I am not surprised that some people are bored when they find
themselves alone; for they cannot laugh if they are quite by
themselves. The very idea of it seems folly to them.

Are we, then, to look upon laughter as merely O signal for others--a
mere sign, like a word? What makes it impossible for people to laugh
when they are alone is nothing but want of imagination, dullness of
mind generally--[Greek: anaisthaesia kai bradutaes psuchaes], as
Theophrastus has it.[1] The lower animals never laugh, either alone
or in company. Myson, the misanthropist, was once surprised by one of
these people as he was laughing to himself. _Why do you laugh_? he
asked; _there is no one with you. That is just why I am laughing_,
said Myson.

[Footnote 1: _Characters_, c. 27.]

* * * * *

Natural _gesticulation_, such as commonly accompanies any lively talk,
is a language of its own, more widespread, even, than the language of
words--so far, I mean, as it is independent of words and alike in all
nations. It is true that nations make use of it in proportion as they
are vivacious, and that in particular cases, amongst the Italians, for
instance, it is supplemented by certain peculiar gestures which are
merely conventional, and therefore possessed of nothing more than a
local value.

In the universal use made of it, gesticulation has some analogy with
logic and grammar, in that it has to do with the form, rather