knew, and not one frowned; but a man who joined us, and who could not
conceive what we were all doing in profound silence, when asked to
listen, frowned much, though not in an ill-temper, and said he could
not in the least understand what we all wanted. Dr. Piderit[903] who
has published remarks to the same effect, adds that stammerers
generally frown in speaking, and that a man in doing even so trifling a
thing as pulling on a boot, frowns if he finds it too tight. Some
persons are such habitual frowners, that the mere effort of speaking
almost always causes their brows to contract.
Men of all races frown when they are in any way perplexed in thought,
as I infer from the answers which I have received to my queries; but I
framed them badly, confounding absorbed meditation with perplexed
reflection. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Australians, Malays,
Hindoos, and Kafirs of South Africa frown, when they are puzzled.
Dobritzhoffer remarks that the Guaranies of South America on like
occasions knit their brows.[904]
From these considerations, we may conclude that frowning is not the
expression of simple reflection, however profound, or of attention,
however close, but of something difficult or displeasing encountered in
a train of thought or in action. Deep reflection can, however, seldom
be long carried on without some difficulty, so that it will generally
be accompanied by a frown. Hence it is that frowning commonly gives to
the countenance, as Sir C. Bell remarks, an aspect of intellectual
energy. But in order that this effect may be produced, the eyes must be
clear and steady, or they may be cast downwards, as often occurs in
deep thought. The countenance must not be otherwise disturbed, as in
the case of an ill-tempered or peevish man, or of one who shows the
effects of prolonged suffering, with dulled eyes and drooping jaw, or
who perceives a bad taste in his food, or who finds it difficult to
perform some trifling act, such as threading a needle. In these cases a
frown may often be seen, but it will be accompanied by some other
expression, which will entirely prevent the countenance having an
appearance of intellectual energy or of profound thought.
We may now inquire how it is that a frown should express the perception
of something difficult or disagreeable, either in thought or action. In
the same way as naturalists find it advisable to trace the
embryological development of an organ in order fully to understand its
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