Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-03-07
Jokes and Sorrow.

Jokes ana SORROW.
Hobbies, the eminent philosopher,
said man is the only animal that laughs
aud weeps. Mr.. Hobbies lived many
years ago. but his remarb, which Is
often quoted as an aphor;sm, lacks that
important ingredient which is not al
ways attached to every patent medicine
Advertisement-truth- There are ami
mails that both laugh and weep. There
are, or me contrary. races of men, like
the American Indians and Cingalese
Veddas, which do not laugh.
Two essentials are needed in order to
produce the physical phenomenon Of
laughter in ma1-first, facial, vocal, or
other muscles, including the diaphragm,
and second, the emotions or ideas which
give rise 10 laughter. Certain animals
possess both these essentials. The
gor LA possesses the facial muscles, and
Darwin claims that various monkeys
have them. All the mammalia. in COM
mon with man. have the diaphragm,
which is capable of spasmodic action.
The chimpanzee is said to smile. The
smile of the It'll monkey is q playful
one. The dog can both smile and grin,
whether affection or pleasure, hypocrisy
or cunning dictate. Dogs distinguish
the different kinds of laughter. they
note the distinction between that which
Is goOd-humored and that which is sar-
castle. They are sensitive TO ridicule,
yet not infrequently try to produce
laughter in man, and deep is their morti-
fication if they fail. Romance tells us
of Skye terrier that tried to amuse his
master and provoke his laughter by GER
tain tricks it had taught itself, and was
sulky II its efforts proved fruitleSs. An
orang-outang in the London Geological
Gardens showed every sign of pleasure
when its practical jokes excited mems
laughter. and Rev. DIR. Wood records
the instance of tame iackdaw who en-
joyed the fun of boys games like leap
frog and tag as much as the boys did
themselves.
The parrot is a capital Laughter. He
laughs at his own practical jokes.
White, of Selbourne, speaks of the
heartiness of laughter in the woodpeck-
er. A pet magpie of Jesse's, he says in
that Incompatible History of Sell
bourne" had a laugh that was so
hearty, joyous and natural that no one
who heard it could help joining in it.
There are tales of certain swallows who
on the successful issue of practical
Joke played by them on a cat, seemed
each to set up n laugh at the disap-
pointed enemy very like the laugh of
young child when tickled. Miss
Cobbe says the goose has, perhaps, the
keenest appreciation of humor OF any
an NAL, unless it be her own arch en-
envy. the fox? And she illustrates this
assertion by the narrative of practical
joke played on a number of pigs bv a
flock OF geese. The poor porkers were
caused to run the gauntlet down lane
of geese biting Mt them with their bills,
simply to brighten them, and that the
geese night enjoy the terror and
squealing of the pigs.
Zone of my horses" says Baker
Pasha, ''out of pure amusement, kicks
at the men as they pass. and. having
succeeded several times in kicking them
into the river, he perseveres in the fun.
l believe, for lack of other employ
m"nt."
There is q certain hyena which. from
the popularity of its cry, is styled the
laughing hyena, and in Australia
there is bird-a kingfsher-w oh is
called for a similar reason the laughing
jackass. Its notes strongly resemble n
RIDE, powerful laugh. The great AT
rican traveller, Livingstone. speaks OF
the African brown Ibis, whose cry is a
loud ha-ha-ha!
As it istrue-that certain animals pos
sess the physical qualifications for
laughter, so also is it correct that they
possess all the apparatus for shedding
tears. The dog, horse, elephant, bear,
cat. donkey, mule, various deer, soko,
chimpanzee, mandrill, It'll or other mon
keys or apes, cattle, camel, giraffe.
shed tears under emotions Of grief and
sorrow. The parrot does not shed
tears, but possesses the kindred power
of bling. Chimpanzees will weep ut
dread Of punishment, monkeys and ele-
phan.s on account of Disappointing It
or modification, the Cingalesc elephant
on account OF captivity and conline-
ment, the It'll from fear, terror or fright,
the stag at bay and caycd rat from de-
spair. certain monkeys because they are
pitied, and the young soko. says DIR.
Livingstone, out of mere pettishness or
Noncompliance with his whims,
Mrs. Burton says she has seen in the
Syrian desert "tears roll down camelS'
cheeks with thirst" Some one speak
ing of a mule crippled by two-inch
nail in his foot: "His face was the pict-
ure of pan and despair. Tears streamed
out of his eyes" DR.. Livingstone re-
cords the instance of n young soko,
which. if not taken up in the arms like
a child when il desired, and appealed
to be so carried, engaged in the most
bitter human-like weeping. DIR. Boer-
lage shot female (mother) a9e in
Java that fell MORALLY wounded from a
tree clasping the young one in her arms,
and she died weeping.
A giraffe, wounded by a rifle-shot,
was also found to have tears trickling
from the lash of his dark. humid eyes.
Gordon Cumming, the African travel.
err, speaks of large tears trickling from
the eyes OF dying elephant. Some old
rats, finding a young one dead BY
drowning, wiped the tears from theil
eyes with their forepaws, says the Ani.
NAL World. Instances might be emu
merated without limit TO show that Ger
tain animals have both the physical re.
quirements for grins and tears, and are
susceptible TO the same emotions thai
cause tears and laughter in MANN y
/ Nal.
A Legend OF Niagara