New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-05

StOOu' - S,t;on or nature fake, and, secondly,
fact Ho' = rclated merely TO illustrate
that II history proposition, the question
nal Ia what do animals think about
beng ,,onkev in this case was a macaque,
ii ne,c,,nied quarters not long ago in the
ana 0oaI Too. at Washington. One day, by
Na uGIli,'l il got a Brazil nut wedged in one
nnseli1 "beek pouches, and could not pull it
OF Us Cbeot oouches lin which these crea-
out ,toro surplus provcnder for future uSe),
tafes o' ,,,a,, are possessed only by the Simian
U u' of The Old World; Just as prchenSile
ui nv INCH serve the purpose OF fifth hand,
lail9, ,, MIGHT saw. are peculiar to the quad
mama Of the New World
fu, T';s monkey. then. soon began to suffer
III though nobody suspected that
%'. .t;3g wa, the matter with him. The
any ANS! uli, Of one # his check pouches did
uls'' I'm otherwise than normal, To the
~. MOI obserycr. and no notice was taken of
Visu a,atter. until its external surface began
u' ,nI;b;; marked diSColOratiOn, due TO
10 osSnn,r,ation. An examination was there
hl nHn made. and Mr. Blackburne, head
N.Y. nor NJ the Zoo lwho will vouch for the
stiffness Of this story, cut open the
"5,,cb with q lancet from the outside, and
P~,oyed the nut, afterward closing the
wound with stitches.
W. Tbe roacaou. lost no time in picking out
49, t;tches. and. having thus opened a hole
n his face, proceeded to make experiments.
~ ~, end 10 start with. that a peanut, con
.-buted BY q passing visitor, II put into his
n,mrth, could be taken out through his
cheek; and. as q corolary to this physio-
Ioglcal proposition, that the same peanut, or
onotber. could b, inserted into his check and
,aken out OF his mouth.
Wonder OF w5ndcrs Such a feat was
mover accomplished by monkey before.
Tndeed. his companions in the cage gathered
abont him as me went through the perform
a aoCe again and again, and gazed at him
n5tb sncb awe rs human beings Of an earlier
and more crliulous epoch might have
syinced in bea..iing something in the line
undoubted and unqucStionable miracle.
To them he was a magician. and their
engagement NAV we'll be imagined when
they saw him. in the execution OF his final
and supreme achievement, take stalk OF
bav and with conscious air, as If 10 say,
no deception. Ladies and Gentlemen Just
watch me closely while | do it, put the
s,alk into his mouth, draw it out through
his cheek. and then. reversing the process,
mil il back and out OF his mouth again.
Unfortunately, this sort of business, how
ever interesting spcctacularly from a Simian
nojnt of view, had the effect of preventing
The wound from healing; and Mr.. Black
burne was obliged to put the macaque into
cage BY himself, supplying him with soft
food only, and denying him hay or straw for
bedding, until his cheek was well.
THE intense interest in the phenomenon
l shown by other occupants OF the cage, no
less than the inclination to experimental IN
ouirv exhibited by the monkey magician
himself. was Enthusiastically expressive OF
those processes which in human beings would
be termed thinking. There could not even
be anv question OF what both performer and
spectators were thinking about. And yet
there are many naturalists who would have
Us believe that the lower animals do no
thinking at all; in other words, that they
are mere automatic.
This mariJncttc theory Of animal crca-
ton, which meets with acceptance surpris-
ingly general, Is rejected in toto by no less
an authority than DR.. Frank Baker OF the
Smithsonian Institution, who Is one OF the
foremost living psychologists He Is super
lntendent Of the National loo (Which Is con
Quoted by the Smithsonian, and, acting III
that capacity, has had the advantage OF in
innate acquaintance with wild animals for
many yeaTs
That animals think DR. Baker has no