Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-15
THE LAUGH AND SMILE
Modern Society Charged W it'll
Restraining Both.
NEW FIELD OF STUDY
SCIENTISTS MEASURE LAUGHTER
BY INSTRUMENTS.
Characteristic Sound Symbols Analyz-
ed-Ticklish Sub
jects.
NEW FIELD OF STUDY

Copyright. 1908, by John Elfreth Watkins, jr.)
Written for The Evening Star
Man, the laughing animal is forget
ting how to laugh.
His restraint Of visibility is due to the
dictates Of society to the sharp class an
tagonisms of the present day; to a disap-
pearance of the human spirit Of play; to a
whole alteration of temper in the mass of
the people,"
So says DR.. James Sully, the eminent
psychologist. Here are his words: These
signs may well make the friend of laugh
ter sad. There is nothing unreasonable in
the idea of a death of all the more joyous
and refreshing mrth. The utilities give us
no pledge of a final survival of the merry
impulse
Is this mere pessimist's dream? The
learned man has just compiled great
mass of data which support his theory.
With these in mind and carefully analysed
he makes bold to say more:
1.-THE reservoir which in the past supplied
the stream of national gaiety has certainly
fallen and. threatens to dry up.
Leaders of the high society tell us that
loud laughter is prohibited by it's code of
proprieties. The middle class, in which the
imitation of social superiors grows into
solemn cult, has naturally adopted this idea
from the upper class. At social entertain
mentS you will find men and women who
meet your playful challenge only with a
niggardly giggle which they instantly sup
press. Poor distracted souls. unable for
moment to free themselves from the chaos
of social claims which haunts them"
The Society Laugh.
Commenting on the cynicism of this
later social laughter as that of the I'M
scrupulous who are amused by conscien-
tiousness in their fellows. he describes its
readily distinguishable tones: Now the
thin wiry note of contempt, which issues
from the superior person; now the rough
brazen sound buried by the holder lips of
the roue."
Psychologists here and abroad have late
ly been industriously at work building
a science of laughter. They found no foun-
dation stones already laid.
Some have been applying strange instru-
mentS which actually measure the laugh
and the smile and record not merely dim"n-
SionS but actually motions thereof. These
have ben applied not only to the mouth
and facial muscles active in visibility. but
to the organs of the throat which give vent
to the audible manifestations of the merry
impulse. These mechanisms automatically
draw diagrams of your smiles and laughter,
upon paper.
Such instruments prove that the smile
is merely an incomplete laugh. The perfect
smile is characterized by a drawing back
and slight lifting of the corners of the
mouth. raising of the upper lip-w Eich
partially uncoverS the teeth-a curving of
the burrows between the corners of the
mouth and the nostrils. the formation of
wrinkles under the eyes, contraction o.
the adjacent muscles and pressure of the
raised cheek, causing increased brightness
of the eyes, which latter condition is due
also to acceleration of circulation in the
eye balls. This is the sincere, unsOphis-
ticated smile of children and unrestrained
adults.
Restraint of the Smile.
Among the cultivated classes of a civil
lied community says DR.. Sully, this
primitive smile is not only restrained and
modified, but serves other uses than the
confession of the elemental experiences OF
pleasure and gladness.'' Among the So
called superior class he finds 1.-The con-
temptuous SMILE" the Slightly ironical
smile" and the bitter sardonic smile as
characteristics.
The facial expression is approximately
the same in the broad smile and the gentle
laugh. The characteristics of the hearty
laugh include those of the broad smile. The
supplemental peculiarities are: The vocal
note: strong contraction of the muscles