[21] Angell and Thompson in the article quoted above suppose that the whole dilation of the capillaries during laughter is a secondary effect of sudden changes in the breathing. This seems a reasonable conclusion. Yet since, according to these writers, smiling as well as mild laughter causes gentle changes of the same kind, it seems possible that we have here, in a disguised form, the working of the general law stated by these writers: that agreeable experiences are accompanied by dilation of the peripheral blood-vessels. [22] See _The Expression of the Emotions_, chap, vi., p. 163. It is curious to note that Mulcaster and the recent physiologists referred to above claim a beneficial influence for “a good cry” as well as for laughter. But they do not seem explicitly to put them on the same level as occasional exercises. [23] Maria’s words in _Twelfth Night_, “If you desire the spleen,” seem to point to some supposed organic disturbance due to immoderate laughter. [24] _Op. cit._, pp. 207 and 213. [25] Prof. James seems to admit this in his smaller work, _Psychology_, p. 384. [26] On the Contagion of Laughter, see Raulin, _Le Rire_, p. 98 ff. [27] It has been pointed out by an ingenious French writer, L. Dugas—whose work, _Psychologie du rire_, has appeared while my volume is passing through the press—that even a wild, uncontrollable laughter, “le fou rire,” in spite of its elements of suffering, remains to a large extent a pleasurable experience (_see_ pp. 25, 26). [28] The French language is particularly rich in its vocabulary under this head, including expressions like “rire du bout des dents” and “du bout des lèvres” (_cf._ Homer’s expression, ἐγέλασσεν χείλεσιν), “rire dans sa barbe,” and others like “rire jaune”. [29] _Sartor Resartus_, Bk. I., chap. iv. [30] Article on “Ticklishness” in the _Dictionary of Psychological Medicine_. He adds that ticklishness is not locally coincident with sensitiveness to pain. On the other hand, Dr. Charles Richet remarks that the parts most sensitive to tickling are the parts richest in tactile nerves. Article “Chatouillement,” _Dictionnaire de Physiologie_. [31] See Wundt, _Physiolog. Psychologie_ (4te Auflage), Bd. i., pp. 434–5. According to this authority the propagation of the stimulation may be either direct from one sensory fibre to another, or indirect, involving muscular contractions and muscular sensations. [32] See Külpe, _Outlines of Psychology_, p. 148. [33] See the article on “The Psychology of Tickling, Laughing, and the Comic,” by G. S. Hall and A. Allin, in the _American Journal of Psychology_, vol. ix., p. 1 ff. These returns do not make it quite clear whether “ticklishness” is taken to mean the non-laughing as well as the laughing varieties.