Show J jpumlay Morning ?Tljc Suit £akc tribune April 30 1939 3 But Now Science Wants The Potential Dynamite Behind Wide Eyes to Measure the Is Already Wallop in Knoim a Wink That Baby Stare Still Holds Them When It’s Turned on by Pretty Danielle Darrieux Above By Magnus Brednbek When science akes to measuring the length and meaning of winks there must be some compelling reason for it That reason is apparent even to a nonscientific mind and eye Winking— the subtler winking of the Naughty Nineties — is replacing the bolder "baby stare" of postprohibition days and the even bolder “come-on- " look in feminine eyes during the flap- bureau of visual science Recently tested the length— and meaning— of various winks In an experiment with lovely Betty Cantell of Southbridge Mass he jotted down his findings By using the ophthalmograph a device that analyzes eye movements and by registering those eye movements on a film Dr Neumueller learned that the natural or reflex wink— or blink— lasts of a second to The highbrow or sly wmk used to express mild contempt was clocked at second to one-hathree-eightThat’s the wink used to flatten fond ‘ Freddies The flirtatious wink strange to say clocked a similar time but with more excitation of the film recording And also oddly enough the lackadaisical or bored wink— you know the kind— lasted as long as the flirtatious one but with no jittery action recorded on the film The strange device registers the effects of the winks by causing white lines or streaks of varied lengths to appear on the black negative The more emotional the wink the more agitated appear these sjjilte streaks And as the fnore entotional wink obusually Is the flirtatious one it Is revious that it is likely to inspire a ciprocal emotion when wily wroman wants to win her man Winking or blinking physiologically started ’way back in the Garden of Eden the allegorical birthplace of the human race Science of course claims mankind’s existence far antedates any historical record Psychologically the emotion-stirrin- g d wink must have started or as soon If we could glance back through the centuries to that Edenic elyslum we probably would see Eve using the glory of her eyes on poor Adam veiling them under lids that Hflcd lovingly and with just enough to devastate him provocativeness But we need not go back that far for the girls of today are relearning the power of the lowered lids or the winsome wink panv’s per era Anyone can see this renascence of in many of the newest Hollywood and European films that feature glamor girls especially in what are called "costume plays” Remember you older folks when Anna Held used to wink so naughtily at her audiences as she sang "Won't You Come an’ Flay Wiz Me?” Or when Eva Tanguay raced across the stage tossing her auburn curls singing "I Don’t Care" and winking d boys in the at the front rows? Their winks were the vogue then and coquettes coyly copied them When winking went out with women’s demand for equal rights and the dear demoiselles dared to stare back as boldly at men as men stared at them something of feminine fineness and charm went out with it in the opinion of the older folks But the "baby stare” continued popular until Hollywood began to portray scenes of the long ago in the more romantic films of today And so winking has come back-winwith all its ancient charm and allure when dofie by feminine eyes For women have learned anew what their mothers and grandmas knew that while two eyes giving men the "baby stare" exert a mighty influence upon Admiring Alfreds the winking of one eye paradoxically enough doubles that influence And what daughter of Eve does not like to double her power over men? So too have come back the demure d lids of colonial and Civil war days that lift to dazzle mere men wUh the full glory of girlish eyes ununexpectedly focused on them or veiled only after considerable coax'f ing That Kipnre nrlunlly has lakrn role of the wink’s return Is evidenced by the fait that Dr J F Neumueller director of the Amorlcan Optical com- theVmk lf win-ring- ly bald-heade- king one-eye- down-droope- ns one-quart- er one-eigh- i f Scicnce has evolved th‘e opthalmograph (above) which measures the wink of an eye as shown at the right Our eyes— really “candid cameras" of nature— are so constructed that we must perforce wink or blink our eyelids If we did not the eyeball retina and iris would dry up and we would become blind The lachrymal fluid is distributed by the winking process over the tender membranes keeping the eye moist and clear of dust or other impedimenta to vision Some of us wink or blink more than Others do This generally is ascrib-ab- le to one’s physical or nervous Sometimes the winking we cannot control leads to embarrassments In the case of a girl It is particbecause men ularly embarrassing since the dawn of creation have considered the wink of a girl as a virtual Invitation to flirt But it also is embarrassing to men who Innocently step into heaps of trouble because of such an uncontrollable affliction Such a case was reported some years ago by Dr Francis C Grant an eminent neurologist of Philadelphia Pa He had a patient— a young man— whose left eye continually winked every time he sat eating at a table Whenever this youth dined in a restaurant his jaws worked sidewise while chewing food This caused his right jaw muscles to tug at the muscles controlling his left eye so that every time he chewed his left eye seemed to wink Girls believed the youth was flirting with them They responded If flirtatious or If not complained to the manager In either rase the youth was embarrassed by his muscular malady Finally he was compelled to cat alone at home He was on the verge of becoming a hermit when he decided to consult Dr Grant Examination revealdU the “short circuit’' cause of his strange "jaw wink” ami 'I he an operation was performed must lea restored to normal action ended the distressing condition and the youth could eat noimully therecon-'diti- on after ! -5 |