If "the nostrils be watched during this process, it will be seen that, so far from dilating, they actually contract at each sniff.
The contraction does not include the whole anterior opening, but only the posterior portion." He then explains the cause of this movement.
When, on the other hand, we wish to exclude any odour, the contraction, I presume, affects only the anterior part of the nostrils.
[4] `Mimik und Physiognomik,' ss. 84, 93. Gratiolet (ibid. p.155) takes nearly the same view with Dr. Piderit respecting the expression of contempt and disgust.
[5] Scorn implies a strong form of contempt; and one of the roots of the word `scorn' means, according to Mr. Wedgwood (Dict. of English Etymology, vol. iii. p. 125), ordure or dirt.
A person who is scorned is treated like dirt.
Various odd little gestures likewise indicate contempt;for instance, _snapping one's fingers_. This, as Mr. Taylor remarks,[6] "is not very intelligible as we generally see it;but when we notice that the same sign made quite gently, as if rolling some tiny object away between the finger and thumb, or the sign of flipping it away with the thumb-nail and forefinger, are usual and well-understood deaf-and-dumb gestures, denoting anything tiny, insignificant, contemptible, it seems as though we had exaggerated and conventionalized a perfectly natural action, so as to lose sight of its original meaning. There is a curious mention of this gesture by Strabo." Mr. Washington Matthews informs me that, with the Dakota Indians of North America, contempt is shown not only by movements of the face, such as those above described, but "conventionally, by the hand being closed and held near the breast, then, as the forearm is suddenly extended, the hand is opened and the fingers separated from each other.
If the person at whose expense the sign is made is present, the hand is moved towards him, and the head sometimes averted from him."
This sudden extension and opening of the hand perhaps indicates the dropping or throwing away a valueless object.
The term `disgust,' in its simplest sense, means something offensive to the taste. It is curious how readily this feeling is excited by anything unusual in the appearance, odour, or nature of our food.
In Tierra del Fuego a native touched with his finger some cold preserved meat which I was eating at our bivouac, and plainly showed utter disgust at its softness; whilst I felt utter disgust at my food being touched by a naked savage, though his hands did not appear dirty. A smear of soup on a man's beard looks disgusting, though there is of course nothing disgusting in the soup itself.
I presume that this follows from the strong association in our minds between the sight of food, however circumstanced, and the idea of eating it.
[6] `Early History of Mankind,' 2nd edit. 1870, p. 45.
As the sensation of disgust primarily arises in connection with the act of eating or tasting, it is natural that its expression should consist chiefly in movements round the mouth.
But as disgust also causes annoyance, it is generally accompanied by a frown, and often by gestures as if to push away or to guard oneself against the offensive object. In the two photographs (figs. 2 and 3, on Plate V.) Mr. Rejlander has simulated this expression with some success. With respect to the face, moderate disgust is exhibited in various ways; by the mouth being widely opened, as if to let an offensive morsel drop out; by spitting;by blowing out of the protruded lips; or by a sound as of clearing the throat. Such guttural sounds are written _ach_ or _ugh_;and their utterance is sometimes accompanied by a shudder, the arms being pressed close to the sides and the shoulders raised in the same manner as when horror is experienced.[7]
Extreme disgust is expressed by movements round the month identical with those preparatory to the act of vomiting.
The mouth is opened widely, with the upper lip strongly retracted, which wrinkles the sides of the nose, and with the lower lip protruded and everted as much as possible. This latter movement requires the contraction of the muscles which draw downwards the corners of the mouth.[8]
[7] See, to this effect, Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood's Introduction to the `Dictionary of English Etymology,' 2nd edit.1872, p. xxxvii.