We may infer from this that there
is something wrong in the expression. Some of the fifteen
persons may, however, have been partly misled by not expecting
to see an old man crying, and by tears not being secreted.
With respect to another figure by Dr. Duchenne (fig. 49), in which
the muscles of half the face are galvanized in order to represent
a man beginning to cry, with the eyebrow on the same side
rendered oblique, which is characteristic of misery, the expression
was recognized by a greater proportional number of persons.
Out of twenty-three persons, fourteen answered correctly,
"sorrow," "distress," "grief," "just going to cry,"
"endurance of pain," &c. On the other hand, nine persons either
could form no opinion or were entirely wrong, answering,
"cunning leer," "jocund," "looking at an intense light,"
"looking at a distant object," &c.
As the upper lip is much drawn up during the act of screaming, in the
manner just explained, the depressor muscles of the angles of the mouth
(see K in woodcuts 1 and 2) are strongly contracted in order to keep
the mouth widely open, so that a full volume of sound may be poured forth.
The action of these opposed muscles, above and below, tends to give
to the mouth an oblong, almost squarish outline, as may be seen
in the accompanying photographs.
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