The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-24
AN oRANG-ouTANG IN SOCIETY.
Received and Entertained by Har-
ward Professors and Radcliffe Girls
From the New York sun.

From the New York Sun.
Cambridge. Mass, April 16,-one of the
most interesting experiments that has TAX
en- place at Harvard in years was tried on
last Wednesday. Joe. the young orang-
outang, and his companion the chimpan-
gee, Sally. now on exhibition at the zoo,
we're the guests of Prof. William James.
Prof James had arranged a series of ex-
periments, in which Joe and Sally cheer
fully took part, all designed to bear upon
the much-discussed relation Of these
brutes to the human race. The orang
outang seemd to appreciate the honor
which had been done him in inviting him
to appear before the learned men of Har-
ward, for he behaved with decorum and
manifested only politely his curiosity as to
everything presented for his inspection.
Joe sat upon the knee of the eminent psy-
| chologist, sid a pair of long. hairy, snewy
arms around his neck, looked up into his
eyes affectionately, and Rugged him,
| while a dozen Radcliffe girls elbowed one
| another to get near them.
| At the conclusion of the experiments
| Prof. James remarked that Joe in partic-
| ular seemd to display a mind of the human
|
| greater difference in development between
| the orang-outang and the dog than be-
| tween man and the orang-outang. 1t
| has been established by naturalists that
the ape which most nearly approaches man
in its organization, is either the chimpan-
zee or the gorilla; therefore, 1t was ex-
pected that Sally, being a chimpanzee,
would exhibit the higher degree of inteni-
gence, but such was not the case. The
rang-outang, though not so alert and
| active as his companion, displayed more
curiosity, a stronger inclination to initiate,
and more marked appreciation of the re-
lations of cause and effect.
| One thing above all others was demon
strated, that was Joe's wonderful curios-
ity. 1t seemed that nothing still or NOV
| ing, escaped his attention, and on all
things he looked in the manner of a COM
! placent and wistful old man, who under
stood very well, and therefore did not
worry. He was methodcal in finding the
| origin and character of several sensa ions
he received, and always when he had sat
isfied himself settled back unconcsrnedly
and directed his attention elsewhere. The
| initiative faculty showed itself strongly
in some of his doings. But with this, as
with his curiosity, he was persistent only
until he found himself able or unable to
initiate; then he was philosophicaly re-
signed to whatever turned up next. This
popularity in Joe interested Prof. James
most.
When the professor whistled the orang-
outang puckered up his lips and made a
rude attempt to reproduce the sound.
| When a toy snake was exhibited he man
| ifested great terror throwing himself
frantically into the arms of his trainer.
! To ascertain whether he recognized the
object as a snake a piece of rubber hose
\ of the same size and iexibility was dis
played before him, hue this he regarded
with composure, and, baby-like, Immediate
| ly tried to put II into his mouth. The
chimpanzee, on the other hand, manifest
ed little interest in either the snake or the
hose.
A plaster cast of a bust of one of his
! species was placed before Joe. He rec
ognized it at once, felt the head all over
very carefully and finally. as the highest
test of it's identity, tried to taste one of
the ears. When Prof. James tried the
sense of smell of the pair with a bottle
of cologne both tried to drink the perfum-
cry. Joe listened intently when the
prongs of several tuning forks were
struck, apparently being moved most by
the deeper tones. Mr.. Edwards Joe's
trainer, took piece of chalk, and, at
Prof. James suggestion, drew a picture
on the blackboard. The chalk was then
handed to Joe, who, after little hesita-
ton. drew some very curious figures
One of the most significant experiments
perhaps, was made with an electric bell
which was rung by pressing a button.
Joe was seated on a small table and the
bell was placed on the floor, just out of
his sight. Then a small board with the
button attached was placed before him
and the bell was rung. This seemed to in
terest Joe very much; he listened to the
sounds and watched the button with grave
curiosity. His muddy brain could not
grasp at once the relation Of cause and
effect there, the perception Of which is
supposed by some to be an attribute Of
man alone; but after several demonstra-
tons he began to see vaguely that the
button before him had something TO do
with the mysterious sound under the ia
BILE First he tried to pull it out, then
twist It, and finally by a chance pressed
the button and had accomplished one step
toward human intelligence. The bell rang
and so interested Joe that he leaned far
over and contemplated II for some time
with great gravity. The chimpanzee
could not be made to appreciate this test
| She became querulous when the professors