The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-12
e COUNT g CHlMPANzEE.
The Remarkable Exploits OF an APP

The Remarkable Exploits OF an Ape.
From the London Nature.
The female chimpanzee which has now
been in the societys menagerie for nearly
six years has attracted general notice, not
only on account of her peculiar geological
character, but perhaps still more on ac-
count of hor high intelligence This is
consplCuOusly displayed by the remarkable
degree in which she is able to understand
tnc meaning of spoken language-a degree
which is fully equal TO that presented bv
an infant a few months before emerging
from infancy, and therefore higher than
that which is presented by any other brute,
SO far, at least, as | have met with any
evidence to show.
"Nevertheless, the only attempts that she
makes by the way Of vocal response are
three peculiar grunting noiseS-one indica-
tive of assent or affirmation, another VERY
closely resembling the first of dissent or
negaton, and the third quite different
from the other two Of thanks or recogni-
ton o. favorS. In disposition she is some
what caprlclous, though on the whole good
humored fond of her keepers, and appar-
emily never tired of a kind of banterinc
play which off and on they keep up with
her continually. BY vocalizng in a pecu-
liar moIotone Gnntative of the beginning
of her own 'song1 they are usually able to
excite her into the performance of re-
markable series of actions.
First she shoots out her lip into the
well-known tubular form depicted in Oar
wins Expression of the Emotions1, while
at the same time she sings a strange howl
ing note interrupte at regular intervals:
| these, however, rapidly become shorter
and shorter, while the vocalizati)n becomes
louder and louder, windi & up to a climax OF
shrieks and yells, often accompanied with
drumming Of the hind feet and a vigorous
shaking of the network which constitutes
her cage. This whole performance ends
with few grunts
"a year or two ago 1t occurred to me
that | might try some psychological expari-
ments on the intelligence of this animal The
circumS,a ices in which she is placed. no
ever, did not prove favorable for ANYTHING
like systematic instruction. Being con-
stanJly exposed to the gaze of number of
people cominE and going, and having her
attention easily distracted by them' the
ape was practically available for purposes
| OF tuition only during the ca ly hours of
the morning, before the menegarie is open
to the public, and, aS a rule, did not find
1t convenient to attend at that time There
fore the results wnic | an about t. de-
scribe do not, in my opinion, represent what
might fairly have been expected undar
moro favorable conditions; if the chin
pa zee could have been kept as a domestic
get for few months las l kept tho Cebls
kindly lent me for the purpose of psyche
| logical Oh ervation by thlS socieCy). taere
can he no doubt that many much more in
| teresting results might have been obtained
Nevertheless, 1t appears t. me that even
| those which have thus far been obtained
are worthy of being placed on record.
Having enlisted the intelligent co-opera-
ton OF e keepers, | requ stei the 4 to ask
the ape repeatedly for one straw, two straws.
or three straws. These she was to pick up
and hand out from amo the litter in her
! cage. constant order was to be observ d
In making these requests, but, Whenever
! she han led nu nber not asked for, her offer
was refused, while if she gave tae proper
number her offer was accepted, and Sne re-
celvei piece of fruit as payment. In this
way the ape was eventually taught to asso-
clate heSe tn ee numbers with their names
Lastly, If two straws or three stra were
demanded, she was taught to hold one
straw or two straws in her mouth until she
had picket up the remaining straw, and then
TO hand the two StrawS or tue three Stra VS.
toge her. This prevented a " p lSsible error
arising from her Interpretation of vocal
tones-an error which might we'll have
arisen If each straw had been asked for
separately
''As soon as the animal understood what
was required, and had learned to associat e
these three numbers with their names, she
never failed to give the number of straws
asked for. Her education was then extend
ed IN similar manner, from three to four and
from four to five. Here. for reasons to be
presently stated, allowed her eduaation to
terml ate But mJre recently one of the
keepers has endeavored TO adva ce her in
structlon as far as ten. The result, how.
ever, is what might have been anucipated
Although she very rarely makes any mis-
take III handing out one. two three four
five straws, according to the number asked
for, and although she is usually accurate IN
handing out as many as six or seven when
the numbers eight, nine or ten are named.
the result becomes more and more uncer-
tain, 50 as to be suggestive OF guesswork. 1t
is evident, however. that she understand,
the words seven, eight nine and tie to be-
token numbers higher than those be.oS
them; tor if she is asked for any of the e
numbers Il. G., above six, she always gives
SO ne number that is above six an not
more than ten; but there is no sucu con-
slant accurac} displayed in handing out