[9] Lavater considers the nose as the fulcrum of the brain; and describes it as a piece of Gothic architecture. "It is in the nose that the arch of the forehead properly rests, the weight of which, but for this, would mercilessly crush the cheeks and the mouth." He enters into the philosophy of noses with diverting enthusiasm, and finally concludes, "Non cuique datum est habere nasum:"--it is not every one's good fortune to have a nose! A sharp nose has been considered the visible mark of a shrew. Now, what does all this come to? _Cui bono?_ A great deal for surgery; let us examine what may be done;--we know that noses may be supplied,--may not, therefore, a small one be enlarged, and a large one made small? We have seen a person with a _bunch_ of _noses_, but can only, on the authority of Shakspeare, quote one "who had a thousand." For a great length of time nothing was admired in the world but Roman noses,--and then not a word was heard about them, till William III. brought them again into fashion. People occasionally possess the power of voluntary action with the muscles of the nose, and can move it horizontally, or to the right and left,--draw it up or protrude it,--so as to make it take any position they please. Painters have been provokingly deceived by this stratagem, and have in vain attempted the portraits of such persons, who were able at every instant to produce a new physiognomy. One of the qualifications for the Ugly Club was a nose eminently miscalculated, whether as to length or breadth,--the thickest skin had preference. Hitherto we have only considered external appearances; we must now notice its functional and other properties. With some persons, the nose is a sort of barometer,--a certain state of the atmosphere is invariably announced to them by an agreeable sensation of coldness at the tip. Zimmerman used to draw conclusions, as to a man's temperament, from his _nose!_ Not indeed from its size or form, but from the peculiar sensibility of the organ. Cardan considered acuteness of smell as a proof of penetrating genius, and a lively imagination. Haller could distinguish perspiration at ten yards' distance.