The man acts in this latter case as if he clearly saw the thing,
and in the former case as if he did not or would not see it.
I have noticed that persons in describing a horrid sight often
shut their eyes momentarily and firmly, or shake their heads,
as if not to see or to drive away something disagreeable;
and I have caught myself, when thinking in the dark of a
horrid spectacle, closing my eyes firmly. In looking suddenly
at any object, or in looking all around, everyone raises
his eyebrows, so that the eyes may be quickly and widely opened;
and Duchenne remarks that[7] a person in trying to remember
something often raises his eyebrows, as if to see it.
A Hindoo gentleman made exactly the same remark to Mr. Erskine
in regard to his countrymen. I noticed a young lady earnestly
trying to recollect a painter's name, and she first looked
to one corner of the ceiling and then to the opposite corner,
arching the one eyebrow on that side; although, of course,
there was nothing to be seen there.
[6] Gratiolet (`De la Physionomie,' p. 324), in his
discussion on this subject, gives many analogous instances.
See p. 42, on the opening and shutting of the eyes.
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