When these muscles are strongly contracted, those running to the upper
lip[603] likewise contract and raise the upper lip. This might have
been expected from the manner in which at least one of them, the
_malaris_, is connected with the orbiculars. Any one who will gradually
contract the muscles round his eyes, will feel, as he increases the
force, that his upper lip and the wings of his nose (which are partly
acted on by one of the same muscles) are almost always a little drawn
up. If he keeps his mouth firmly shut whilst contracting the muscles
round the eyes, and then suddenly relaxes his lips, he will feel that
the pressure on his eyes immediately increases. So again when a person
on a bright, glaring day wishes to look at a distant object, but is
compelled partially to close his eyelids, the upper lip may almost
always be observed to be somewhat raised. The mouths of some very
short-sighted persons, who are forced habitually to reduce the aperture
of their eyes, wear from this same reason a grinning expression.
The raising of the upper lip draws upwards the flesh of the upper parts
of the cheeks, and produces a strongly marked fold on each cheek,—the
naso-labial fold,—which runs from near the wings of the nostrils to the
corners of the mouth and below them. This fold or furrow may be seen in
all the photographs, and is very characteristic of the expression of a
crying child; though a nearly similar fold is produced in the act of
laughing or smiling.[604]
As the upper lip is much drawn up during the act of screaming, in the
manner just explained, the depressor muscles of the angles of the mouth
(see K in woodcuts 1 and 2) are strongly contracted in order to keep
the mouth widely open, so that a full volume of sound may be poured
forth. The action of these opposed muscles, above and below, tends to
give to the mouth an oblong, almost squarish outline, as may be seen in
the accompanying photographs. An excellent observer,[605] in describing
a baby crying whilst being fed, says, “it made its mouth like a square,
and let the porridge run out at all four corners.” I believe, but we
shall return to this point in a future chapter, that the depressor
muscles of the angles of the mouth are less under the separate control
of the will than the adjoining muscles; so that if a young child is
only doubtfully inclined to cry, this muscle is generally the first to
contract, and is the last to cease contracting. When older children
commence crying, the muscles which run to the upper lip are often the
first to contract; and this may perhaps be due to older children not
having so strong a tendency to scream loudly, and consequently to keep
their mouths widely open; so that the above-named depressor muscles are
not brought into such strong action.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account