on our opinions, that a human face with protuberant jaws is
degraded to the brutal character; and that especially the projection
of the incisor teeth gives a remarkable character of meanness
; while the enlargement of the canine teeth, as in the demons
of the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo, produces a peculiar air of
savageness and ferocity*.
When we consider what are the muscles appropriated to the
motion of the jaw, we see why the enlarged zigoma (the arch of
bone on the temple) must, project and correspond with the size of
the jaws; and why it should be thought a deformity when the arch
of the zigoma is remarkably large. It is enlarged to admit the
massy temporal muscle by which the jaw is closed, and its form
corresponds with the size of the jaw and with the canine teeth.
This will be very evident if we place the human skull betwixt the
skull of the horse, the lion, the bull, the tiger, the sheep, the
dog, &c.
Further, when we compare the bones of the face in several
animals, it becomes evident that the comparison of the area of the
bones of the head and face will not inform us of the relative perfection
of the brain in its exercise. But still in the form of the
jaws and bill we may recognise the beast or bird of prey; in the
breadth and extent of the central cavities of the face, which are
Fairy Queen, B. iv. cant. vii. 5.
the seat of the organ of smelling, the tribes which hunt their prey;
in the prominent eye placed more laterally, the timidity of the
animals which are the objects of the chase; in the large socket
and great eyeball, the character of such as prowl by night. Corresponding
with these changes in the perfection of the outward
senses, there are, no doubt, corresponding changes in the brain,
and hence watchfulness, timidity, cunning, thirst of blood; but in
the inferior animals the comparison of the relative magnitude of
the cranium and bones occupied by the organs of the senses informs
us of nothing.
In obtaining a line which shows with precision the bearings of
all the parts of the head, I think that I have reduced this subject
to greater simplicity; and been able, by the means I have used for
measuring the proportions of the skull, to make observations more
correct than have been found to result from the methods hitherto
in use:—That I have shown that the relative capacity of the
cranium or brain-case to that of the face, as containing the organs
of the senses, is insufficient to mark the scale of intellect, or to explain
the distinctions of character in the human h e a d 'That the
growth of the cranium and of its contents with the development
of the faculties of the mind, is attended with a change in the shape
and capacity of the fore and upper part of the cranium, in comparison
with that of its back part and base:—That the perfection
of the human head greatly consists in the increase of the cranium
forward; in the full and capacious forehead; and that the cranium