The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-04-28
Do MONKEYS TALK 2.
Interesting Lecture Las
Evening at Hasbrouck's
by Prof. R. L. Garner.
HIS TRIP TO SOUTHWEST AFRICA
Lived For 112 Days in a Cage,
With a Pet Chimpanzee as
His Only Companion.

IA kItdb Ild1y p6ORiC J u AOdS " INV"
what their Darwinian forefathers' speech
resembled, and therefore assembled in Has
brouck Hall, last evening, to hear Prof. X.
q. Garner lecture on that interesting subject.
Lecture is hardly the proper term to use, for
the Professors remarks were, as he himself
announced, rather incoherent and difficult to
follow. He had so many interesting facts TO
relate that he would rush from n to the
other with a 'shop-sklp-and-jumpD movement
that kept the listeners mind on the qui vive.
But on the whole, his subject was so novel,
and his adventures were SO thrilling that one
could not help but pay him strict attention
with the laudable purpose OF following The
thread of the narration, if one there were.
He began his talk by telling OF the man
ner in which he was led to investigate mon
key speech. At the Cincinnati Geological
Gardens he heard a number of little mon
keys communicating to each other various
facts about the movements OF a large
baboon. He listened to them for five or six
hours, and then went away convinced that
monkeys talked. From that time he studied
the physiology of monkeys, and gathered all
possible information about them. As fast as
he learned the sounds of the monkey speech
he preserved them in the cylinder Of a
monograph, and surprised scientists by
changing them into human speech upon IN
creasing the speed of rotation, and rice Versa.
HIS TRIP TO AFRICA
81 determined, however, said Prof. Car
ner. athat it was not fair to experiment
with captive monkeys, and for that reason
arranged my trip to southwest Africa. As
the country is wild and abounds in ferocious
beasts, I invented a portable compressible
iron cage in which to live while ! pursued
my studies. This cage was provided with a
bed, a chair and a table, which could all be
folded UP. In this | lived for liz days, en-
tirelv alone save for the occasional visits OF
a native boy, and the constant companion
ship of q pet chimpanzee named Moses.
From this animal / learned many words of
monkey speech. and was able to try upon
him the effect of those / had formerly &C
quired. The words for food and water are
used generally, being applied by them to
anything connected with eatables and drink
abies. Ny chimpanzee would call me when
lost. and seemed to understand me thor
SWhile in Africa l saw twenty-three gor-
rillas, no other white man having met with
more than three. They often came close to
my cage. causing me to calculate pretty
RAPIDLY the strength of each iron bar. The
cry of the gorilla is bloodcurdling, gradu-
ally rising from a low tone to the shril
whistle of the wild cat. l have dissected
two g~orrillas and one ~chimpanzee, discover
ing that their vocal organs strongly resem-
bic the human, but are obviously construct
ed for more powerful sounds"
After remarking that his visit to Africa
had resulted in several valuable additions TO
philology, even if he had not accomplished
what he wished in other lines, Prof. Gamer
concluded as follows :
MONKEYS HAv TIL POWER OF SPEECH.
at is a mere matter of sentiment to say
that man has the monopoly Of speech while
all other gifts are distributed freely among
animals. What is speechs l maintain that
if is q sound uttered with the preconceived
intention to impart some idea to another:
This, / believe. the monkeys have power of
doing. Whether We are the direct creation
of a divine power or the product OF evolu-
ton. we need not be ashamed to share our
powers with the lower animals. Man speaks
because his conditions of life made it pos
sible and the monkeys have a speech in ac-
cordance with their conditions of life. I
hope that the time will soon come when the
hiatus between the lower creation and man
will be bridged over and W. shall whisper in
the ears of animals and learn their feelings