A CURIOUS CASE.

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 112, 14 May 1927, Page 18

A CURIOUS CASE.

There has lately passed through a hospital in London a little fellow who interested all the doctors'and nurses because he wrote backwards.

■ That was not all. He, wrote with his left, hand,'and instead of beginning at the left-hand side of the page and going forward to ' the right ho pushed the pen from right tq left. When a l ' ror was placed in front of tho writr if appeal i "in, the just like the ordinary kind; in fact,'this kind of performance, is known to doctors as mirror-writing. ' ' : /

Many people can do it with' practice, b,ut the peculiarity of the Paddington Gre«n patient was that he wrote nt .uially in" th's way and could write in no other. - ' " ■ .:

The explanation is that if a chila is extremely left-handed he would most readily write in this way, and would learn to write properly qiily after being taught. Most left-handed; people are only partially so, and catt be educated out of it. But' another peculi ity of this extreme left-handedriess is that it s-erhs to confuse brain's power of uttering speech. ' ■. ' - Writing and speaking are in 1 some ways the :same thing. They are both tl— brain's way of, expressing its thoughts, arid both are set going by extraordinarily complicated 5' arrangements, like telephone exchanges, in the brain. In a general way the left-hand side of the brain actuates right-handed movements, and it is in that side of the brain also that the telephone exchange for speaking is situated.

An extremely left-handed person' therefore.suffers from.some confusion between the telephone ■ exchanges oh the right side of the brain and those on the left,-and consequently is prone t- stammer, which is just what the Paddington Green boy does. A PAETY AT THE ZOO. The latest attraction at the Londo vn Zoo is the chimpanzee's v tea party. The . baby chimpanzees ■ Clarence, Jimmie, and Bibi, and-Jackie, an ape four year's their.sonior, are being trained to sit at a table and! eat their food like human beings. v ' , At first these parties'were arranged' by; the keeper occasionally for the benefit of a few visitor* who'take a keen interest in the Zoo's apes, but as 1 the chimpanzees were quick to learn if Was decided ttf teach them to eat all their meah: in- this way> arid so entertain the public. .';■""■••'. . - At 10 in tlie morning a.nd 3 in the afternoon a small 16w table" and four small armchairs are placed in the chimpanzee sleeping den>; and four enamel, drinking cups and four plates of food are put on the table. •Jr-imie, Clarence, Jackie, and Bibi are then called in.'.'.. »■ "'' ■'. ? ' '••• ■■•••'• -; ; ' ... ■. '■■ Each' rpe; takes it place 'at -t..e table and has' a long drink;of: milk, and | Jackie then .picks up a plate of food and hands it to' hitfplaymates. After that the chimpanzees help themselves, but there is -Ao, quarrelling over food and from Mine to time the keeper tells Jackie that his friends have nothing to eat, and once more .the' eldest' member of the household* hands-a plate round. The meal: ends with another cup of •Ik, and'the keeper then: pulls the chairs away from.the table and-Clar-* c c and Jimmie wait while Jackie goes to Bibi, the youngest, and .'helps her down from her chair.

When the party breads up the apes shako hands all round and run off to play or to prepare for bed. ■ - • All four chimpanzees behave extrtmely well at; these • parties/ but Jhn-

ntie has the best ta,blc manners and Jackie is the only ono who can. 1' be persuaded to offer food to 1' ■ companions. Enamel cups and plates have to be used becauce on tho one or two occasions when china was provided the breakages were lather heavy, for <the apes aro somewhat inclined to bo clumsy^ Tho parties' are held in the North .Mammal House at present, but a special cage is to be built for them. CUKIOUS, ISN'T IT? A pin-has a head, but has no hair; A clock has a face, but no mouth there; . . Needles have eyes, but they cannot see; A fly has a trunk without lock or key; ' ' A timepiece may lose, but'cannot winA cornfield dimples without a chin- ' A hill has no leg, but has a foot; A glass has-a stem, but not; a fDot' A watch has hands, but no thumb or ■ finger; A boot has x tongue, but is no singerKivers run, though they have no feet;. A raw has teeth, but does not eat;. Ash-trees have keys, yet never a lock; A baby crows without being a cock. m . ByP. B. Prior. Written for "The Chistian Science Monitor."