Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-10

In which monkeys in trees are picking fruit.
while people stand below with baskets
The Squirrel Monkey.
The little squirrel monkey has more
brains. In proportion to its size than have
any Of the higher apes. It has even more
than man. relatively to its dimensions. Its
skull Is wonderfully human-like. looking
very much like a diminutive human era
mum. Nevertheless. this Is not a particular
ly intelligent monkey. Intelligence in ami
mails does not depend primarily upon the
size Of the brain. but on the convolutions
OF the gray matter. At the rooms Of the
Liberian Colonization Society on Pennsyl-
vania avenue there has been exhibited for
years. as q curiosity the skull Of an alleged
African chief of cannibalistic propensities.
who on a certain occasion made a descent
upon a village Of colonists in Liberia. For
| tunately. he was killed, but, unluckily for
the story. the skull is that Of a half grown
male gorilla. This Is a very curious illus
tration OF the genesis of a myth.
Unborn Antiquities.
Innate ideas and impulses-call them in
stinct' II you will-afford a very interesting
subject Of study. Little kittens, before their
eyes are opened, are afraid Of dogs and
will spit at them If they come near. SINH
larry, blind wolf puppies fear human beings.
Those are good Illustrations Of feelings in
born and not acquired. Another even more
remarkable is found in the case of white
mice. OF course. they are albinoes, an
original freak being perpetuated artificially
by breeding albinoes together. Now and
then, however, the tendency to revert to
the primitive type shows itself, and one or
two young ones in 0 litter produced by
white mouse will be gray. Strange to say,
whereas the little white mice are perfectly
tame, as should be after generations Of do
mestication. the young gray mice are Wild
and afraid Of human beings.
Bird Reasoning.
"A whole library could be written on the
faculty Of reason as exhibited In BIRDS In
a few words 1t Is not possible to say much
that Is worth saying on the subject There
are the bower birds which construct with
little boughs covered archways or feet
long for play houses. decorating them with
pretty flowers. which they gather and hang
over the roofs in the early morning When
the garlands are faded. they get fresh ones
to replace them. They plant seeds and
shoots outside the play houses for decora-
tive purposes. while the interior is a sort
Of museum Of curiosities which they COL
lect-teeth. shells and bright objects Of var
ious kinds.
THE African honey bird though wild.
watches for opportunities to accompany
the natives when they go to hunt for honey.
1t nies In advance. attracting the hunters
to the place where a bees nest is The
bird always gets a part Of the honey thus
obtained. and its understanding Of the
nature of the implied contract seems to be
perfect There are weaver birds that
build extensive platforms, under which
their nests are protected from the rain and
tailor birds that inclose their nests in
big leaves, which they stitch together with
plant hbers. as one would sew pieces of
cloth. Some kinds Of birds build their
nests over water, so that no enemy can get
at them. The Baltimore oriole seeks safety
by hanging its nest from the end of
limb. In the southwest certain humming
birds make their nests inside of thorny
cacti. and the common yucca or Spanish
bayonet' affords similar protection to a
species Of shrike: The shrike's nest is so
placed in the midst of the projecting bay
onets that 1t cannot be reached.
Insects.
when you come to consider reason in
insects, the subject expands to an extent
entirely beyond brief discussion. 1t has
been claimed that ants rank next to man
in respect to intelligence. Their wonderful
social organization has long been the ad-
miration of observers. They keep cows,
which they milk, and apparently domesti-
cate smaller species of insects which may
take the place with them of dogs and cats
1t Is more than suspected that they play
games. Some species store up seeds for
food, while others appear to cultivate GER
tain plants for the seeds, permitting moth
ing else to grow within a certain area about
the nest. and carefully harvesting the crop.
Some kinds of ants keep slaves to wait on
them, obtaining them by attacking other
nests and carrying of the grubs and young
ones.
Ants that keep slaves are commonly as
helpless as human beings who have depend
ed on slave labor for a long period. They
cannot work or even feed themselves but
Of heir
they soon die of starvation, though sup
piled with plenty of food. There are some
ants which board In the nests of other
ants and are cared for by the latter being
wholly unable to do anything for them
selves. 1t Is supposed that they are sur
vivors of a race which formerly kept slaves.
being now few in numbers and reduced to
the condition of parasites living on the
generosity of their old servants.
Among the most remarkable ants are the
drivers OF West Africa. The frequent floods
in the tropical country where they live
would destroy them, but they protect them
selves at such times by running together
and forming balls as big as base balls. the
smallest and weakest individuals being on
the inside and the big and strong soldiers
on the outside. These balls float on the
surface until the waters retire The driver
ants have an ingenious way of crossing
small streams by forming a ladder with
their bodies In much the same manner as
monkeys are said to do. A long string of
them hangs from a bough projecting over
the stream. and 1t is heightened until one
end hanging In the water is foated across
to the opposite bank and secures a foothoId
Thus bridge Is created for the army to
walk over
Sense of HumOr in Animals,
You ask whether animals have any sense
Of humor. I am inclined to say yes, but It is
not possible to prove 1t. You will often
see dog laugh plainly as can be. and
dogs seem to have an excellent apprecia-
ton of a joke on occasions. That beasts
and birds possess one or more senses in adj
dition to those which We are able to boast
OF / am often disposed to think For ex-
ample. my dog, when lying half asleep in
the back room Of the second story of nv
house. knows when a mastin goes along the
street In front. and will rush to the front
OF the house barking wildly. He has been
attacked by mastiffs on more than one &C.
casion, and so has a particular prejudice
against that kind of dog. Now he cannot
hear the mastif. which has not barked, and
there can be no question of smelling him
any more than seeing him. Unless through
the exercise of some sort of sense unknown
to me. do not understand how he can get
his information"
Ripe and Unripe Bananas.
From Popular Science Monthly.
whether for shipment or for home con-