Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-04-13
THE DISEASES OF MONKEYS.
An Animal Dealer Talks Of tbe Ravases Of
r. .,thaehe Seastckness and Puonacirv

An Animal Dealer Talks Of the Ravaces OF
T.othache, seasickness and Pugnaci.y.
/ "The cbimpanzee, began Mr. Frank ].
/ Thompaon, an animal dealer of New York
city, lis like the other members of the ape
family, a very tender and de lcate animal.
requiring great care in captivity. The
monkeys proper, or the qualrums mia
having tails. are harder. Probably the
least affected by cold of any are the COM
( mon Macaque, the Rhenus, and the Orient
monkeys. all natives of Asia But,
| nevertheless, monkeys and apes require
the greatest care in handling, and, even
with this, their usual term OF life is very
short, only a few years at the most. OF
course there are occasional exceptions, and
/ myself have kept or have known of
specimens 10 or 12 years old.
''Mr. Crowley is believed to be the old
est Of the chimpanzees, having arrived at
the park on June "a, 1884, when he was
but little bit of fellow, a foot and a
half or two feet high. Mr.. Copklin used
to let him run all around his office. He
was donated by the Liberian minister,
who had bought him in Liberia from a
coasting vessel which had picked him up
somewhere near the mouth of the Congo
river, on the west coast of Africa. 1t is
in this vicinity, and especially south of
the great rivers mouth. that the native
haunts of the chimpauzee are to be found
There is nothing unusual in the pneu-
monia attack of Mr.. Crowley. Monkeys
and apes are subject TO nearly all the dis
eases of man. and when sick they should
be treated in exactly the same manner. |
have had cases of consumption, pneu-
rnonia, diarrh9a, bronchitis, catarrh,
Group, asthma, toothache, commissions
and seasickneSS to attend TO among nv
monkey stock.
"Ouly the other day / pulled out two
diseased teeth from one monkey, whose
face was all swollen up at the time Some
of the worst cases have ever seen of sea-
sickness were among these lively little
animals. Horses, sheep and cattle do not
seem ever to be affected but monkeys
and all llcsh eating animals, such as lions,
tigers, beIrs and leopards, are very badly
attacked. Another disease which has not
been much noticed was one from which a
big gorilla in tine Berlin Geological gar
Gens died a few years ago. 1t was dis
covered Mt the inquest that his death had
been caused by u mass of pins which our
charitabl" visitors had fed him.
And talking about Diseases" contin-
ued Mr.. Thompson, ''iook here" And he
went up TO one of the many cages in the
room in which he and the reporter were
sitting. Within it could be distinguished
a little black mass, huddled up in cor
ner, chattering and showing its teeth
THAT is a bonnet monkey" said Mr.. |
Thompson, (which is Just recovering |
from al attack Of pneumonia it had some |
days ago. / took it from that big cage |
over there" And he pointed to one in |
which half dozen monkeys were noisily |
playing romps. In the smaller cage il |
bad quiet, and although l expected it to |
die, nevertheless, with tender treatment, |
food aud stimulants, it has |
come out all right.
"And there is another disease which Is
1t present ver7 prevalent and that is pug
nacity. Monkeys take to it as naturally |
IS their moro civilized descendants, and |
his little monkey here is an evidence
# it."
AS ho was speaking, Mr.. Thomson
vent over to the largest cage and pointed
mt Il little srayish female monkey, which
came to the bars, evidently
expecting some peanuts or other deli
,acies. On close inspection her nose was
een 10 be broken just above the bridge.
"Ire christoned her Miss Slugcer,'"
observed Nr. Thompson, ''and l have
'ften wondered in what great prize fight
he received her Disagreement
1t is the habili y to disease of the
monkey family which accounts for the
mall number of them carried around by
ircuses. The least draught Is apt to
'ring CD fatal cold. Why if / had
hiDlpanzee now believe could not sell
I. No manager wants them, for they re-
uirc more care than they are worth. On
his account il is impossible TO place any
eanite price upon them.-New York
,venins Sun.