Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/20

LAUGHXIN. 8 versity of Chicago. He took an active part in the work of the Alonetary Commission, and wrote the important report of that body. His other writings are an abridgment of John Stuart Mill's Political Econumy (1884) ; History of Hi- mHallism in the United States (1885) ; Elements of Political Economy (1887) ; Facts About Moneu (1895). " LAUGHTER (AS. hleahlor, from hlwhhan, IkI. Iihija. c;<ith. hlahjan, OHO. hlalihan, lahh<in, Uer. lachen, to laugh; probably imitative in origin). A form of expression (q.v.) of the pleasurable emotions. In the smile, which is probably genetically a feeble successor of the laugh, the corners of the mouth arc drawn up- ward and backward, and the cheeks are raised, by the contraction of the great zygomatic muscles; the upper lip is slightly raised; the ui)per and lower eyelids are somewhat apprn.xi- mated by the contraction of the orbicular muscles; the eyes are brightened owing to their greater ten.seness, which results from these mus- cular contractions or from the increased blood- pressure within the eyeball. The 'graduation' of the smile into the laugh is characterized by the enhancement and spread of the motor phe- nomena: the mouth is opened; there are deep inspirations, followed by short, spasmodic, ex- piratory movements, especially of the dia- phragm; the vocal cords are contracted, givinw the ty|>ical sounds of laughter. In violent, spas*^ modie laughter, the respiratory disturbances are increased; there are also circulatory changes (ipiickcncd pulse, congested face) ; glandular tfis- eharges (secretion of tears) ; distortions of the wliolc body, usually by throwing the head back and curving the trunk backward: and involun- tary and purposeless movements of the limbs. The causes of laughter are not always easy of assignment. It seems to be primarily" the ex- pression of mere joy or happiness (notably in the ease of children), yet it may be incited by what seem to be purely physiological aoencies e.g. tickling, cold, hysteria. .-Ind even snnie kinds ot acute i.ain. Furthermore, in the adult it is also provoked by 'the ludirrniis.' and. indeed IS so far dependent upon this factor that some Walters regard laughter as always and intrinsic- ally a response to a ludicrous situation Thus Hobbes says that laughter is "a sudden glory arising from a sudden conception of some em'i- nency in ourselves by comparison with the in- firmity of others or with our own formerly." This may satisfactorily answer .Spencer's question— What induces us to laur.|i on readin" that the corpulent Gibbon was unable to rise from his knees after making «i tender declaration "—but it IS hard to believe that, as some assert we laugh at the 'infirmity' or degradation of man- kind when wo arc told that the Chinese man- ri.arin who committed suicide by eating <;oId-Ieaf died of a consciousness of inward guilt." Still less IS thi's proposition suited to the e.xplanation of that laughter which is merely the indication of extreme pleasure, or abundant 'animal spirits' To explain this. Herbert Spencer invokes the principle of 'dynamoffenesis'; he reduces the dis- play of muscular excitement to physiological con- ditions, in terms of the discharge of enemy through the pathways of the nervous system Laughter may be produced hy strong feelin" of almost any kind: its movements are purposeTess and thus symptomatic of uncontrolled nervous LAUNCESTON. discharge. The overflow takes place along the easiest and most used routes, i.e. to the facial, articulatory, and respiratory muscles. The laugh- ter at the ludicrous (which is always a 'descend- ing incongruity,' a drop from great to small) is similarly due to the fact that "a large amount of nervous energj-, instead of being allowed to expend it.self in producing an equivalent amount of the new thoughts and emotions which were nascent, is suddenly checked in its How. The excess must discharge itself in some other direction, and there results an efflux through the motor nerves to various muscles, producing the half-convulsive actions we term laughter." Dar- win concludes that, in adult laughter, the person must be in a generally pleasant mood, and that usually something incongruous, unaccountable, exciting surprise, and some sense of superiority must be the cau.se. He finds the conditions of laughter at the ludicrous strikingly analogous to those of laughter at tickling. BiBUOGRAPiiY. Bell, The Anatomy and Philos- ophy of Expression as Connected u'lth the Fine Arts (7th ed., London, 189:5) ; Darwin, The Ex- pression of the Emotions in Man and Animals iXcw York, 1890); .Atantegazza, Physiognomy and Expression, Contemporary Science Series (London, 1884); Spencer, "TJie Physiology of Laughter," in Essays: Scientific, Politienl' and Speculative (Xew York, 1804); Titchener Out- Ime of Psychology (Xew York, 1899); Hecker, Physiologic itnd Psychologic des Lachens und des Komischen (Berlin, 187:?) ; Sully, An Essay on Laughter (Xew York, 1902). LAUGIER, 16'zhyfi', Paul Auou.ste Ernest (is I. '-72). A French astronomer. He was bom in 1 aris and studied at the Polyteehnique and at the Observatory under Arago. He was elected member of the Academy of Sciences in 1S4.'? and was afterwards attached to the Bureau of Longi- tudes. He was esi)ecially well known for his work on the sun-spots and on the solar equator; wrote Reeherches snr la rotation du solril autou'r dc son centre de graritc (1841); studied the construction of a portable meridian circle- and contributed to the Comptes rendus of the Acad- emy of Sciences. LAU'MONTITE (named in honor of its dis- coverer, L:uimont). A hydrated calcium alumi- num silicate that crystallizes in the monoclinic system. It is transparent or translucent (becom- ing opaque and pulverulent on exposure) with a vitreous lustre that is pearly on the faces of cleavage, and white to yellowish-gray and .some- times red in color. Laumontite occurs in cavitic* in amygdaloid, porphyry, syenite, trap, gneiss and sometimes in veins in cjay-slate. The prin- cipal localities are the Faroe islands, Greenland, Bohemia. Switzerland, the Hebrides, Nova Sco- tia, and in the United States at Phippsbiir" Me Bergen Hill. X. .J., and the northern shore of Lake Superior. It is classed with the zeolites. LAtTN, loun, Friedrich. The pseudonym of the (Jcrman novelist Friedrich August Schuize (q.v.). " LAUNCESTON, Inn'ston or lon'son. Until 18.38 the capital of Cornwall. England, on the Kensey. a tributary of the Tamar. 21 miles northeast of Bodmin (Map: England. BO). It is a very old town, prominently associated with the history of Cromwell, and has remains of a ^orman castle given by the Conqueror to the