NATURE, ORIGIN AND FUNCTION OF RUMOR 145 



the plains. Swift rhythmic movements of organic life in the large, 

 and the orderly expression of life processes, as the heart-beat, the 

 mystery of sleep, birth and death, may inspire awe and dread, but 

 never humor. 



There is a large group of objects and actions which incite feelings 

 of contempt, disgust and loathing, such as parasites, creeping and 

 slimy things, filth, skin and eye diseases, all forms of tyranny, 

 treachery, poltroonery, ingratitude and, according to Bain, " the entire 

 catalogue of the vanities given by Solomon." 



All common and customary activities and events and objects of 

 familiar notice constitute, so far as the pleasure-pain field is concerned, 

 an indifferent zone. 



By this eliminating process it appears that the conditions averse to 

 humor are: (1) The macroscopic things of the world, including her 

 laws, order, harmony and rhythm, (2) those things which are inimical 

 to life and freedom, (3) those things, largely of the social order, that 

 have become habituated, regular in occurrence and necessary to human 

 comfort. 



(b) Humorous Stimuli 



There remain for consideration : (1) Animals and their actions, (2) 

 man, (3) his actions, (4) clothes, (5) customs and manners, (6) 

 words, language and thought. 



1. Animals. — The statements that " There is no comic outside of 

 what is properly human," and that the lower life and inanimate objects 

 provoke humor only when endowed with human qualities, are perhaps 

 true and the many exceptions pimply prove the rule. Small animals, 

 like small people, are more likely to provoke humor than large ones. 

 The bantams and games, are the clowns and Don Quixotes of poultry- 

 dom, while the Plymouth Rocks and Shanghais are the prosaic members. 

 The poodles, terriers and spaniels are the fun-makers of the kennel; 

 the St. Bernards, great Danes and bulldogs command our serious 

 respect and sometimes more. When an animal of one class does the 

 task common to an animal of quite a different class, it is apt to pro- 

 voke humor. An ox in shafts drawing a top buggy, mules, asses or 

 buffalos running a race, an elephant drawing a chariot are examples. 

 But if the animal is set to doing a human task the humor is intensified. 

 The inimitable iEsop, endowing animals with human craft and quali- 

 ties, made this style of humor classical for all time. It appears in 

 modern humor in the stunts of Johnny Bear, in the clever tricks of 

 Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and in the county fairs, charity balls, 

 political conventions, clinics for appendicitis and the like conducted by 

 clivers species humanly socialized. 



2. Man. — Man may provoke humor by his size, especially if ex- 

 tremes meet. The undersized is likely to amuse— especially in his pre- 



VOL. IiXXIII. — 10. 



