THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1853, 27 May 1887, Page 36

THE NATURALIST.

Sir John Lubbock, who for some time has , been making some interesting experiments as to the amount of intelligence possessed by one of the most intelligent of domestic | animals, the dog, has lately been giving .particulars: of some of the results at ■ which he has arrived. His first experiment was j with a small terrier ; but as this kind of dog cannot always be made to fetch arid carry, and as fetching and carrying was a part of the system of education which he meant to adopt, the dog was deposed in favour of a poodle. By employir% two pieces of card, one of which was blank, and the other witjh the word "Food" written upon it, he was able, after some trouble, to make the dog recognise the difference between the two. The card which bore the word "Food" he, constantly placed over a saucer of bread 'arid milk ; while the blank card was placed over an empty saucer.' The poodle soon learnt to distinguish which card was the one its master called for. He also taught the dog to so recognise words placed on other cards that it would select the one called for from a number placed confusedly upon the floor. A collie who constantly stood by whilst these experiments were going on, and had every chance of observing that the poodle obtained his food by selecting a special card, learned nothing by these lessons. Experiments with different coloured cards had an altogether negative result ; for although two lessons a day were given for three months, the dog never succeeded in distinguishing one colour from the other. Although we have been accustomed to regard the dog as an animal endowed with an unusual amount of intelligence, these experiments would indicate that it possesses,' after all, a brain of very feeble power.

APES AS WORKERS.

It was reported by telegraph the other day that Mr Parkes, a farmer at Kingston, in Kentucky, had succeeded in training seven large monkeys or apes to work in his hemp fields, and to break and prepare the hemp for market. Mr Parkes, according to the dispatch, has found that they do the work more rapidly and better than the negroes, and at one - quarter the cost. The apes, it is said, were sent to him by a brother in Africa, who had seen them put to similar uses there, and Mr Parkes is so well satisfied with the results of his experiment that he has ordered ten more of the animals.

Whether this particular story be true or false, there is no doubt that the more docile and intelligent of apes have been instructed to perform work very like that to which' Mr Parkes is said to have trained his seven monkeys after four months of patient tuition. Madame Clemence Eoyer, in a recent article in the " Kevue Scientifique " on the mental

faculties of monkeys, shows that they are well adapted for some kinds of domestic offices and acquit themselves gracefully in them, and she cites cases where they have been exceeding useful in field and other work. Pyrard, the French traveller of two centuries ago, says that in his time the colonists of Sierra Leone employed chimpanzees in carrying water and beating of mortars, and Breton has in his Chinese pictures a representation of monkeys gathering tea leaves on the tops of one of the steep ridges of Chansung. The ancient Egyptians, too, obtained considerable services from the cynocephalus, or variety of baboon, an animal so remarkable for its intelligence that

it was selected by them as the symbol of intellect. Buffon describes a female chimpanzee at Loango which could make beds, sweep the house, and help turn the spit, Houzeau expresses the opinion that these female monkeys would make excellent nurses for children, their milk being exceedingly rich in butter.

Madame Koyer, therefore, comes to the. conclusion that a time is coming "when these races, bred by man, will render great services in daily life and industry, and will contribute to the general progress." There is nothing in such a prediction, she continues, which does not rest on scientific premises, and nothing in it to laugh a,t, after the manner of the smart young men who, are now getting up funny articles on Mr Parkes' experiment. The ape is unquestionably the most.intelligent and the most manlike of the lower animals, both physically, mentally, and morally. He may be far away from the super idr races of men in intellect, but the difference between him and the lower races is much less marked. The black chimpanzees of Africa have feasts like those of the

negroes. They live in communities, fight in concert, and care for their wounded. They are very clever in the use of their hands and arms, throwing stones better than street boys. Buffon's black chimpanzee knew how to unlock ;< .U'n'-, and if he did not find the key in the lwck would hunt for it. This monkey took its meals like a well-bred person, ate with a spoon and fork, used a plate, and served itself with wine. In one of her letters from tbe Malay Peninsula Miss Bird describes a dinner at which she was invited and at which her companions were two apes. " The apes had their curry, chutney, pineapple, eggs, and banana on porcelain, and so had I," writes that enterprising lady, who speaks of another ape, which was an important member of the family of the British Resident at Khlang, as walking on its hind legs, and going along quietly by her side like

a human escort. It had riot everi a* rudi- r mentary tail, and when it sat with its arms folded it looked like '" a gentlemanly person in a close-fitting suit." ' , '. ( The worse defect of monkeys is that they, are inveterate thieves. They look upon stealing as iun, and, therefore, will pilfer . even when they have no desire for what they take. Madame Eoyer tells us that " they are capable of sacking a house and carrying off everything movable in it with the. system and concert of a band of robbers. They observe a kind of discipline in their operations, and post their scouts to inform them in season when it is time to ■> run away." The monkeys in Sumatra steal fruits and vegetables from the gardens, .and will plunder houses. ■" Forming a, line, in order to pass their spoils from band to hand, they scale the walls, enter at the .doorsand windows, and leisurely pillage all they can* find." They are also very, greedy, and will get tipsy when they have the chance, and the drunken ape seems more like a man than ever. — New York Sun. . . ■