The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-03-20
APES AT THE LONDON zoo
MISS sALLVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Tender "Reminiscences of the Late Mr..
Crowley = Availability of the Bald
Headed Chimpanzee-A study
For students of Darwinism.

LAO <~OOAbEANdt GUILTY. nave a
good collection of anthropoid apes in their
gardens at the present time, says the Lon
don Saturday ReUielr, consisting of four
specimens. The well-known bald-headed
chimpanzee Sally; young one OF the same
species obtained in December last;
young, common chimpanzee, which was
p ;esented to the society in May 1888, and
asilvery gibbon, which has been in the
gardens since November, having also been
presented to the society; this, like the last
two, is young animal. 1t will thus be
seen that two out of the three known gen.
era of anthropoid apes are now repre-
scented; the third was so until quite recent
ly by young orang (Simia sat3rlB;) this,
however, was not the property of the So
ciety, having only been placed in the col
lection con deposit, and has, we regret
to say, been removed by its owners.
These animals are not only of great in
terest to naturalists, especially Sally"
and her younger sister" but a source of
never-ending amusement to the people who
all day crowd the house in which they are
NohAAhNNs ~ AAeANQA elAobo lAAC DdANA-lANdQCO
chimpanzees are specially interesting, as
though the species was described by Du
Chaillu, who claimed to have discovered
it, and named it Troglodytes calvus-no
living specimen had been seen, in this
country at least, until Sally was OBJ
tanned in October, 1888, and the
young one recently added to the col
lection, is only the second that
has been brought to this country alive.
Du Chaillu gave a very interesting ac-
count of this appetite native name of
which he tells us is Nshiego mbouve; he
describes it as building for itself nest, or
rather roof, under which to sleep, of leafy
branches, ingeniOusly tied with vines to
the tree in which the nest is built, and
adds: "The tying Is done so neatly, and
the roof is so well constructed that, until
saw the Nshiego actually occupying his
habitation, | could scarce persuade my
self that human hands had not built it"
The material for the nests is, he tells us,
gathered by both male and female; but
the former alone acts az builder, and the
two do not occupy the same nest, or even
tree, but have separate habitations not far
apart.
Du Chaillu obtained several specimens
of this new ape, one OF which is now in
the British museum; but considerable
doubt was expressed whether they were
not simply varieties of of the common
chimpanzee. These doubts have, how
ever, been set at rest by the acquisition of
Sally and her younger sister," and as the
latter is of about the same age as the So
ciety's specimen of the common chimpan-
- -
easy to compare them, and we imagine
that most persons will agree with Du
Chaillu, who said: 81 was at once struck
with the points of difference between it
(the Nshiego) and the chimpanzee. Its
great distinction was its bald head. This
is its mark" There are, however, other
very noticeable differences, not the least
OF these being the difference in color of
the faces of the two animals. The young
bald-headed chimpanzee is at present
dark brown, but will, no doubt, should
she arrive at maturity, become, like Sally,
perfectly coal black, for Du Chaillu tells
us that the face of young one ne cap
tured was "pure white-Yery white, in
deed-pallid, but as white as a white
child's," though its mother was las black
as SCOT in the face" and that the young
are invariably light in color, becoming
darker as they arrive at maturity.
Sally has spent more than five years in
Regents park, having been acquired by
the society in October, 1888, and is proba-
bly, better known than any other inhabi-
tant OF the gardens. There is a great deal
that is quantity human about her; but
DR.. Brookes, a writer OF the last century,
went too far when he said of the Chin
panzee that ''all the joints bear an exact
l. fov, -, Of, ~
that one egg cannot be more like unto
another; the fingers, thumbs, and toes are
an exact representation of those of a hui
man creature, and he has calves in the
same manner" She is very intelligent
and well educated; so we'll educated in
deed, that one is apt TO forget that many
of her actions are not natural to her, but
are the result of education. As a notice
able example how many, we wonder, who
see her fed are aware that she does not
take her food in perfectly natural man
ner? Yet, if they observe the young and
uneducated apes in the next cage they
will see that instead of lifting the tin con-
tanning their milky food to their mouths
as she does, they stoop down and take the
food from the tin on the ground.
Sally also uses a spoon with such deX-
terity that even this action seems natural
to her, and, like the chimpanZee de-
scribed by DIR. Brookes, she will, when
she has done drinking, wipe her mouth
as carefully as any person whatever"
Her education has, however, not been
confined to table manners; in fact, they
are among the least of her accomplish
ments, the greatest of which isthat she is
able to count up to five, picking up and
handing to her keeper, without mistake,
the number of straws that he may ask
for. Her method of procedure is curious,
as she puts all the straws in her mouth
with the exception of the last one. For
example, if she is asked for five, she puts
four in her mouth, picks up the fifth and
hands the whole number to her keeper.
She can appreciate size as we'll as num-
bers, as is proved by the fact that she will
at command pick up a long or short
straw, or, when pieces OF fruit of different
sizes are placed before her, take the
largest, the smallest, or the middle-sized
piece as directed by her keeper. She also
has an idea of color, or at least can distin-
guish between a light and dark straw !;
for, being asked for a black straw, she
will hunt in her litter until she finds a
really dark one.
These, though they do not exhaust the
list, are among the most wonderful of her
accomplishments; but they are apparently
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