LAUGHTEK. 53 



oppose them and draw the mouth widely open. 

 The effect of a ludicrous idea is to relax the former, 

 and to contract the latter; hence, by lateral 

 stretching of the mouth, and a raising of the cheek 

 to the lower eyelid, a smile is produced. The lips 

 are, of all the features, the most susceptible of 

 action, and the most direct indices of the feelings. 

 If the idea be exceedingly ridiculous, it is in vain 

 that we endeavour to restrain this relaxation, and 

 to compress the lips. The muscles concentrating 

 to the mouth prevail, and become more and more 

 influenced; they retract the lips, and display the 

 teeth. The cheeks are more powerfully drawn up, 

 the eyelids wrinkled, and the eye almost concealed. 

 The lachrymal gland within the orbit is compressed 

 by the pressure on the eyeball, and the eyes suffused 

 with tears." 



Here an exceedingly ludicrous " idea " is spoken 

 of as an antecedent and cause of certain movements 

 of the face and other parts. Movements have been 

 shown to be expressive of emotions ; anything 

 which indicates the movement is equally expressive 

 of the emotions. When we look at a watch, we 

 are quite satisfied that the spring and the train of 

 wheels are in motion if we see the movement 

 of the hands, because moving of the hands is 

 necessarily a result of the movement of the wheels 

 within, and nothing else could cause the hands to 

 move continuously. 



In many cases the results of movements are 

 equally expressive with the movements themselves; 

 it may be that the result of movement is more 



