Miscellany: Darwin on Expression in Man and Animals. The Tension in Dickens. "The Great Idea." The Angel. A Jewish Wedding in Algiers. The Cry for Protection. [pp. 733-736]

1872.1
A1L~~ CELLA~Y
733
day. Everybody, in all the different rooms
below-stairs, peeped out to watch the beautiful young lady, and the elegant young gentleman, as they ascended the three flights to
Mrs. Kent's apartments. Miss Delafield's
velvet dress, and her furs, and her plumes,
and her diamond ear-drops, were matter of
wonder for a month afterward; and Susie's
Paris doll broke the hearts of all the little
girls in the house with envy.
For Miss Delafield had not forgotten the
doll, and Captain Meredith had brought Tom
such a pair of skates, and such a four-bladed
kiiife, as he had never dared to dream of' to
say nothing of a box of French 6onboiis, that
was`a thing of beauty and a joy "-as long
as the sweeties lasted!
Never was such a merry Chnstmas-in
Bleecker Street, round the corner from the
Bowery, at all events. And the best of it was,
that it was really the beginning of brighter
days for the Kent family. Miss Delafield was
an energetic young lady when once she took
a thing in hand; and Captain Meredith was
only too happy to join hands with her in any
way, literally or metaphorically. Between
them they sec" red for Mrs. Kent the literary
recognition and support that she deserved.
They read her nice little books, and told peopie about the author; they sent her poems
and stories to clever editors who appreciated
their grace and freshness; they found a way,
without liurthig her pride or delicacy, to get
her established in more suitable quarters than
tlie Bleecker-Street lodging-house, and so put
iler in reach of social advantages.
The dwellers on Madison Square and Park
Avenue are not always shoddy or Flora McFlimsey. There are plenty who fare sumptuously every day, yet are glad to reach out
warm, helping hands to the toilers below
them. And the captain's "adorable," and
the captain himself-to his own astonishment
when he waked up to the fact-belonged to
this "better part" of our modern society.
They might not, however, have discovered the
-talent they possessed for doing good, if it had
not been for Susie, number two. So a merry
Christmas to you, Susie, pampered little absurdity as you are; and may your cushions
be soft, and your chicken-wing tender, and
your shadow never be less!
MARY E. BRADLEY.
MISCELLANY.
Se[ections from ~w Books and Foreign
Journa is.
~A1?WLV O~ LXri?~SJO~ I~ ArA~
AND AMAfAIS.*
UT of the inexhaustible stores of his ob servation of Nature and his diffusive
reading, Mr. Darwin has given us another copious series of proofs from natural history,
which, if no more than minor affluents of the
main stream of tile "Origin of Species" nud
the "Descent of Man," he regards as illustrating the great law of the unity and continuity
of life. Although dealing with a more limited
and special class of phenomena than most of
*"The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animals." By Charles Darwin, M. A., F. B. S., etc.
With Photographic and other Illustratons.
his earlier works, the present treatise readily
connects itself with the general scheme of investigation and reasoning which has won for
the author a distinctive name in the history of
philosophy. His leading idea is that of tracing
the law of evolution as displayed in, or accounting for, expression, or the play of features
and gesture in man and animals-the inarticulate language, as it has been called, of the
emotions. For the scientific basis of such an
investigation,it is necessary to go far down into the ultimate structure of organic life, and to
study the manifestations of character in their
simplest forms. So long as man and all other
animals are viewed as independent creations,
an effectual stop is put, Mr. Darwin pleads, to
such an attempt. The inherent defect in the
treatment of the subject by writers so able as
Sir Charles Bell, Gratiolet, Duchenne, and
others, adduced by Mr. Darwin, has always
been, lie considers, the taking for granted that
species, man of course included came into existence just as they are now, wholly distinct
from each other. The tendency to draw as
broadly as possible the distinction between
man and brutes, led Sir Charles Bell to deny
to the lower animals any expression beyond
what might be referred more or less plainly to
acts of volition or necessary instincts, their
faces seeming to him to be chiefly capable of
expressing merely rage or fear. The facial
muscles in man he thought to be a special provision for the sole object of expression, and so
far distinctive of humanity. But the simple
fact that the anthropoid apes possess the same
facial muscles that we do, renders it most improbable, apart from any reference to teleology
in general, that we were endowed with these
muscles for any such purpose, still more that
monkeys had special muscles given to them
solely for the purpose of exhibiting their hideous grimaces. Since distinct uses can with
much probability he assigned to almost all the
facial meseles, we may look upon expressio~
as but an incidental result of muscular or organic function. Mr. Darwin's early inclination toward the doctrine of evolution, or the
origin of man from lower forms led him fiveand-twenty years ago, to regard the habit of
expressing our feelings by certain8]movements
innate as it has now become, as havin*g been in
some manner gradually acquired at the first.
Seeking back for the origin of movements of
this kind, he in the first place was led to observe infants as exhibiting emotions with extraordinary force, as well as with a simplicity
and an absence of convention which cease with
more mature years. Secondly, the insane had
to be studied, being liable to the strongest
passions, and giving them uncontrolled vent.
Dr. Duchenne's ingenious application of photography, representing the effects of galvanism
upon the facial muscles of an old man, gave
some assistance toward distinguishing varieties of expression. ~ess aid than was expected
was found to be derived from the study of the
great masters in painting and sculpture; beauty in works of art excluding the display of
strong facial muscles, and the story of the
composition being generally told by accessories skilfully introduced. More important it
was to ascertain how far the same expressions
and gestures prevail among all races of mankind, especially among those who have associated but little with Europeans. With this
view a list of sixteen questions was circulated
by Mr. Darwin within the last five years, to
which thirty-six answers have been received
from missionaries, travellers, and other ohservers of aboriginal tribes, whose names are
appended to Mn Darwin's introductory remarks. The evidence thus accumulated has
been supplemented by the close and keen observation of the author himself through a wide
range of animal life. It seemed to him of
paramount importance to bestow all the attention possible upon the expression of the several passions in various animals, "not of course
as deciding how far in man certain expressions
are characteristic of certain states of mind, but
as affording the safest basis for generalization
on the causes or the origin of the various
movements of expression." In observin animals we are not so likely to be biassed by our
imagination, and we may feel sure that their
expressions are not conventional.-Sefurdey
1?eview.
Tff~ ThWSiON IN CllA1?LES DICKENS.
A great sculptor, coiimenting to the present writer on the physical features of the bust
of Dickens, drew attention especially to "the
whip~cord" - "the race-horse tension" - in
all the muscles; all the softer and vaguer tissues in the face and bust were pruned away,
and only the keen, strenuous, driving, purpose-pursuing elements in it left. The second
volume of Mr. Forster's life of Charles Dickens brings out that criticism with extraordinary force. It is like reading the biography
of a literary race - horse. The tension and
strain go on through the whole ten years,
lS4~'52, whiA~ the book covers. There is no
rest in the men's nature,even when heisprofessedly resting. lie once proposed to himself
to write a hook like "The Vicar of Wakefield."
He could just as easily have wntten a play
like "Hamlet" or the Odes of Horace. He
had not a teuch of Goldsmith's ease and leisurely literary air. Ilis nerves were never relaxed. A great element in the force of his
genius, and a very great element in its principal limitations, is due to their constant strain
which spoils almost all the sentiment,- makes
it theatrical and always on the stretch and not
unfrequently lends a forced ring to the greatest of all his faculties, his humor. He is always on the double-quielt march. If he hits
the exact mark, and his humor is at its best,
it is still humor marching sharply on to the
particular end in view. You ea'n see its steady,
swift current, none the less easily for the enormous wealth of detail which he snatches from
all sides wherewith to enrich it. If he fails to
hit the mark and talks excited nonsense, it is
all in the same vein, jocosity stretching eagerly toward a given aim, though the aim is falsely taken. Consider, for instance, this answer
to an invitation to dinner sent by Maclise,
Stanfield, and Mr. Forster:
"D~vo~srnnz Lorez, Jeanery 17, 1844.
"Fx~~ow-Couxrxv~xx -The appeal with
which you have honored me, awakens within
my breast emotions that are more easily to be
imagined than described. Heaven bless you!
I shall indeed be proud, my friends, to respond to such a requisition. I had withdrawn
from public life-I fondly thought forever-to
pass the evening of my days in hydropathical pursuits and the contemplation of virtue.
For which latter purpose, I had bought a looking-glass. But, my friends, private feeling
must ever yield to a stern sense of public
duty. The man is lost in the invit'id guest,
and I comply. Nurses, wet and dry; apothecaries; mothers-in-law; babbies; with all the
sweet (and chaste) delights of private life
these, my countrymen, are hard to leave. But
you have called m~forth, and I will come.
"Fellow-countrymen, your friend and
11faithful servant
"CnAnLEs ~~~~x~5~~~
The idea is forced and the gayety unnatural
but the whole letter is wntten up to the idea,
and you see the straining whip-cord even in
that hit of laborious comedy. But his true and
most marvellous efforts of humor l~ave all the