E S S A Y VII.
OF BEAUTY i n t h e h u m a n f a c e , a s i t r e g a r d s t h e p e r m a n e n t
FORMS, IN CONTRADISTINCTION TO EXPRESSION.
To connect the subject of the beauty of the human countenance
with anatomy must be acknowledged a matter of some difficulty.
Much has been written on the sources of beauty; the utmost perfection
of language, adorned by classical allusions, and the imagery
of rich and cultivated fancy, have made these essays valuable ; yet
I cannot help thinking that there has been an inattention to the
philosophy or truth of the subject.
On the other hand, writers of my own profession have been misled,
by what I must call a very superficial survey of the head of man
and of brutes; and they have permitted themselves to be confined
in the trammels of a false theory.
It has been assumed, I think without due examination, that if
we compare the area of the cranium with the area of the face, the
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