The hand : its mechanism and vital endowments as evincing design and illustrating the power, wisdom and goodness of God / Sir Charles Bell ; preceded by an account of the author's discoveries in the nervous system by Alexander Shaw.

  • Bell, Charles, Sir, 1774-1842.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The hand : its mechanism and vital endowments as evincing design and illustrating the power, wisdom and goodness of God / Sir Charles Bell ; preceded by an account of the author's discoveries in the nervous system by Alexander Shaw. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    in certain conditions of the mind. Independently altogether of the will, the eyes are rolled upwards during mental agony, and whUst strong emotions of reverence and piety prevail in the mind. This is a natural sign, stamped upon the human counte- nance, and as peculiar to man as anything which distinguishes him from the brute. The posture of the body follows neces- sarily, and forms one of those numerous traits of expression which hold mankind in sympathy. The same evidence that we brought forward in treating of a somewhat similar question, on the expression of the hand, might be adduced here—the works of the great painters, who have made the sublimer passions of man the subjects of their art. By the upward direction of the eves, and the correspond- ence of feature and attitude, in their paintings, they speak to all mankind. Thus we must admit that the reverential posture and upUftiijg of the eyes are natural, whether in the darkened chamber or under the vault of heaven. They result from the very constitution of the mind and body, and are too powerful to be effaced or altered. No sooner does pain or misfortune subdue a man, or move him to supplication, than the same uni- versal expression prevails. Here is the correspondence of the mind, the frame, and external nature, by which man is directed to look for aid from above.