The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-09-25
THE DISEASES OF MONKEYS.
An Animal Dealer Talks Of'tbe Ravages %
Toothache, Seasickness and Pugnacity.

An Animal Dealer Talks oftbe Ravages OF
Toothache, Seasickness and Pugnacity.
'sThe chimpanzee, began Mr.. Frank J.
THOMPSON, an animal dealer of New York
city. lis like the other members of the ape
family. a very tender ind delicate animal,
requiring great care in captivity. The
monkeys proper, or the quadruman MA
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 few years at the most. Of
course there are occasional exceptions, and
I myself have kept or have known Of
specimens 10 or 10 years old.
fsMr. Crowley is believed to be the old
est of the chinipanzees, having arrived at
the park on June "a, 1884, when he was
but little bit of fellow, foot and
half or two feet high. Mr.. Conklin 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
haunts of the chimpanzee 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-
monia, diarrh9a, bronchitis, catarrh,
Group, asthma, toothache, commissions
and seasickness to attend to among my
monkey stock.
''Only the other day I 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-
sickrc., were among these lively little
tnimals. Horses, sheep and cattle do not
seem ever to be affected. but monkeys
and all flesh eating animals, such as lions,
tigers, bears and leopards, are very badly
attacked. Another disease which has not
been much noticed was one from which 8
big gorilla in the Berlin Geological gar
denS died few years ago. 1t was dis,
covered at the inquest that his death had
been caused by mass Of pins which our
charitable visitors had fed him.
"And talking about Diseases" contin-
ned hIr. Thompson, '1ook 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 bonnet monkey" said Mr..
Thompson, (which is just recovering
from an attack of pneumonia it had some
days ago. I 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 it
had nuiet and afthouph exDected If I'm
die, nevertheless, with tender treatment,
nourishing food and stimulants, it has
come out all right.
'tAnd there is another disease which is
at present very prevalent and that is pug
nacity. Monkeys take to it as naturally
as their more civilized descendants, and
this little monkey here is an evidence
of it."
As he was speaking, Mr.. Thompson
went over to the largest cage and pointed
out little grayish female monkey, which
Immediately came to the bars, evidently
expecting some peanuts or other deli
cacies. On close inspection her HUse was
seen to be broken just above thu bridge.
GIVE christened her Miss Slugger, -
observed Mr.. Thompson, ''and 1 have
often wondered in what great prize fight
she received her Disagreement.
cit is the liability to disease of the
monkey family which accounts for the
small number Of them carried around by
circuses. The least draught is apt to
bring on q fatal cold. Why. if had a
chimpanzee now believe ! could not sell
it. No manager wants them, for they re-
quire more care than they are worth. On
this account it is impossible to place any
definite price upon them.-NeW York
Evening Sun.