Life, 1926-09-02 · page 10 of 41
Life — September 2, 1926 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous essay-illustrated page mocking rhinoceroses' anatomy and behavior. The satire uses faux-scientific language and anatomical diagrams to comically describe the rhino as: - Physically awkward: thick, crusty skin hanging in folds - Behaviorally absurd: shy despite being "combative," making "mooing, whinny" cries - Equipped with ridiculous features: the famous "fussed" tusks and busses (mouths) The cartoons show cross-sections of rhino physiology with exaggerated labels, including reproductive anatomy ("cuppa clause") and parasitic infections. The tone mimics pseudo-academic writing—using pretentious scientific terminology for a deliberately trivial subject. The humor comes from treating the ordinary rhino as if it's a bizarre, baffling creature worthy of scholarly dissection, inverting expectations about what deserves serious analysis.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life A R_H I_ N O R_H A P S$ OD /Y won't rhyme, Twarn you. WELL ¢ It seems that this Rhinoceros packs quite a Daety overplus; albeit he 1$ vigorous, for all his | carcassS mountainous. T AD oO | ener | subject's front pins, LAW, GEE-various leaers. His skin is something scandalous. *Twovld seem 'twere Quite crustaceous, as on his torse _ SO ponderous it hangs in folds ridiculous. love yOdel of an old bachelor rhinoceros. "But what”, says you, "is this to Us that you should uv and babble thus? Come, come now, do be serious. —within a certain radius. For lo! these here inoceri, though combative, are rather shy and very seldom greet the eye. They want to concentrate, that’s why. They trill their truculent defi across the Afric alkali, a mooing, whinny sort of cry. And they can yodel, if they try. ‘ aa J). O.. | cross-section of our subject's mizzen; RU-from above, UR-not. $0$-your old man. prong, Our subject are Surprising spry and autul need to pacify but they'll be goners by and by, like dodoes and the roc supply. lO-dirds. Pebees. Qcorunning brook. cemetery. S-depot. T-fusilage. U-: age. V-master's bedroom. W-pantry, the spot. Y=I don't know. Z-curtai I love to see inoceroses astoking their cesophaguses with succulent asparaguses, the perspicacious little cusses. Cross-Section of (see succeeding line) — | A-cuppa cawfee. A-earth. A-bum cigar. That's why this essay here discusses, like all | such highbrow syllabuses, these epidermic omnibuses, these horny-snooted incubuses. professor ¢. hesperian| ogers, our informant, iN a deep study. The Rhino's famous for his fusses and when he fusses, how he musses! That is the time to grab the buses and start your hasty exoduses. comicbooks.com