Mouthpart

“ The Mouth and Lips are, on the contrary, extremely susceptible of changes; and, if the eyes express the passions of the soul, the mouth seems more peculiarly to correspond with the emotions of the heart. The rosy bloom of the lips, and the ivory white of the teeth, complete the charms of the human face divine. ”

“ He saw in her face that which is higher than beauty, but is only seen and understood by its spiritual kindred. The mouth, that unmistakable key to character, because it is the door through which the soul expresses itself, was perfect in shape and exquisitely sensitive, though the other features had a dash of boyish ruggedness in them. ”

“ But for a second it seemed to her that the man she looked at had an enormous mouth wide open,—a vast and incredible mouth that swallowed the whole of the lower portion of his face. It was the sensation of a moment: the white-bound head, the monstrous goggle eyes, and this huge yawn below it. Then he stirred, started up in his chair, put up his hand. ”

“ THE MOUTH, TEETH, JAW AND CHIN
A mouth to be beautiful should be in harmony as regards proportion with the rest of the features of the face; that is, it should be neither remarkably large nor remarkably small. Neither the upper nor the lower lip should project beyond the other when the mouth is closed. The lips should shut easily over the teeth, and in doing so should fall into a flowing line of curves without compression. The more the lips are endowed with motion and the more richly they are coloured, the finer and more delicate are the human passions they indicate. ”

“ His mouth also marks a supreme sadness, which depresses the lower lip and seems to weigh upon it, while the upper lip, contracted from the top to the bottom, expresses at once both physical suffering and that of the soul. Under the mouth there is an expression of indignation that seems to protest against an undeserved suffering, and is revealed in the nostrils, which swell out and enlarge and draw upwards. ”

“ Those who have never had a bit in their mouths cannot think how bad it feels; a great piece of cold hard steel as thick as a man's finger to be pushed into one's mouth, between one's teeth and over one's tongue, with the ends coming out at the corner of your mouth, and held fast there by straps over your head, under your throat, round your nose, and under your chin ”

“ Nor tongue and palate, whereby we flavour feel, Present more problems for more work of thought. Firstly, we feel a flavour in the mouth, When forth we squeeze it, in chewing up our food,— As any one perchance begins to squeeze With hand and dry a sponge with water soaked. Next, all which forth we squeeze is spread about Along the pores and intertwined paths Of the loose-textured tongue. And so, when smooth The bodies of the oozy flavour, then Delightfully they touch, delightfully They treat all spots, around the wet and trickling Enclosures of the tongue. ”

“ As already stated, the modifications of the vowel sounds for articulate speech are made in the cavities of the mouth, the upper part of the throat and by the nostrils, and are further modified by the position of the teeth, lips and palate. In perfect singing or speaking, we must have all these parts in a normal condition, and where there is no obstruction, defect, congestion or inflammation, there is no interference with the free motion or vibration of the parts concerned in voice production. ”

“ The motion of the lips should be moderate, to moisten them by thrusting the tongue between them is very disagreeable, and biting the lips is equally unbecoming. We should speak with the mouth, more than with the lips. ”

“ DIFFERENT FORMS OF MOUTHS.—Every mouth differs from every other, and indicates a coincident character. Large mouths express a corresponding quantity of mentality, while small ones indicate a lesser amount. A coarsely-formed mouth indicates power, while one finely-formed indicates exquisite susceptibilities. Hence small, delicately formed mouths indicate only common minds, with very fine feelings and much perfection of character. ”

“ The belief in the absence of the tongue is even more readily explained. When the mouth is widely opened, no tongue is to be seen. This organ is not only present, but is, moreover, of large size; it is, however, firmly attached to the floor of the mouth, and is specially adapted, from its peculiar form and structure, to assist these animals in the capture and swallowing of their prey. ”

“ The Mouth.—The mouth is of great importance as an entrance for fresh air to the lungs when the nasal passages are for any reason impeded and as the resonant chamber from which proceeds the voice, man’s chief means of communication with his fellows. ”

“ The Measurement of Things in Terms of Each Other.—Here the first thing that seems evident is that we have no immediate power of comparing together with any accuracy the extents revealed by different sensations. Our mouth-cavity feels indeed to the tongue larger than it feels to the finger or eye, our lips feel larger than a surface equal to them on our thigh. ”

“ As the crude tone issues from the larynx, the mouth, tongue and soft palate, moulding themselves by the most delicately adaptive movements into every conceivable variety of shape, clothe the raw bones of sound with body and living richness of tone. ”

“ It was too big, as mouths go, but so very sweet and mobile as to make you forget that it was not the most perfectly sized and beautiful mouth extant. The eyes were too far apart, of an untroubled, starry kind; they sometimes made you look away from the mouth. ”

“ The greater the distance from which a sound has apparently to come, the nearer must the tip of the tongue be brought to the front of the mouth, the greater must be the contraction of the muscles, and the articulation must be made in the upper part of the throat. ”

“ The mouth is long and flexible, not without signs of firmness and vigor, but gentle and serene, a smile appearing to lurk in one of the corners, as awaiting its opportunity to break forth. The whole expression is pure and unworldly. ”

“ Were you to keep his mouth open, he would be infallibly smothered. His tongue is one of his most striking peculiarities, for instead of being rooted, as in other animals, at the throat, it is fastened to his under lip, and its point is directed to his stomach. Nevertheless, this strange arrangement is well suited to his purposes, and his tongue as an organ of prehension is very effective. ”

“ The mouth is not the seat of expression in the face. Not that there is no expression to the mouth, but its changes are limited. The eyes are much more thoroughly the seat of expression, and through them the pharynx can be reached. Let the eyes smile. Let the whole face take position as if one saw something irresistibly funny, at which he must laugh. Practice with the eyes in this way will brighten the whole voice. It will relieve strain upon all the facial muscles and will render the organs of speech more pliable, too. ”

“ The concurrence of teeth, palate and tongue, in the formation of speech should seem to be indispensable, and yet men have spoken distinctly though wanting a tongue, and to whom, therefore, teeth and palate were superfluous. ”

“ In the earliest period and when the babbling monologues begin, the cavity of the mouth takes on an infinitely manifold variety of forms—the lips, tongue, lower jaw, larynx, are moved, and in a greater variety of ways than ever afterward. At the same time there is expiration, often loud expiration, and thus originates entirely at random sometimes one sound, sometimes another. The child hears sounds and tones new to him, hears his own voice, takes pleasure in it, and delights in making sounds, as he does in moving his limbs in the bath. ”

“ The Organ of Taste.—The tongue is the special organ of the sense of taste; but the back part of the mouth also possesses this faculty. The tongue is a muscular organ, the muscles composing it being so numerous and interwoven as to give it the freedom and variety of motion which it possesses. It can curve itself upward or downward; it can extend or contract itself; and, with its point, can sweep the cavity of the mouth, in all directions, in the search for scattered particles of food. ”

“ For no one who has not listened in such silence can realize how important the mouth is. Like the gill of old which gave it origin, our ear has still an entrance inward as well as outward, and the sweep of breath and throb of the blood are louder than we ever suspect. When at an opera or concert I see some one sitting rapt, listening with open mouth, I do not think of it as ill-bred. I know it for unconscious and sincere absorption based on an excellent physical reason. ”

“ There are twenty-eight muscles about the mouth. Since all these muscles are developed by use, the mouth comes to assume the expression given to it by the thoughts of the individual. The figurative expression, “down at the mouth,” comes to be literally true, and the angles of the mouth are seen to be habitually drooping, until at last this is the fixed expression of the face. A healthy frame of mind is the only means to keep the face from being converted into a map of wrinkles and drooping angles at the mouth. ”

“ Large mouths denote matured character, good or bad. When firm, they denote force and energy. When half-open, they denote dullness and heaviness. When showing full protruding lips, they denote sensuality and selfish passions and tastes. When very large and flexible, they denote the "windy" person who is fond of talking and hearing the sound of his own voice—when one says that another is "big-mouthed" he states a truth which physiognomy bears out.
An upward curve of the corners of the mouth, denotes a cheerful, optimistic disposition and mental attitude. ”

“ Though, for making the liquids, the tip of the tongue and the sides of the tongue are used, yet the requisite is not any exact adjustment of the tip, but an imperfect contact with the palate. For the th, the tip is used along with the edges of the tongue; but no perfect adjustment is required, either to the edges of the teeth, or to the junction of the teeth with the palate, where the sound may equally well be made. ”

“ Popular expressions in the language of civilised peoples, such as to have one's heart in one's mouth, or the soul on the lips or in the nose, show how natural is the idea that the life or soul may escape by the mouth or nostrils. ”

“ I tried, but I couldn’t paint it—nobody could—so I did his profile; one of those curving, seductive mouths you sometimes see on a man, that quivers when he smiles, the teeth gleaming between the moist lips. ”

“ Writers on the voice have almost universally claimed that the principal office of the soft palate is to shut off the nasal and head cavities from the throat, and to force the column of vibrations out through the mouth, thus allowing none, or at most a very small part, to pass into the nasal passages. ”

“ The whole mouth occupies one-third of this space, say one-fiftieth of an inch, and within that space both the lips and the much more difficult inner corner of the mouth are perfectly drawn and rounded, with quite successful and sufficiently subtle expression. ”

“ Now the mouth is much more likely to be a true index of character. A man may clench his teeth firmly or smile disdainfully or sneer, or do a hundred things which will be reflected in his mouth rather than in his nose or chin. ”

“ The mouth was as wide as any man could well desire for the ordinary purposes of life, and it was low down too in the face, leaving plenty of room for the nose above, which was as peculiar in its construction as any that ever was brought from "the promontory of noses." ”

“ In like manner, many passages in Shakespeare and others of the best writers in all languages can only be spoken with effect by those with a mastery over the tongue, lips, soft palate, etc., but above all, the tongue.
Important as are the lips, many persons tend to use them too much, and the tongue too little, in speaking and singing. They attempt to make up for a mouth almost closed in front by the teeth, by excessive movements of the lips. ”

“ The mouth is large, with brilliant and even teeth and flexible lips, capable of the most instantaneous and effective variations of expression. A more radiantly beautiful smile it is quite impossible to conceive. ”

“ Unless the pupil is very careful, he will find some difficulty in keeping the mouth sufficiently wide open, he will gradually close the mouth until the teeth are brought nearly together, before the sound is finished, the inevitable consequence of which is a smothered, imperfect and lifeless utterance of the syllable or word. A good opening of the mouth is absolutely indispensable in giving the voice the full effect of round, smooth and agreeable tone. ”

“ I have bemoaned the fact that, due to the softness of my teeth since boyhood, my mouth is one mass of metallic fillings and crowns, rendering it impossible for me to test the efficiency of my life’s work. ”

“ You will soon feel how your tongue moves, without needing to look at it. This consciousness of the muscular [Pg 17] action of your tongue is valuable, and you must take pains to develop it. Watch the movements of your tongue as you utter other vowel sounds; they will be treated systematically in due course.
By means of these movable organs of speech the mouth passage assumes various forms; it may still be wide enough to leave a free course for the breath, or it may be quite narrow, or it may be closed at some point. ”

“ We can thus produce a loud clear tone without tiring ourselves unduly. If the head does not hang down, if the mouth is opened wide, and the throat muscles are allowed to work freely, without rigidity, the voice will be clear and distinct. ”