose should not have more than one third of its length ; the nostrils above must be pointed below, round, and have in general a gentle curve, and be divided into equal parts by the profile of the upper lip ; the side, or arch of the nose, must be a kind of oval ; above, it must close well with the arch of the eye bone, and near the eye must be at least half an inch in breadth. Such a nose is of more worth than a kingdom." Num ' bers of great and excellent men have flourished in all ages of the world, whose noses would suffer essentially by a com parison with Lavater's description of a nose, more valuable to the possessor than extensive empire ; indeed, he is led to acknowledge this indisputable fact, and observes that he has seen persons en. dowed with purity of mind, noble in their conceptions, and capable of exer tion, whose noses were small, and the arches of their profiles inverted; and yet, true to his first principles, die discover ed, or imagined he discovered, their worth to consist chiefly in the elegant ef fusions of their imaginations, their learn ing, or fortitude in suffering, and this is accompanied with a proviso, that the re mainder of their form must be correctly organized.