The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-07-08
MONKEYS CAN TALK.
How Professor Garner Made His
First Experiment.
One Who Has Studied the Subject
Claims to Make Himself Under
stood by the Capuchins-He Tells
His Mode OF Education,

If you should be cast upon an island in
habited by some strange race of people,
whose speech was so unlike your own
that you could not understand a single
word, you would watch their actions,
hoping TO gain some idea of their mean
ing in that way. Gradually you would
learn to associate certain sound with
certain act, until finally you would be
able to understand the sound without
seeing the act. II is in very similar
way, writes r. L. Garner in the Boston
GLobe, that I have learned to talk with
monkeys, only 1 have been compelled
TO resort TO some very novel means OF do
ing my part of the talking.
It had been my belief for many years
that animals of the same kind could talk
TO each other. I thought that if l could
learn to talk their way l might converse
with them and know just what they
meant when they made sounds. After
observing many kinds of animals found
that monkeys had a greater number and
variety of sounds than any other animal,
so far as / could determine, and | set out
seriously to learn 10 make those sounds
as well as / could. But l soon found that
each kind of monkey had a set of sounds
of his own and also that very few of them
i tried very hard, but / could not initiate
them at all well.
At last / fell upon plan by which I
could fool them and make them think l
was a great big grandfather monkey. l
got photograph and some men to help
me, and took an old female monkey out
of her cage, and left Mr.. Monkey to Keep
house. 1 put Mrs. Monkey into a small
cage and removed her into another part
OF the building where her mate could not
hear her. l then got her to talk some of
her sounds into the horn OF the phono-
graph. Then / placed the machine near
the cage where Mr.. Monkey was and re-
peated the record.
RECOGNIZED MRS. MONKEYS TONES.
He instantly began to hunt for her. He
hunted in the horn and all around it for
his mate. Then he would turn away in
disgust, as If he thought was playing a
joke on him; and then again, when that
horn would squeak and chatter SO much
like his mate, he would venture back to it
and try to find her. He would peep into
the horn and listen. Then he would reach
his arm in as lar as he could. Then he
would feel all around outside the horn.
He seemed 10 entertain kind of suspicion
that l was the cause of all this trouble,
and he kept one eye on me, and when l
would go about the cage he would throw
his milk pan at me ana then return to the
horn TO hunt again. This experiment
was made in Washington, and while it
was very unsatisfactory in some respects,
yet il was the first practical step ever
taken by man to solve that great problem
OF speech which most men thought had
no solution.
next went to Cincinnati, Chicago and
other cities and made records of many
kinds of monkeys. Then | would take
the sounds made by a monkey in Chicago
and repeat them by the photograph to
monkey Of the same kind in Charleston,
and notice what that monkey would do.
Moreover, l would sit and repeat sounds
TO myself until they were perfectly IA
miliar, and then l would try to initiate
them. L finally was able to initiate few
of the sounds well enough to make a
monkey know what l said to him.
You must bear in mind that their way
of talking is very different from ours.
For example, if monkey is hungry he
will use one certain sound, and he will
use that same sound when ne means ''to
eat" or means anything whatever about
food. or hunger, or eating. The word is
little like our English word twho."
Phonetically it is very nearly represented
by the letters ''wh-u-w." Now / have
fine graphophone record of the chimpan-
ices in the geological garden at Cincin-
natl, and / could repeat some of the
sounds with my own voice with very
little effort, but / have not had an oppor-
tunity Of studying them sufficiently to
know what any of them meant.
Last June / went TO the Cincinnati Zoo
to visit my chimpanZee friends. Their
names are Pat Rooney and Mrs. Rooney
One of the sounds which | have learned
from my photograph cylinder l repeated
to Mr.. and Mrs. Rooney, and found that
Mrs. Rooney would come to the door of
the cage and put her face close up to mine
and repeat the same sound, but Mr.. Pat
did not seem to be much interested
When l would quit saying the sound
Mrs. Rooney would jump up and down
with both feet and repeat it very loud. If
/ can get a chimpanzee to be with long
enough L feel quite sure / can learn to
speak all his sounds.
JOKES FLEES FROM AN ALARM CRY.
Last winter I spent some time in
Charleston, 5. c., and while there i had
access to three fine pet monkeys, all
brown capuchinS, and | call them by
name for convenience, although | do not
think that monkeys have names them
selves. Jokes is large, fine monkey,
and he has been many years confined in
cages and has never been thoroughly
tanned. When | first went to see himsI
spoke to him in his own monkey tongue
and he seemed to take fancy to me.
But one day while feeding him l uttered
shrill, piercing sound which l had
learned from another capuchin monkey
ace or alarm. Jokes instantly sprang to
a perch in the top of his cage. For many
weeks | could not induce him to come
down while | was near his cage: nor
could his master have any control over
him while | was present. While / was
trying TO renew my friendly relations
with him, on one occasion, when L was
about to whip him, he LAID the side of his
head on the floor and put out his tongue
and made a very queer but plaintive
sound. | could not interpret this conduct
unless it meant submission.
During the same period / frequently
called to see another bright little monkey
named Jack, and for comparative strang-
ers we were quite good friends. He was
the pet of large family OF children. who
delighted IN telling me the many inteili-
gent things Jack could do. One evening
was feeding him some milk from sau-
Ger and he wanted me to let go, which /
declined to do, whereupon he fell into q
great rage and made an assault upon me-
suddenly drew him up by the chain and
slapped him for his inSolence He in
stantIy laid the side of his head upon the
floor. put out his tongue and made the
same queer sound that had heard Jokes
make under like circumstances, and |
have satisfied myself since that it is a
mode OF expressing submission.
Another little monkey of the same
species, named Jennie, was one of nv
little teachers. When L approached her
she was entirely alone / went mn to her
with the salutation which have formerly
described as meaning food She respond
ed with the same word. l approached
and gave her nrSt q peanut or two then q
pecan. This she held up TO me. uterine
a peculiar sound. l did not know what
il was, nor had / ever heard before. but I
secured two stones, a large one and a
small one, when she proceeded at once to
crack the mt with great OpNtarifU