For we have seen that some persons cannot
voluntarily make their eyebrows oblique, yet instantly act
in this manner when affected by any real, although most trifling,
cause of distress. The power of voluntarily uncovering
the canine on one side of the face being thus often wholly lost,
indicates that it is a rarely used and almost abortive action.
It is indeed a surprising fact that man should possess the power,
or should exhibit any tendency to its use; for Mr. Sutton has never
noticed a snarling action in our nearest allies, namely, the monkeys
in the Zoological Gardens, and he is positive that the baboons,
though furnished with great canines, never act thus, but uncover
all their teeth when feeling savage and ready for an attack.
Whether the adult anthropomorphous apes, in the males of whom
the canines are much larger than in the females, uncover them
when prepared to fight, is not known.
The expression here considered, whether that of a playful sneer
or ferocious snarl, is one of the most curious which occurs in man.
It reveals his animal descent; for no one, even if rolling on the ground
in a deadly grapple with an enemy, and attempting to bite him,
would try to use his canine teeth more than his other teeth.
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