Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-03-20
The Chinpanzees.

The ChimpanZees in the Garden, in
New York, are of more value than many
gorillas, and they will never hug their
fellow man to death, nor carry off a
beautiful frightened maiden to their
lair. They are about two feet long,
weigh nearly twenty pounds each, and
are supposed to be three years old.
When full grown they will be five feet
long. Their faces, hands and feet, have
mild mulatto flesh color, and their
bodies are covered with coarse black
hair, two or three inches in length.
The height of their foreheads is one
inch; their eyes are round and hazel
brown; their noses are well-nigh fiat !;
their jaws are as prominent as some ne
groes' jaws, their teeth resemble the
teeth of children, their ears are large
and hairless. They laugh, and grin,
and pout, and put their finger in their
mouths and look silly. Their prevail
ing expression is one of sadness, not
unmixed with satisfaction. One of
them, the male, is not at all well, hav-
ing slight cough, night sweats, and
an impaired appetite, and being threat
ened with pulmonary consumption.
Like his mate he came from Congo,
Africa, and is the first importation Of
the sort to this country.
"You will see," said their superin-
tendent, 'that they differ somewhat
from gorillas. The gorilla has black
face, but the chimpanzee fiesh-color-
ed one; the gorilla has larger arms,
and, when full grcwn, a larger brain
and facial angle" Here the female
chimpanzee stuck her tongue out and
then put her finger in her mouth.
sBut BOTH" continued the speaker,
"have protruding negro lips. The 60
rilla's forefinger and third finger are
partly united, but the chimpanzee'
fingers are all as distinct as a mans.
A chimpanzee will point with his fore
finger" Here the female chimpanzee
assumed an incredulous expression and
buried her face in blanket.
"What do you feed them with.''
"With what babies get," he replied {;
with milk, biscuits, and so on"
The resemblance between the crea-
lures and human beings was constantly
on the superintendent's lips. This man
is a Darwinian of the first water. He
expatiated fondly upon the structure
of the females foot, showing that
though her great toe was perhaps alb
normally developed, yet that the foot
was a real foot, and could not truthful
ly be called hand, 81 threw he said,
"a biscuit into her cage the other day.
1t was a little difficult of access, but she
scratched for it until she got it. The
next day / showed her another biscuit.
What did she do but 90 to the very same
SPOT and scratch again, The association
of ideas, you see; the genuine working
of the BRAIN"
''Come here, Wallie," he exclaimed,
going to the other end of the cage, and
addressing what he takes to be his cou-
Sill. Ills Wdtti anu
she had been attracted by it. Then,
opening the door, he extended his arms
to her; she jumped into them and
threw her arms about his neck. "They
are affectionate creatures" he observ-
ed, "they don't like to be alone"
When they laugh, it needs only a
more perfect facial expression to make
the act seem human; when they grin,
they stretch their mouths from ear to
ear; when they are displeased, they
pucker and push out their lips as chill
dren sometimes do. The superinten-
dent is dectoring his consumptive pa
tient, but he declined to tell what medi-
cine he is using, because "eyery doctor
who reads what you write will think
that another remedy might have been
better one." Meanwhile, the sick
chimpanzee, with deeply pathetic,
woebegone expression, was cuddled to
his keepers breast. He cannot talk,
' but he keeps up deal Of thinking.