The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-18

all refused to part with the carts, and,
hopping and grimacing, came leaping
all the way back beside them to the
city, grateful for their outing. One
city obtained leave to kill the mon
keys; but the next city then sued them
for killing their deceased ancestors"
In these monkey-infested cities, if one
man wishes to spite another, he throws
a few handfuls of rice on to the roof of
his house about the rainy season. The
monkeys come, find the rice, and quiet
ly lift off many of the tiles and throw
them away, seeking more rice in the
interstices.
The only mammals which thoroughly
understand combination for defense as
well as attack are the balloons, but
Brehm. the German traveller, gives a
charming story of genuine courage and
self-defense shown by one. His hunt
ing dogs gave chase to a troop which
was retreating to some cliffs and cut
off very young one, which ran up on
to rock. only just out of reach of the
dogs. An old male baboon saw this,
and came alone to the rescue. Slowly
and deliberately he descended, crossed
the open space, and, stamping his
hands on the ground. showing his teeth,
and backed by the furious banks of the
rest of the balloons, he disconnected and
to the rock, picked up the baby and
carried him back safely If the dogs
had attacked the old patriarch, his
tribe probably would have helped him.
Burchell, the naturalist, after whom
BurchelFs zebra is named let his dogs
chase troop. The balloons turned on
them, killed one on the spot by biting
through the great blood vessels of the
neck and laid bare a rib of another.
M nrrS aI1 t. II.
would rather let their dogs bait a lion
than troop of balloons. The 1escue of
the infant chacma which Brehm saw
himself is a remarkable and, indeed,
the most incontestable instance of the
exhibition of courage and self-defense
by male animal.
Any account of chimpanzees would
be incomplete without a reference to
Sally, the most educated of her order.
Sally, who lived in the Zoo for over
SIX years, learned to count perfectly
up to six and less perfectly to 10; she
could also distinguish white from any
other color. but if other colors were
presented her she failed, apparently
from color blindness. OF this ape the
late DR.. G. ]. Romaines wrote with
something more than the enthusiasm
Oh clever man pursuing a favorite
theme:
IleI lHtelllSence was cOnSplcuOuSly
displayed by the remarkable degree in
which she was able to understand the
meaning of spoken language-a degree
fully equal to that presented by an
infant a few months before emerging
from infancy, and therefore higher
than that which is presented by any
brute, so far, at least, as 1 have evil
dence to show" She was taught to
count by means of picking up straws
and being rewarded when the correct
number asked for had been given with
u piece of fruit. Sally rarely made
mistakes up to that number; but above
hve, and up to 10, to which one of the
Keepers endeavored to advance her
education, the result is uncertain. It
is evident that she understands the
words seven, eight, nine and ten to
betoken numbers higher than those
below them. When she was asked for
any number over six she always gave
some number over six and under 10.
She sometimes doubled over a straw
to make it present two ends, and was
supposed thus to hasten the attain
ment of her task.