Evening star., 1932-08-30
zoo CHIEF TO NOTE
ECLIPSE REACTIONS
OF MONKEY FAMILY
May Decide Whether They
Are Sun Worshipers,
Says DR.. Mann.
LIGHT SOUGHT ON MANS
ANCIENT SOLAR BELIEFS
Other Animals to Be Watched to
Record Their Emotions in
Unaccustomed Dusk.

Are monkeys especially the big apes
sun worshipers?
DR.. William M. Mann, director Of the
National Geological Park, plans to make
special observations of the behavior of
the chimpanzee, gorilla, orang- -outans,
gibbons, baboons and South American
monkeys during the partial eclipse OF
the sun here tomorrow afternoon.
The behavior of animals in ZOOS will
be observed through the entire eclipse
area, DR.. Mann said, but different
establishments plan to concentrate on
different types of animals. There is an
especially favorable opportunity here to
study the effect on the simian family
because the various varieties are close
together and all the families of man
like apes are available.
May Explain Behavior.
The study may have some bearing on
the origins of various sorts OF human
behavior. Among the most primitive
races of men eclipses are reported TO
cause extreme terror because Of the al
most universal reverence of the sun as
the source of all life and the belief that
the encroaching shadow Of the moon Is
some cosmic monster about to devour
the shining orb.
Thus the sorcerers make use Of their
most potent magic to frighten away the
monster and when the eclipse passes
boast of their success This is advanced
by some anthropologists as one OF the
sources of magic and religion among
primitive peoples. 1t also has been
claimed that man may have brought
over traces of this attitude from the
days when his condition was close to
that of the big anthropoids Of today.
Gorillas, especially, have been observed
regarding the sun with an attitude
suggesting the worshipful.
So the most interesting behavior to
be observed probably will be that OF
little Okero the baby gorilla. 1t will
almost certainly notice the change, at
an unaccustomed time, from bright
daylight to dusk. Whether this will
arouse anything akin to fear remains
to be seen.
Apes Quiet During Day.
The only apes in whom special re-
actions to the coming of darkness have
been observed here are the gibbons.
Their most vehement bowling comes
at morning and evening twilight
fact attested to by many neighbors of
the Zoo-while during the day they are
fairly quiet. Nothing is known Of the
reactions of chimpanzees and orang-
utans, who, next to the gorilla, repre-
sent the closest approaches to man in
the animal kingdom.
The smaller monkeys, DR.. Mann says,
show tendency to quiet down and fall
asleep rapidly with the coming of dusk.
They may do the same during the
eclipse. Observations also will be made
on the big cats who ordinarily are
aroused to activity by the darkness.
Notes will be taken on the behavior OF
pigs and ground squirrels who happen
to be quartered in the same vicinity.
DR.. Mann had at first planned to
confine his observations to the birds,
but their tendency to react to the dusk
of an eclipse by going to their roosts
is we'll known. 1t is probable that most
observations of biologists all over the
country will be made on birds.
Centuries of Experience.
The peculiar behavior of animals
during an eclipse, 1t was explained,
may be due to the fact that through
the centuries a physiological rhythm
of light reactions has been built up.
The creatures are accustomed to re-
spond to darkness in certain way, but
only at a certain time. The coming Of
the dark at an unaccustomed time may
create tension in some of them which
will result in curious efforts at adjust
ment.
DR.. Mann plans to have different OBJ
servers stationed before various outdoor
cages for some time before and after
the eclipse reaches its maximum. These
will compare notes afterward.