APES BECOME CASHIERS

Evening Star, Issue 23350, 21 August 1939, Page 12

APES BECOME CASHIERS

LEARNING THE USES OF MONEY At the, last scientific meeting of the British Zoological Society Dr S. Zuekerman entertained the gathering with an account of some remarkable experiments lately made with chimpanzees in the United States. The apes v irtually learned the rudiments of coinage and attained to a level of proficiency, comparable with that of a young child. The coins were actually coloured discs or tokens, each colour having a peculiarly simian value, as, for example, one rod disc was worth a banana, a blue disc a bunch of grapes, etc. The discs in the first place had to be obtained from a machine, and were then placed in another machine having a number of cubicles or divisions, each containing fruit or other deliqkciek. The various “ merchandise ” was hidden by, shutters, each bearing a label of distinctive hue. In a relatively short time the apes learned to tender a disc the colour ,of which corresponded with the colour, indicating the presence of any desired comestible. They even learned the value of the respective discs without necessarily expecting a reward, and so arrived at some such “ money sense ” as that enjoyed by the world’s first bankers. A hankers’ training college on similar lines will shortly be instituted at Regent’s Park.