The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-03

trainer who paid attention to this matter
/ and saw that his animals had as much
room as possible. and something to occupy
their minds They we're not reduced to
the necessity Of pacing their cages in
| cessantly, and to insanity in consequence.
The Geological Park in the District is
free from the faults which are present in
most menageries The animals have a
great deal of room, pure air, and compare
tive quiet. Once a week the PARK Is
crowded; at other times the number OF
visitors is not so large as to be annoying
Too much attention is as bad for the
animals as too little, especially when IL
is the kind of attention bestowed by the
average sightseer,
When we think Of the thousands of ami
mails which have spent their lives in cap
tivity to crafty some caprice or fancied
necessity of their captors, and the scant
consideration for their needs and desires
which has been shown by their owners. an
infinite vista of tragedies seems to open
to the imagination. The mere fact Of
captivity is. perhaps, not so bad as the
conditions to which the animal is sub
jected. In many cases these might easily
be improved II would often be possible
for instance, to put Gagged birds in room
where they could be let loose to move
freely. and this is true of other creatures
1t is hard to see why anyone should WISH
to keep in a cage. as pet, an amman
which is not tame. 1t takes only a little
patience and care to tame almost any Wlld
thing so that it will be a pet and com
panion of great value; and if one IS not
willing to spend time and thought on
this there seems to be no reason for keep
ing the animal at ALL To tame any wild
creature is one of the most valuable edu-
cational experiences a child can have; 10
keep one in captivity without-attentlon TO
its needs, physical and mental, is any
thing but a helpful experience to the
young human being
The conviction is gradually forcing itself
upon the mind of the modern world that
animals have something which is much
more nearly a soul than anyone formerly
supposed. At any rate. they have certainly
shown signs of possessing intellect ana
reasoning powers, as well as affection
and it is often safe to treat them as nearly
as possible as one would like to be treated
ones self. When, for example, monkey
sits in a cage picking industriously at bits
of straw or leaps from bar to bar Of the
cage without apparent aim, it Is easy to
reason, from analogy, that he would like
some kind of exercise for body and brain.
There is no reason why these animals
should not always, in captivity, be pro-
vided with all the climbing apparatus that
can be contrived to simulate the trees of
their native forest, and they could also
be given things to handle and play with.
Let a visitor hold out a bunch OF keys
where a monkey can get hold Of it and
watch the carefulness and eager curiosity
with which he inspects each key in turn,
and the pushing and jostling among the
other monkeys to join in the amusement
The impression conveyed by this serio-
comic scene is that the little creatures
welcome any break in the mOnotony of
their occupations precisely as human be-
ings would. If they could be given articles
with which they could initiate human ac-
lions. they would undoubtedly do so, and
some interesting scientific observations on
monkey intelligence would probably be the
result.