The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-01-16
DO MONKEYS TALK.
How the Smithsonian People Were
Fooled by Graphophone Letter.

Fooled by Graphophone Letter.
From tie Washington Stcr.
DR.. r. L. Garner of Roanoke, Va, is con-
WINGED of the fact that monkeys have ar
ticulate speech like that Of human beings
and differing from the latter only in de-
velopment He has been experimenting of
late with the graphophone in this oonnec-
ton, securing a 'recordn of Squeaks and
chickering's by one monkey and subsequently
grinding them out through trumpet for
the benefit of another monkey, in order to
observe what remarks were elected from
the second monkey IN response. In this way
he has hoped to gradually make up lexi-
con of the monkey language, which would
probably not be very voluminous, inasmuch
as the simian vocabulary does not appear to
contain more than about forty words. The
doctor thinks that he has already secured
five OF them.
The other day DR.. Garner suffered Sc
we're pang in consequence of a misuuder-
standing incidental to a correspondence
which he has been conducting with
the Smithsonian Institution apropos of this
monkey business. He sent letter to DR..
Baker of the Smithsonian In the usual bust
ness form in the shape Of a graphophone
cylinder, beginning: Roanoke, Va. My
dear sir" etc. DR.. Baker put the cylinder
upon his own graphophone. knowing by the
superscription on the envelope that it was
from DIR. Garner, and turaed on the cleo
tromotor attached with much interest, an
ticipating some communication of import
ance regarding monkey talk.
Unfortunately he put on the cylinder
wrong end foremost, the result being that
DR.. Carriers letter came out backward. Dr.
Baker up to this time mad been sceptic re-
garding the theory of the gentleman from
Roanoke, but upon hearing this rendering
of the communication in question he sup
posed it was monkey record and became
at once convinced that there was more in
the idea than he had originally supposed.
He even went so far as to say that there was
an unmistakable semblance Of articulate
speech in the record, although he was I'M
able to understand the remarks.
DIR. Garner was in town three days ago
and enlightened DR.. Baker on the subject,
after the latter expert in zoology and his as
sIstants had ground off the supposed monkey
talk in the manner described some scores Of
times. He explained that there was some
thing in the idea after all, as Internationally
adopted by his friend, inasmuch as in the
case there was an illustration to be found of
evolution backward from the language of
man to the speech of monkeys.
DIR. Garner said to a reporter the other
day that in his opinion monkey talk was
quite highly developed speech. consider
ing the fact that the monkey has no such
facilities for the development of language
as are enjoyed by human beings. As be ex-
pressed it, the speech Of monkeys is almost
wholly vowel. So, for that matter. is the
human infants. But 1t must be remen-
bered that the child has the superior ad-
vantage of education for its vocal organs
from the cradle, not to mention an beredi-
tary experience of the use of those organs
through ever SO many generations. When
you hear an ignorant person speak Of
INSTINCT In animals you ought to know
that he means hereditary and transmitted
experience or practice II seems wonderful,
under the circumstances, that the more in
telligent monkeys should have SO many as
forty words, approximately speaking. at
their command.
In trying to find out what monkey says,
according to DR.. Garner, there is difficulty,
to begin with, from the very fact that the
consonant element of its language are abb
sent What 1t has to say is expressed by
squeaks and other sounds not to be compre-
hended off hand. Undoubtedly, there Is a
monkey word for food; but it is not to be
expressed in type otherwise than by phras-
ing it in this wise: "E-e-f-f sharpe" That
gives notion Of the word to any person