# Wit, Humor, and Shakspeare: Twelve Essays

Author: Weiss, John, 1818-1879

Genre: Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches

Language: English

License: Public domain

Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65060

Amazon editions: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Wit%2C+Humor%2C+and+Shakspeare%3A+Twelve+Essays+Weiss&tag=cyberlibrar00-20

## Summary

This Subject is best reached from the point of reflecting that, of all the animals, man alone appears to be capable of laughter. If, as so many naturalists now claim, man has ascended by successive evolutions of varieties from a lower animal type, we ought to be able to find some germs of the laughing propensity among our ancestors. The first witness we summon on this question is the anatomist, because the physical expression that accompanies an act of laughter depends upon the connection of the respiratory nerves with the diaphragm below and the orbicular and straight muscles of the mouth above. But these muscles are not perfectly developed in the animals. When dogs are fondly gambolling...

## Chapters

- [Part 21](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/21/index.md)
- [Part 2](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/2/index.md)
- [Part 10](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/10/index.md)
- [Part 4](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/4/index.md)
- [Part 11](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/11/index.md)
- [Part 3](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/3/index.md)
- [Part 8](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/8/index.md)
- [Part 23](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/23/index.md)
- [Part 19](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/19/index.md)
- [Part 24](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/24/index.md)
- [Part 7](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/7/index.md)
- [Part 22](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/22/index.md)
- [Part 13](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/13/index.md)
- [Part 6](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/6/index.md)
- [Part 14](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/14/index.md)
- [Part 12](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/12/index.md)
- [Part 9](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/9/index.md)
- [Part 15](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/15/index.md)
- [Part 20](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/20/index.md)
- [Part 25](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/25/index.md)
- [Part 1](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/1/index.md)
- [Part 17](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/17/index.md)
- [Part 18](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/18/index.md)
- [Part 5](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/5/index.md)
- [Part 16](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/16/index.md)
- [Part 26](https://www.cyberlibrary.org/en/books/wit-humor-and-shakspeare-twelve-essays-65060/chapters/26/index.md)