Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-01-16
MONKEY Talk.

II is likely that before long further
experiments will be made at the Smith
sonian regarding the powers of speecl
of apes, in which DR. Garner, one al
the honorary curators Of the insiltn-
tion, believes SO earnestly. He thinks
that monkeys really have speech in the
human sense Of the % m. " We Tin
in the lower forms of the animal king
dom,n he wrote TO me i'm private
letter the other day, that signs alone
prevail as means Of communication.
As we ascend the scale Of deyelopmen
we perceive that the signs grow more
uniform and expressive, and gradualit
we observe that they are accompanied
by sounds. Among tho higher animals
sounds are finally substituted for
signs. The number of words employ
ed by the monkey IS quite lin ted
but the same sound is modified hy
enunciation i'm such manner rs te
enlarge their language greatly. MY
observations lead NE to believe that
they possess some ten or twelve dis
tinct roots Of cardinal sounds, and
that by modulating these IN ceEai
ways they have some forty or fifty
words at their command. The firss
and simplest oral sounds are interiec-
tions, but | think the monkey uses
nouns and verbs with great signiii-
cance. His wants and anxieties being
few. the words at his command are
sufficient TO convey TO another of his
kind the thoughts he desires to es-
press. Doubtless monkeys have dia-
lects, although these are not so distinct
as ours. | believe that am intelligent
monkey can be taught to conversa
with human being, and it is with a
view to accomplishing this result thai
| am experimenting. As to cultiya
ing their speech, ! think il quite as
practicable as to cultivate that Of man,
though not to the same degree of per-
fection. SO far as | am able to dis
cover, the intellect, reason and speecl.
Of monkeys differ from the same fac-
ulties in man in degree only, and no
in kind.D
Negroes have an old SAYING TO the
effect that monkey could talk il he
would, but doesn't do so because he Is
afraid Of being put TO work. Certain
ly apes have almost as much power af
speech as some African sayages. whose
talk sounds like the pouring of water
from long-necked jug.
Another Smithsonian curator has
made a study Of the speech of crows
which really do talk with remarkable
fuency, it would appear As they
fly overhead you can hear them COR
versing, saying to one another: Aw
-aw-aw, Ou-ou, Oh-oh-oh. aw-r
-r-rp That is ordinary crow con-
versation on topics OF common interest
such as the state Of the weather, the
prospects for the corn crop, and 50
forth. But the birds possess also vocal
facilities for the expression OF various
emotions. When a flock Of them is
engaged in pillaging field Of grain
sentinel crows invariably stand around
on the neigbboring tree-tops to watch
lest any one approach. RI they sce
a person coming they viii cry with
emphasis " All ah ali ~ The note
means just as plainly as If the idea
were expressed in words g Here comes
somebody Look out now He il
coming directly this way and he has
a gun It's time we were off ~ The
flock stops eating at the first alarm
and quickly wings its ~ay t. a safe
distance.
If you care TO listen out in the corn
fields you will often hear the crows
exchange questions from tree-top to
tree-top. The tone Of the interroga-
tive is unmistakable. They say Do
You see any one coming ?'' The birds
are intensely curious by nature. Ap-
preaching something 1t Is doubtful
about, but anxious TO investigate, the
crow says: All, ah n in a way that
means as plainly as possible: / see
It'll / see it ~