JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post   Outsider Logic series

 I’m not sure what is going on or not going on in these diagrams/charts from the unusually-titled proto-outider-humorist  Concerning Irascible Strong and Trixie-Cunning, and their sons: Cunning-Strong, Skilful-Strong, Simple-Strong, Tricksy-Cunning, and their descendants, by William H. Smyth (and printed in 1926).  It is a lot of title to live up to.  Or down to.  In any event, the meaning behind it all is a mystery to me, but the mystery behind not wanting to know what it was all about is not a mystery at all–after all, isn’t a plate of spaghetti prettier as a mess than it is all straightened out? 

 I suspect that this was intentional as an intended mess of confusion, but I really don’t need to know if this was a humorous work or not. But Mr. Smyth did produce a very involved display of something or other:

 [Source for graph images: here (Flickr account for Johnxlibris]