Karl Ludwig was a professor of anatomy. One day he was removing the brain of a frog for his medical students. He wanted to show them that if only a little piece were left behind, the reflexes of the frog’s body would work, because they did not depend on the brain.

No sooner had the professor removed the frog’s brain, than it took one big long leap and plopped right into the face ofone of the medical students seated in the first row of the class.

The rest of the students screamed with delight. When finally quieted down, the professor remarked in his dry way, “You now see, ladies and gentlemen, how little brain is needed to make a whole class laugh.”

- Walther Birkmayer