The explanation lies, I believe, in the impossibility of opening
the eyes with great rapidity by merely raising the upper lids.
To effect this the eyebrows must be lifted energetically.
Any one who will try to open his eyes as quickly as possible
before a mirror will find that he acts thus; and the energetic
lifting up of the eyebrows opens the eyes so widely that they stare,
the white being exposed all round the iris. Moreover, the elevation
of the eyebrows is an advantage in looking upwards; for as long
as they are lowered they impede our vision in this direction.
Sir C. Bell gives[3] a curious little proof of the part
which the eyebrows play in opening the eyelids. In a stupidly
drunken man all the muscles are relaxed, and the eyelids
consequently droop, in the same manner as when we are falling asleep.
To counteract this tendency the drunkard raises his eyebrows;
and this gives to him a puzzled, foolish look, as is well
represented in one of Hogarth's drawings. The habit of raising
the eyebrows having once been gained in order to see as quickly
as possible all around us, the movement would follow from the force
of association whenever astonishment was felt from any cause,
even from a sudden sound or an idea.
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