Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-04-29
A Naturalist at Work
by Frederic ]. Haekin

Der gloves. For there woulu De tne un-
mistakable evidence of his finger prints,
which are very different from the hu-
man finger prints. and which. likely as
not. could be quickly traced to the new
ly-established "rogues' gallery" of some
nearby zoo.
This assurance is given by DIR. Ray
mond l.. Ditmars. curator of reptiles of
the Bronz Geological Park. who has re-
Gently made thorough study of monk
ey hands. DR.. Ditmars was first inter-
csted in the subject by the American
Museum of Natural History OF this city.
which wanted some hand prints of
ENSkeys TO use in it's elaborate study
Of the evolution of man. The Galton
Society of Washington, which is also
devoted TO the study of mans evolu-
ton was likewise anxious for a similar
supply.
My only part in the project was to get
the prints" explained DIR. Ditmars. but
as the work progressed l became so
much interested that l bought several
books on palmistry containing great
numbers of prints of human hands"
The curator Immediately found that
while the general hand prints of monk
eys and those of human beings are SIM
nar, the monkey hand possessing the
life line heart line. head line and fate
Tine which are to be noted in the hui
man hand. a close examination shows
striking differences i'll every instance
between the human hand and the monk
~ hand.
The human hand in all cases" says
he. has the tips OF the fingers and the
tip of the thumb marked with lines ar
ranged in whorls. The monkey hand,
on the contrary. invariably has the tips
IF the fingers marked in straight lines,
aever in whorls.
ON the monkey hand the whorl-
markings are always on the mounts.
the soft Jumps OF flesh 1t the base of
the fingers. In the human hand these
mounts are always marked with straight
lines. never with whorls
NO matter how human the monkeys
hand may appear at first glance a print
examination always shows this differ
ence. although in the orang outang.
for instance. the resemblance is other
wise startling.
The whorls on the tips Of the fingers
and especially on the thumb are the
means whereby experts establish ident-
its. In monkeys the whorl on the
mounts could be used for the same pur-
pose. Apparently, there are no two
monkeys with the same markings on /
the mounts of their hands, just as there
arc no two human beings with whorl 4
markings that are exactly the same on /
the tips OF their thumbs or fingers"
Monkey Character.
In obtaining the finger prints. DR.. |
Ditmars mad to Confine his efforts to I
the most tractable monkeys. the larger .
and more savage animals stubbornIy
holding out against this process Of
,lt.f f3fa e14f h.1
y, sting specimens of the ringtails. a
tame htaek ape. a South America monk 4
tt. "a piStaH Ccylonose monkey. a hon
noted MaraQUe. a Javan NacaQue and .
au orans oUtanC. The principal di:E-
silJy lay in keeping the animals quiet
sn that they would not jump at the
psychological moment.
l used a sheet Of dull surface paper
Win "a fine grain for making the print
tNp'a.ned DT. Ditmars. The MONKEYS
hand was covered with a. paste mad, 81
o.t and graphite. After the hand was
covered with the substance il was
pressed against the paper and an ex-
Ctllcnt print obtained.
IL was noj however. as easy as Il
sounds, said the curator renectively.
NJ first most of tho monkeys irnmcd-
lately licked of the paste We put some
T. interest them immensely THOR Curl
os.,y was so much aroused thar thcv
went through with the operation without
fiinch:ng
"One fellow persisted in licking his
paw. however, and his actions were 50
ridiculous that J decided 10 make a
motion picture ulm Of the monkeys
being finger printed 10 show at a dinner
|ot the New York Geological Society.
Feeling that the monkeys deserved
Il treat after being finger printed .
Drought IN a bunch of bananas and
made a movie Of the greedy animals.
which called Dinner IN the Rogues'
|Gdllery.' One monkey distinguished !
himself by thrusting an entire banana
lCroSswise into. his mouth. one end into
one pouch OF the cheek and the other
skilfully inserted in the other pouch
lie then put one finger in his mouth
and broke the banana in the middle"
The dnger-printing of the monkeys
i only one Of the many interesting ex-
periments that DR.. Ditmars is con
stantly carrying on at the New York
Geological Park. Usually these activ-
tiles, started for the curator's personal
entertainment turn out to be Of sci
entihc interest. Thus when he first
set up his movie apparatus in the zoo
and announced MS intention Of filming
the various species. no one was greatly
Impressed. Yet many OF these pictures
have proved of great value In the same
casual way DR.. Ditmars has succeeded
h. building up a collection Of reptiles
(which is recognized as one Of the finest
n the world.
Man Who Likes Snakes.
Like several other well known
naturalists. this curator is not only a
great student of reptiles-he is d great
admirer of them. i am never so
tlappy." ne says. as when / am on
$edge all acrawl with rattlers. ! take
Shs much delight in their gorgeous col
)pring as d jewel collector might in the
prize stones that come into his pos
session.
He himself has captured manv prize
specimens for the ZOO He knows about
20 snake dens where snakes hibernate,
all located within so miles Of New York.
and about this time of year he starts
out on a snake-hunting expedition from
which ne always returns with a bag
fun OF kissing reptiles. Il makes him
furious, however, to hear of other people
hunting snakes, especially if they hunt
10 kill them For this reason he keeps |