Facial angle

“ For the lines, the intersection of which forms the facial angle, are drawn through points of the skull, the position of each of which is modified by a number of circumstances, so that the angle obtained is a complex resultant of all these circumstances, and is not the expression of any one definite organic relation of the parts of the skull. ”

“ In general, the proportion between the forehead and the face, is [Pg 387] different in different individuals. No conclusion can be drawn from the proportions, which exist in one person, relative to those of another; among a hundred individuals of the same sex and age, no two can be found, in whom the same proportion exists between the forehead and the face; it necessarily follows, then, that no two will have the same facial angle. ”

“ Among the oldest operations of cephalometry, as well as the most incomplete, is the measurement of the so-called facial angle, which is employed to distinguish the skull of a lower order of animal from that of the negro and the white man. ”

“ Now this angle is in man very large—from seventy-five to eighty-five degrees, or even more, and rarely falling below sixty-five degrees. But this angle depends largely on the protrusion of the jaws, and varies greatly in species of animals showing much the same grade of intelligence. In some not especially intelligent South American monkeys the facial angle amounts to about sixty-five degrees. ”

“ The features, though indicative of a delicate organization, are of the most pleasing cast. The facial angle contains full ninety degrees; the forehead is finely formed, and the brain large; the nose is long, and the nostrils thin, while the eyes, though not large, are well set. ”

“ They are described as of tall stature and strong muscular development, with very broad features in comparison with the round cranium, large nose, prominent cheek-bones, very open facial angle, high forehead, intelligent glance and smile. ”

“ We should expect the convex cast of one side of the face to fit, line for line, into the concave cast of the other; but it is doubtful if there is to be anywhere found one single head of this ideal perfection. Neither the contour of the cheeks, nor the lines of the countenance, are the same on both sides, and they are all the less so because every one unconsciously tends to perform many unilateral facial movements, which in time cause a divergence between the two sides of the face. ”

“ Consequently the face increases twice as much as the cranium, and the nose three times as much. In the growth of the face, however, the transverse dimensions must be distinguished from the longitudinal dimensions, because the facial index varies greatly according to the age. The width of the face follows very nearly the same rhythm as the cranium, never exceeding the latter's proportional increase; the length of the face, on the contrary, follows the special rhythm of the growth of the face, which lengthens far more than it broadens. ”

“ Nevertheless, even in women the cosmic laws of Beauty call for a gentle curve instead of a perfectly straight line; but the more subtle the curve the greater is its beauty; whereas the nose itself may be perfectly straight on its upper edge, because it forms a dividing line of the face into two symmetric halves, and by its contrasting straightness heightens the beauty of the surrounding facial curves. ”

“ The broad distinctions which are plainly seen are also those which are readily defined, such as the shape of the nose, curve of the lips, or the projection of the cheek-bones. But all who have compared such American races as Aztecs and Ojibways must be sensible of extreme difficulty in measuring the proportions of an average facial type. ”

“ The forehead is large, high, and very prominent, and diverges backward from the plane of the face at an observable angle. The face is narrow and flat, the narrowness being due to the prominence of the lower jaw and to a depression that is formed in the side of the face between the jaw and the cheek bone. ”

“ The facial index tells us whether the face is relatively broad or narrow, the breadth is measured from cheekbone to cheekbone, and the length from the root, or topmost point, of the nose between the eyes to the bottom of the chin. This facial index is not so useful as the cephalic in determining race, because some of the bones involved are affected by age and sex. The nasal index tells us whether the nose—or, in a skull, the nasal aperture—is broad or narrow, adapted to a warm, moist climate or to a dry, cold one. ”

“ The cheek-bones are seldom so prominent, or the chin so pointed, as to give an angular or cat-faced appearance; the eye, of medium size, is usually most arched centrally, and drawn out horizontally at the outer angle ”

“ Nothing of that regularity of curve which returns into itself, and might be produced upon a turning lathe, and no continuity of straight lines within the capacity of square and jack-plane, are tolerable in a human feature. Lips, slit with the straightness of a button-hole, or conical precision, or roly-poly globularity, would be equally offensive in the configuration of any feature of the face or general form. Cheek, chin, nose, brow, or bosom, put up into such rotundity and uniformity of line and surface, have that mean and insignificant ugliness that nothing can relieve. ”

“ The angle formed by the anterior face of the mandibular symphysis with the inferior border of the horizontal ramus (that is, the angle between the chin and the lower jaw) is an obtuse angle, while in all existing races it is an acute angle. ”

“ Anthropologists obtain the facial index from the skeleton, especially for the purpose of determining the proportion of the face in human remains found in the geological strata. In such crania the mandible is wanting, and the teeth are wanting. Consequently, there are several ways of computing the facial index, because, while the transverse or bizygomatic diameter, which is considered as the lesser diameter, always remains constant, the longitudinal, which is considered as the greater, varies. ”

“ For by presenting your face, you will see in both more faces the more they are shut, and the less that the angle is; but they will be diminished by opening it, and you will see fewer as you observe with a more obtuse angle. If you exhibit your finger, you will see only fingers, the right fingers being seen on the right side, and the left on the left side, which is contrary to what happens in looking-glasses, and this arises from the mutual reflexion and repulsion which produce a change of the images. ”

“ The visible apparatus of expression may of course be taken as muscular, and he begins with laying down diagrams of the various muscles of the face in man, those in particular which are connected with the eyes and mouth..... Suppose we take as an illustration the oblique or upturned eyebrows of a man suffering from grief or anxiety. Every one must be familiar, both from Nature and works of art, with the way in which the inner angle of the brow is drawn up under this emotion, the forehead being contracted or wrinkled at the same time. ”

“ If the length of the face, from the roots of the hair to the chin, be divided into three equal parts, the first division determines the point where the eyebrows meet, and the second the place of the nostrils. ”

“ A pair of non-commital eyes of slightly different size and color stood guard over a nose that was really too small to look after itself, and farther south-to be exact, southwest-on her facial map lay a mouth that only opened when it had to, and usually shut in somebody's face. ”

“ The head shows us an extreme degree of morbidezza in the softening of all the sharper facial lines such as eyelids and lips. The face is seen almost through a slight haze, and it thus gets some of the impression conveyed by distance. ”

“ The angle of a man's lower jaw is nearly a right angle; there is a vertical and a horizontal ramus. A woman's lower jaw has an open angle and its contour forms an oblique line from the ear to the chin. But the most distinctive difference is in the ear itself. A man's ear has its long diameter vertical; a woman's has the long diameter oblique; and the obliquity is usually very marked.
"Bearing these differences in mind, and remembering that they are subject to variation in individual cases, let us now return to Mr. Bundy. ”

“ We look at the far eye, and this curves slightly away from us on the curve of the cheek. The eyeball nears the blunt end, and exposes a large space of white.
Lid, pupil, iris, eyelash, eyebrow, all follow in their turn; add such shadows as you wish, and you must certainly not forget the shadow of the nose and the forehead. The eye lies in a socket. In old people this is very noticeable. The shadow of the brow falls on the socket and gives a very sharp and bold outline for drawing. ”

“ This consequence of a common and yet subsidiary vision of these facets, springs partly from the immobility of the eyes, and partly from the circumstance that only those rays of light which fall in a right line upon a facet of the eye, which itself forms the segment of a circle, can reach the optic nerve of this facet, whereas all others are withheld by the pigment which partly separates the individual glass lenses from each other, and partly surrounds the margin of the chrystalline lens, beneath the cornea. ”

“ Remembering that the face is not a flat surface, make the lines darker in the shadows and lighter as they approach the lights. The high lights on the forehead, the nose, the highest point of the chin, and around the mouth, should, however, have no lines over them. ”

“ The compound eye is so delicate and wonderful, that great knowledge of anatomy or the science of optics is necessary before it can be really appreciated. Briefly, it is made up of a cluster of simple eyes, in each of which there are several parts. Beginning at the surface we have what is known as the facet, or cornea, which roughly corresponds to the surface of our own eyes. ”

“ The facial disc is divided into three parts by a median area of straight or irregular lateral boundaries ending anteriorly in two in-turned scrolls suggesting the alae of the nose. A circular eye is present in each of the lateral divisions of the face while from the oral region projects a forked tongue. ”

“ To make the second face, you must, if possible, get some one with very light eyebrows and no moustaches; then paint eyes and eyebrows on the forehead, which must be done artistically, shadows and all, and connect them, as represented, with the bridge of the nose, paint heavy black moustaches, [Pg 133] and your performer will have the appearance of possessing an immensely long face; he must, however, keep his eyes shut, or the illusion will be dispelled. ”

“ Too much tracing often confuses. The upper and inner line of the hair, the eyebrows, the line of the nose, the upper line of each eyelid, the central line of the mouth, and the contour of the cheek and chin, is sufficient to give a correct tracing of a face ”

“ Even the face is not spared, a favourite pattern being a strongly marked triangle, the base sweeping across the lips from ear to ear, whence the other lines ascend, crossing both eyelids, to meet on the shaven crown. Other men prefer three broad stripes carried straight across the face,—one across the eyes, a second across the nose, a third sweeping across the mouth from ear to ear. ”