' The motive of contempt for the unfamiliar accounts for long
hair (worn by a man). Remains one item unexplained. How can mirth
possibly be evoked by the notion of bad cheese? Having racked my
brains for the solution, I can but conjecture that it must be the mere
ugliness of the thing. Why any one should be amused by mere ugliness I
cannot conceive. Delight in cruelty, contempt for the unfamiliar, I
can understand, though I cannot admire them. They are invariable
elements in children's sense of humour, and it is natural that the
public, as being unsophisticated, should laugh as children laugh. But
any nurse will tell you that children are frightened by ugliness. Why,
then, is the public amused by it? I know not. The laughter at bad
cheese I abandon as a mystery. I pitch it among such other insoluble
problems, as Why does the public laugh when an actor and actress in a
quite serious play kiss each other? Why does it laugh when a meal is
eaten on the stage? Why does it laugh when any actor has to say
`damn'?
If they cannot be solved soon, such problems never will be solved. For
Mr. Forster's Act will soon have had time to make apparent its
effects; and the public will proudly display a sense of humour as
sophisticated as our own.
DULCEDO JUDICIORUM
When a `sensational' case is being tried, the court is well filled by
lay persons in need of a thrill.
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