WHY DO WE LAUGH?

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9644, 20 January 1903, Page 1

WHY DO WE LAUGH?

In his recent "Essay oil Laughter," Professor Bully, m the opinion of the Spectutor, is perhaps the tirst to give us something near a working hypothesis as to the cause of mirth as regards the intellectual mau. "First comes the 'theory of degradation.*' According to this theory the function i>f la.nghtcr is 'to accompany and to give voice to wliat may be- called the derogatory impulse iv man, his tendency to look out for and to rejoice over what is nieau and undignified.' As Aristotle wrote, 'comedy is an imitation of characters of a lower type— not, however, iv the full sense of the word bad.' H«xe we seem to get at some kind of feeling of pleasure, or exultation, m a mental or moral superiority. . ... The second theory is one which was held to a greater or less degree by Kant and Schopenhauer. According to Kant, laughter is due to 'an affection arising from the sudden transformation of a strained expectation into nothing.' Schopenhauer thinks he sees 'an intellectual effort and its frustration.' We get, that is, a preconceived notiou of something which is going to happen, and as a fact something else happens'; it is the incongruity between the two tliut makes us laugh. The greater the incongruity the more violent will be our laughter. It. is, as Professor Sully shows, impossible to ;idopt unreservedly either of these- theories of degradation aavd incongruity. . . . The truest theory of the cause of most of the forms of laughter described seems to be Professor SuHy's, which ble-nds those of degradation and incongruity together. That is, our laughter is directed to something 'which, fails to comply with a social requirement.' ■ • • Professor Sully thinks that as a nation we have lost "some of the mirth of .our forefathers. If by that he means the •' ■ ' ■ £

Jioisiw, self-abundonod mirth of 200 yixir.s ago, it is not perhaps to be regrcUod. It is truo that hesirty laughter is often an index to an lunucst soul ; Csu'lyle was probably right when he sjiid thai uo man wfio lias oner heartily and wholly laughed can be »1 together bad.' Hut there is a hotter laugh than Tuufclsdrockh's, and Unit is the deep-found chuckle of kindliness and experience together. Perhaps we laugh more wisely, oven if more rarely, than our for'efatlicrs." . Germans have a new fodder for horses aud cattle which Americans are favorably considering for army horses. It consists af nut-husks, nut-shells, molasses and "stoam-dricd blood." The saving effected is 4d per day per uniniul. Eight per cent, of the population of I American is still illiterate. In Ormany, only 1 per cent, of illiterates exists, and hi Bavaria, Baden. Wurtomburg. and •Scandinavia there are no totally uneducated people. Japan is getting the bicycle eni/.e : it imported £500.000 worth "of wheels last year, mostly of the cheaper grades,, costing from £2 10s to £5. They are chiefly used for business purposes ; also m the army. The English are the greatest sugar eaters m the world. Their eonSumpiton is 91.61 b per head annually. The United States comes next with a- consumption of 68.41 b. Italy is at the other end with only 6.11 b, and- Spain does not exceed 10.61 b. In a private letter from Sydney, the dramatic critic of a leading paj>er says : — "Business theatrically is atrocious ; one leading nuuufger is said to be losing one thousand per week with, all his snows. It is said that he played m Melbourne not many weeks ago to a £16 house, and his salary list alone was oyer £500. per week. Other Sydney theatres are doing the same class of business, though not quite so bad." Speaking at a public reception tendered to him at Adelaide, Mr J.- Ord Hume, the EiigUsh bandmaster, who' is coming to New Zealand to judge at the band contest at Masterton, advised the Commonwealth States to send bands to compete m England. Mr Hume stilted that lie hoped shortly to become either an Australian or a New Zealaiider. It is understood that he may become bandmaster of the Timaru Garrison Baud. A few days ago a number of people witnessed an exhibition of a new life-saving vest, invented by a Swede named Petersun, m Timaru Harbor. A person wearing the vest, floats high out of the water, and the wearer of one ought to be quite at home m a heavy sea; m fact, to anybody who is endangered by water it ought to be indispensable. Mr Petersen, of Timaru, a brother of the inventor, after swimming and floating about for some time, allowed Mr C. N. Macintosh to don his clothes and apparatus, and the latter, with a sailor off the ship Otimaru, ufforded some amusement to those present by their antics m the water, the vest easily holding up the two men. The Court is at Sandringham, where the Queen spent her birthday, surrounded by all the tenantry mid a carefully-select-ed house party (says a correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald writing wider date London, December sth). In London it was quite gay. Her Majesty's birthday evoked tender memories; but the illuminations were as splendid as ever, and the interlaced A shone conspicuous all over the town. A Royal salute was fired m St. James' Park, and there was gay music when the guard was mounted at St. James' Palace. Our beautiful Queen was the toast at all the public dinners that night. I sitt ia the gallery of the Hotel Cecil listening to a group of Empirebuilders setting forth the promise of British North. Borneo, and noted the enthuiasm with which the Royal toasts were drunk. The King Ls simply wonderful. He has been shooting nil through this cold bleak weather and apparently takes no harm. The Princess of Wales is domiciled at iSandringham Cottage for some time, but m. the early part of the new real* she and her family take up their residence m Mwrlborougli House, and from that centre will assume a. more important part socially than their small quarters at York House afforded. ! All the Royalties are now furnished with London residences, and one and a,ll they pky a great part m the cliarities for winch this country is so justly famous.