One of the most important points, small as it may at first appear,
is that the muscles round the eyes are involuntarily contracted
during violent expiratory efforts, in order to protect
these delicate organs from the pressure of the blood.
This fact, which has been fully investigated for me with
the greatest kindness by Professors Donders of Utrecht,
throws, as we shall hereafter see, a flood of light on several
of the most important expressions of the human countenance.
The merits of Sir C. Bell's work have been undervalued or quite
ignored by several foreign writers, but have been fully admitted
by some, for instance by M. Lemoine,[5] who with great justice
says:--"Le livre de Ch. Bell devrait etre medite par quiconque
essaye de faire parler le visage de l'homme, par les philosophes
aussi bien que par les artistes, car, sous une apparence plus
legere et sous le pretexte de l'esthetique, c'est un des
plus beaux monuments de la science des rapports du physique
et du moral."
[4] I always quote from the third edition, 1844, which was published
after the death of Sir C. Bell, and contains his latest corrections.
The first edition of 1806 is much inferior in merit, and does not include
some of his more important views.
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