The poor little creature
was sick, and was amusing itself by trying to kill the flies
on the window-panes with its knuckles; this was difficult
as the flies buzzed about, and at each attempt the lips were
firmly compressed, and at the same time slightly protruded.
[17] W. L. Martin, Nat. Hist. of Mamm. Animals, 1841, p. 405.
Although the countenances, and more especially the gestures, of orangs
and chimpanzees are in some respects highly expressive, I doubt whether on
the whole they are so expressive as those of some other kinds of monkeys.
This may be attributed in part to their ears being immovable,
and in part to the nakedness of their eyebrows, of which the movements
are thus rendered less conspicuous. When, however, they raise their
eyebrows their foreheads become, as with us, transversely wrinkled.
In comparison with man, their faces are inexpressive, chiefly owing
to their not frowning under any emotion of the mind--that is, as far
as I have been able to observe, and I carefully attended to this point.
Frowning, which is one of the most important of all the expressions in man,
is due to the contraction of the corrugators by which the eyebrows are lowered
and brought together, so that vertical furrows are formed on the forehead.
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