The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1892-01-22
BABIES AND APES:
Some Simple Experiments Showing Sur
prising Resemblances

Some Simple Experiments Showing Sur
prising eseuiblances.
An infant was growing loudly and lus-
tily somewhere at the back of the house.
The sounds were inarticulate to ont
siders; but DIR. Robinson, the baby's
father, if he heard them, would doubt
less be able to interpret them as the in
teresting remains of the Simian tongue.
For DR.. Louis Robinson, whenever dur
ing the last two or three years he found
a leisure hour in his busy life, has studied
the ape in the babe 1t was in order TO
obtain some detailed information on this
subject from the author of s.Darwinism
in the Nursery that onr representative
had called on DIR. Robinson at Lewis
ham:
1.-The article is intensely interesting.
l said to the doctor, ''but there is not
enough of it. We all want to know more
about your experiments with the young
apes. What are the actual discoveries
your experiments led top
Simply this, that every new born
child, unless it is sickly or otherwise inn
perfectly developed, has a most wonder
full power in the fiexor muscles of the
forearm, and will support the whole
weight of its body, during the first few
hours after birth, for a period varying
from ten seconds to two minutes and a
half. Now, everybody knows that in
monkeys the power Of grip is very fnlly
developed; quadrumana can do any
thing with their hands and arms. and in
cases of danger this power is a chief
means of self preservation. l have now
experimental on $50 babies; some of
them an hour or two, some a few days
old-and in two cases only have they
failed to hang by their hands, even the
tiniest supporting the weight of its body
for ten seconds, most of them much
longer, and in a few cases they have
clung to finger or a stick for two min
utes and a half. And even in the two
cases failure was due to other causes than
the infants lack of muscular strength.
ought to say that 1 never attempted to
experiment on weak children, who
might be injured by the exposure. A
blanket was placed below the child. so
that when 1T dropped it dropped on
soft, warm surface. Whenever it was
possible the experiment was made and
the photograph taken in the presence of
the mother
s'On the face of one, aged sixty min
utes, sat stole indifference;- two more
looked energetic, though placid, as they
stuck with their round little fists to "a
branch at the end of which appeared two
hands, looking very gigantic in COM
parison to the very youthful performers.
Some others were evidently expressing
their feelings in the Simian tongue, for
their mouths-tremendous sized mouths
, they seemed-were, wide open The
miniature legs, absurdly small in pro-
portion to the arms, were drawn up; the
babes looked indeed like tailless infant
apes.
Observe the big toe," Dr. Robinson
went on. Il have noticed over and over
again that in the case of young infants
1t IS turned outward, like thumb. as in
the case of monkeys, whose hind feet are
ansadditional pair of hands And when
ever L have held a finger or stick close
to the infants feet while it was hanging
by its arms there has been an attempt
At clutching the stick with the feet. This
seems to me another instance of the sur
yival of the apes instincts in the human
child.
ANOTHER curious fact that struck me
was that even when child had been
hanging by its hands for over minute
this seems a short period, but Just try
to hang to a horizontal bar, supporting
the weight of your body by your hands
only, for minute or two-it let go more
because it wanted to change it's position
than because it was tired. Sometimes
gave it my finger to clutch as soon as it
dropped on to the blanket, and 1 could
feel by the energetic grip that the little
animal was by no means exhausted. y
Cor. Pail Mall Gazette.