Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 270, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1911 — ONE DEFINITION OF LAUGHTER [ARTICLE]

ONE DEFINITION OF LAUGHTER

Explanation of an American Humorist—Many Persons In History e Who Never Laughed. _ What is laughter? An American humorist has called it “an undignified widening of the human mouth, accompanied by a noise resembling a cough in the effort to avoid swallowing a chestnut” “Laughter,” says Prof. Sir Charles Bell, “is a convulsive action of the diaphragm. In this state the person draws a full breath and throws it out in interrupted/ short and audible cachinnatlons. This convulsion of the diaphragm is the principal part of the physical manifestation of laughter. “But there are several accessories, especially the sharp vocal utterance arising from the violent tension of the larynx and the expression of-the features, this being a more intense form of the smile. In extreme cases the eyes are moistened by the effusion from the lachrymal glands.” There are some people who cannot laugh—who are wholly unable to enjoy either the physical or the mental' luxury of a laugh. Thus, it was said of William 111. that he was utterly at a loss to understand what could be got out of laughter except loss of dignity. There are many persons in history who have been, according tb common report, incapable of laughter. Queen Mary 1., John Knox, Robespierre and Moltke are examples. The great Duke of Wellington himself rarely, if ever, went beyond a grunt.