The Speech of Monkeys Part 4

I have found the word in the dialect of the white-faced Cebus which corresponds in value to those sounds described in the dialects of the Capuchin and Rhesus monkeys meaning food, but I cannot give the faintest idea of the sound by any combination of letters, nor have I as yet devised any means by which I can imitate it. I recorded this sound on the phonograph more than a year ago, but only within the last few months have been able to tell its meaning.

[Sidenote: SOUND OF DANGER]

Another sound which is made by this species to express apprehension of remote danger, such as an approaching footstep or some unusual sound, I have also learned. It is very much the same phonetically as that sound which he utters in case of great and sudden alarm, but uttered with much less energy. It resembles slightly the alarm-sound of the Capuchin, but up to this time I have not been able to make a good record of it.

Another sound which is peculiar to this species I think is used as a kind of salutation or expression of friendship, which phonetically is quite unlike the corresponding sound in any other dialect that I have studied.

I must mention Dolly Varden, who belongs to this species, and with whom I was at one time on very warm terms of friendship. Dolly was very fond of me, and would laugh and play with me by the hour. Her laughter was very human-like, except that it was silent, and in all our play during the lapse of some weeks she never uttered a sound, not even so much as a growl, although I tried by every possible means to induce her to talk.

It has occurred to me since that time that she may have been deaf and dumb, but I did not think of testing her on these points while I had an opportunity. It is not usual for monkeys to laugh in silence, although they frequently laugh aloud like human beings; but it is not a common thing for them to remain silent at all times and under all conditions.

Dolly was good-natured, playful, and always showed every sign of pleasure at my visits.

[Sidenote: "UNCLE REMUS"]

In Central Park there is a monkey of this species which I call "Uncle Remus." He is quite fond of me, and, for my amus.e.m.e.nt, he always wants to whip a little baby monk in the same cage with him whenever I go to visit them. This species belongs to the same genus as the Capuchin, but they differ in mental calibre as widely as the Caucasian differs from the Negro; but in this case the colours are reversed. I have seen a few fairly intelligent white-faces and a great many very stupid Capuchins, but, to strike an average from a great number of each kind, they will be found very widely separated in brain power.

The white-faced Cebus always has a languid expression, and looks like some poor, decrepit old man, who has borne a great burden of care through a long life, and finds his toil and patience ill-requited and is now awaiting his last call. He always has a sad face, and looks as if his friends were false. His type of speech is very far inferior to that of the Capuchin, and I do not regard him as a good subject for my work.

[Sidenote: JIM AND THE MANGABY]

I have learned the food sound in the dialect of the sooty Mangaby, but I have not been able to record it sufficiently well to study; but it is one of the most peculiar sounds in the whole range of Simian speech. The phonetic elements are nearly like "wuh-uh-uh," but the manner in which it is delivered is very singular. It appears to be intermixed with a peculiar clucking sound, and each sound seems independent of the other, although so closely joined in their utterance as to sound almost like they were uttered simultaneously by separate means. It is a deep guttural, below the middle pitch of the human voice, while the clucking element appears much higher in pitch, and the whole sound is marked with a strong tremolo effect. The syllables are uttered in rapid succession, and this peculiar sound under different conditions is uttered in at least three different degrees of pitch about an octave apart, but the contour appears to me the same in each. This species talks but little, is very shy, makes few friends, and is afraid of the phonograph; hence I have never been able to make a good record of its voice. I was cultivating the friendship of Jim, who recently died in Central Park, and we were getting on the best of terms; but the little Mangaby that survives him is very shy and suspicious. Immediately after Jim's death, however, when I would visit the Garden, she would always jump on the perch and take the same position that Jim had occupied whenever I would feed him. During his lifetime, she always kept her distance and never would take anything out of my hand, because she was afraid of him; but as soon as he was out of the way she a.s.sumed his place, and would utter the same sound that he had uttered at my approach. She evidently was aware of the fact that Jim and I were friends, that I always gave him something good to eat at that particular place in the cage, and that he always sat in a certain position when I gave it to him. I do not regard this species as very intelligent, nor their language as being of a high type; but they have a very human-like face, almost without hair, and very large and expressive eyes. They abound in West Africa, and have been colonised with success in the island of Mauritius; they are not very common in captivity, but much more so than some other species of less interest.

CHAPTER XII.

Atelles or Spider Monkeys--The Common Macaque--Java Monkeys, and what they say--A Happy Family.

I have caught one sound from the spider monkey by which I have been able to attract the attention of others of the same species, but I am as yet uncertain about its meaning. I do not believe that it has any reference to food; but I think perhaps it is a term of friendship, or a sound of endearment. One reason for this belief is, that I have heard it used on several occasions when a monkey of this kind would see its image in a mirror. I have used the sound in Washington, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, and induced the monkey addressed to respond to it and come to me. I almost concluded at one time that this species was nearly dumb, until I saw one enraged by a green monkey that occupied an adjoining cage. On this occasion she raised her voice to an extremely high pitch, and uttered a sound having great volume and significance. This she repeated several times, and it was the first time I had ever seen a spider monkey show any sign of resentment. On another occasion, where this same specimen saw a brilliant peac.o.c.k near the window by her cage, the sounds which she made at that strange object were loud, clear, and varied.

I have read with surprise an account of a spider monkey which Dr.

Gardner had with him in his travels through South America. He describes it as the most intelligent of all monkeys, but I cannot believe that his experience with monkeys was sufficient to rank him as an authority on that subject. I do not pretend, however, to know all that there is to be known concerning this species, but so far as my study of them goes they scarcely laugh, cry, or show any sign of emotion. They do not usually resent anything; thus they are harmless and timid. Their long, lean, half-clad limbs look like the ghost of poverty, and their slow, cautious movements like decrepitude begging alms. They would be objects of pity if they only had sense enough to know how Nature has slighted them.

[Sidenote: "JESS"]

I have recently received a letter from Mr. A. E. McCall, of Bath, New York, enclosing a photograph of a monkey of this kind, by the name of "Jess." The gentleman tells me that he has been giving some time to the study of the actions and language of this monkey, and a.s.sures me that it is very docile, and follows him like a dog, and kindly offers to make such experiments with it as I may suggest, by which to aid me in the pursuit of my own researches, and I shall take advantage of his kind offer.

I am aware that there are exceptions to all rules, and I am not disposed to deprive the spider monkey of the place he may deserve in the scale of Simian life by reason of his intellect or speech; but as this book is a record of what I know, and not what I have heard of, I shall for the present be compelled to place the spider monkey very far down in the scale of intellect and speech.

The common Macaque is a strong, well-built monkey, of a dark grey colour, with a short stubby tail. He has but few friends, and at times appears to regret having any at all. He is quite active, energetic, and aggressive. He endures captivity well, but as a rule never becomes quite tame or trustworthy. His speech is of a low type, but he has a very singular expression of the mouth, which seems to indicate friendship. In fact, there are several different species of the genus _Macacus_ that use this peculiar movement of the lips. They thrust the head forward and lower it slightly, and in this position work their lips as if talking with the greatest possible energy, but without uttering a sound. They do not do this for food, but I have seen them do it to their image in the gla.s.s, and have had them do so with me a great number of times. I have been told by some that this is meant as a sign of anger or a.s.sault, but my own observations tend to attribute to it exactly the reverse of this meaning. Occasionally, when I have offered them food, I have observed them do this; but I do not think it referred to the food, unless it was intended as a vote of thanks. The first monkey whose voice I ever captured on the phonograph belonged to this tribe; he is still in the Washington collection, and bears the name of "Prince," under which name he may go down to history as the first monkey whose speech was ever recorded. But whatever his fame may become on that account, I do not think he will ever justly obtain the reputation of being an amiable monkey.

[Sidenote: JAVA MONKEYS]

Among the Java monkeys are several varieties which make very good pets.

They show a fair degree of intelligence and docility, and are not generally very vicious. I have not succeeded in making any very good records of these monkeys, although I have observed, without the aid of the phonograph, that they have one or two very distinct and well-marked sounds. I have not up to this time attempted to differentiate their sounds, but in a general way have interpreted the meanings of one or two groups of them, especially those of a friendly character. I may with propriety remark here, that in all the different tongues of monkeys there appear to be certain words which are much more significant, of a much better phonetic type, than the others, and occur much more frequently among their sounds. This appears to be true of the speech or sounds of all the lower animals.

[Sidenote: MONKEYS RECOGNISE BY SIGHT]

In a former chapter I have described the happy little family in Central Park, which consisted of the five little brown cousins, only a few months ago; but death has reduced their number to two. In this connection I shall mention a very important fact concerning the use of the natural senses of these animals. I have several times been a.s.sured that monkeys depended more upon their sense of smell than upon that of sight as a means of recognition, and that in this respect they were very much like the canines. I have made frequent tests of the power of their senses, and am prepared to say with certainty that such is not the case.

When I visit the Park, I frequently enter at Sixty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue, at which place there is a flight of stairs leading from the street down to a large plazza in front of the Old Armoury; and something more than a hundred feet from the foot of the stairway, and nearly at right angles to it, is a window opening into the monkey-house by the cage occupied by these particular monkeys. When I descend the stairway and come within view of this window, they frequently see me as I reach the plazza, and the keeper always knows of my approach by the conduct of the monkeys, who recognise me the instant I come in sight at that distance. At other times I have approached the house from another direction, and come within a few feet of their cage, where I have stood for some time, in order to ascertain whether they were aware of my presence; and on a few occasions have slipped into the house with the crowd, and they did not detect my presence except by sight. It is evident, if they depended upon the sense of smell, that they would have discovered my presence when so near them, although they could not see me. But no matter what the condition of the weather, or how many people are present, the instant one of them sees me he spreads the news, and every inmate of the cage rushes to the window and begins to scream at the top of his voice. If their sense of smell was such as to enable them to detect my presence as a dog would, it is reasonable also that the monkey which possessed the most sensitive organs would have been the first to detect it in each case; whereas, sometimes one monkey, and sometimes another, made the discovery. It is my belief, however, that their sense of smell is much more acute than that of man, but far less so than that of most other animals, especially the dog. [Sidenote: HEARING VERY DELICATE] The sense of hearing in these animals is very delicate, as may be seen from the account of Nellie discovering my footsteps on the lower stairway, and as I have witnessed in scores of other cases. The same is true also of their sight; their eyes are like a photo-camera, nothing ever escapes them. I think their organs of taste are also quite sensitive, as I have made some tests from time to time, and find them very hard to deceive. The sense of touch, which is rather obtuse in most animals, is much more acute in these. I have frequently interlaced my fingers with those of some person whom they dislike, and extending the hand towards them, they rarely make a mistake by getting hold of the wrong finger, and yet it has frequently occurred that they could not see the hands at all, and had to depend alone upon the sense of touch. In cases where the hands were very nearly the same size they were not able to select the fingers so readily, but where a lady's hand was used, or that of a boy, the selection was made without hesitancy and without error. I have tried this experiment a great many times with a view to ascertaining to some extent the delicacy of their sense of touch. Another fact that I may mention is, that they do not habitually smell articles of food or other things given to them; but they depend chiefly upon their sight for finding and their taste for choosing their food. My opinion is, that the sense of smell does not play an important part in these affairs. I may add, too, that, in the Cebus, his tail is perhaps the most sensitive organ of touch, although it is not used in this capacity to any great extent. He is generally very watchful over this useful member, because it serves him in so many ways, and I think perhaps it is safe to say that the tail is the last part of the monkey that ever becomes tame.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Extent of my Experiments--Apes and Baboons--Miscellaneous Records of Sound--The Vocal Index.

In quest of the great secret of speech, I have pursued my investigations chiefly in the direction of learning one tongue, but incidentally I have made many detours, and I have recorded the sounds of many other forms of the animal kingdom, besides primates. I have examined the phonation of lions, tigers, leopards, cats, dogs, birds of many kinds, and the human voice in speech, music, and laughter. Besides these, I have examined various musical sounds, especially of the pipe and whistle kinds.

More than a year ago I made some splendid records of the sounds of the two chimpanzees in the Cincinnati collection. I have not had the opportunity to study these apes themselves, as I desired to do, since they are kept so closely confined in a gla.s.s house, and for ever under the eye of their keeper, which conditions are not favourable to the best results. I am not prepared therefore to give much detail concerning their speech; but from a careful study of one cylinder containing a record of their sounds, I was able to discern as many as seven different phones, all of which come within the scope of the human vocal organs. I learned one of these sounds, and on a subsequent visit to Cincinnati I succeeded in attracting the attention of the female, and eliciting from her a response. She would come to the lattice door of the inner cage by which I was standing, and when I would utter the sound she would press her face against the door of the cage and answer it with a like sound.

The male, however, did not appear to notice it with any degree of concern. I have no idea what the sound meant, and my opportunities have not been such that I could translate it with the remotest degree of certainty. [Sidenote: STUDIES IN TROPICAL AFRICA] These apes will be one of the chief objects of my studies in tropical Africa, as I believe them to possess a higher type of speech even than the gorilla. In this opinion, which I reached from the study of other sounds and the types of skull to which they belonged, I am not alone: Mr. Paul Du Chaillu, Mr.

E. J. Glave, and others who have seen both of these apes in their native habitat, agree with me on this point. I am aware that this view is not in strict accord with that of Professor Huxley, who a.s.signs the gorilla the highest place next to man in the order of Nature, and the chimpanzee next below him. I shall not here attempt to discuss the question with so high an authority, and I must confess that the vocal index is not yet so well defined that it may be relied upon in cla.s.sifying apes. One aim I have in view is to study the gorilla and chimpanzee side by side in their native wilds, and to record, if possible, the sounds of their voices in a wild state. From the study of the sounds I have made, I feel confident that all the vocal sounds made by these apes may be uttered by the human vocal organs.

Some months ago I made a record of the voice of the great Anubis baboon, in Philadelphia. I did not expect to find in him an elevated type of speech; but my purpose was to compare it with other Simian sounds, to see if I could not establish a series of steps in the quality of vocal sounds which would coincide with certain other characters. I had found by the study of certain cranial forms that certain vocal types conformed to certain skulls, and were as much a conformation thereof as are the cerebral hemispheres. I then believed, and have had no cause since to recede from it, that the vocal powers were correctly measured by the gnathic index; that the mind and voice were commensurate; and that as the cranio-facial angle widens the voice degrades in quality and scope.

In man, I find the highest vocal type, and just as we descend in the cranial scale, the vocal type descends into sounds less flexible, less capable, and less musical. These deductions apply only to mammals; among birds, insects, &c., a different order may prevail.

[Sidenote: RECORDS OF LIONS]

The records of the lions show some strange features in the construction of sound; and when a.n.a.lysed on the phonograph present some novel effects. The sound as a whole appears to be broken into broad waves or pulsations; but on a.n.a.lysing it the fundamental tones somewhat resemble the sounds produced by drawing a mallet rapidly across the keyboard of a xylophone, and are characterised by a peculiar resonance something like the tremulous vibrations of a thin gla.s.s containing a small quant.i.ty of water. Each of these separate fundamental sounds, or sound units as they appear to be, can be further reduced to still smaller vibrations; and the result suggests that the fundamental sounds themselves are an aggregation of smaller vibrations. I have not as yet been able to compare the notes one by one with the scale of the xylophone in order to ascertain whether or not they obey the laws of sound upon which is founded the chromatic scale of music. The lion makes only a small number of different sounds, nearly of the same pitch. I have not a.n.a.lysed the vocal sounds of the other felines to ascertain to what extent they coincide with those of the lion; but his appear to be somewhat unlike any other sounds which I have examined.

Among the few sounds of birds which I have a.n.a.lysed, I may mention the Trumpeter Crane. I have made one record of this bird which was sufficiently loud to enable me to obtain some idea of the character of the sound. I am in doubt as to what the real mode of producing this sound is. The volume of sound evidently comes from the mouth of the bird; but while in the act of making it, he appears to bring the whole body into use, even the feathers appear to take some part in its production, and the whole frame of the bird vibrates in the act. The record which I have shows some resemblance, on a.n.a.lysis, to the sound made by the lion; but it is not sufficiently strong to admit of a.n.a.lysing the sound units or fundamental sounds.

[Sidenote: DIFFERENCE IN PHONES OF GENERA]

From the many sounds that I have a.n.a.lysed, it appears to me that there is a difference in the phones of all different genera, and that the phonetic basis of human speech more closely resembles that of the Simian than any other sounds; but I wish to be understood distinctly not to offer this in evidence to establish any physical, mental, or phonetic affinity between mankind and Simians. I merely state the facts from which all theorists may deduce their own conclusions.

CHAPTER XIV.

Monkeys and the Mirror--Some of their Antics--Baby Macaque and her Papa--Some other Monkeys.

I have incidentally mentioned elsewhere the use of the mirror in some of my experiments, but I have not described in detail how it affected various monkeys. Of course, it does not always affect the same monkey in the same way at different times, nor does it affect all monkeys of the same species in exactly the same way, and therefore I cannot deduce a rule from my experiments by which the species can be determined by its conduct before the gla.s.s.

[Sidenote: PUCK AND NELLIE WITH MIRROR]

When Puck saw himself in the mirror he undoubtedly mistook the image for another monkey, to which he would talk more freely than he would to the sounds made by the phonograph. He would frequently caress the image, and show signs of friendship; at the same time he was very timid and retiring.

Nellie would chatter to herself in the mirror, and seemed never to tire of looking at that beautiful monkey she saw there, and I do not think the propensity could be accounted for merely by her s.e.x. I do not think she ever quite understood where that monkey was concealed, and the scores of times in a day that she would turn the gla.s.s around was evidence that she never fully despaired of finding it.

I accidentally dropped a small mirror one day by the cage in which there was a green monkey. The gla.s.s was broken into many small pieces. Quick as thought, the green monkey thrust her arm through the bars, grabbed the largest piece, and got it into her cage before I was fully aware of what she was trying to do. The fragment was about an inch wide by an inch and a half long. She caught a glimpse of herself in the gla.s.s, and her conduct was more like that of a crazy monkey than anything I can compare it to. She peeped into the fragment of the mirror, which she seemed to regard as a hole in something which separated her from another monkey. She held it up over her head at arm's-length, laid it down on the floor, held it against the wall, and twisted herself into every pose to get a better peep at that mysterious monkey on the other side of something, she could not tell what. When the gla.s.s was reversed, she seemed much perplexed, and would sometimes jump high off the floor, and turn herself entirely around, as if to untangle the mystery. Then again she would discover the right side of the gla.s.s, and would go through these antics again. Several times while holding it against the wall she would put her eyes close up against the gla.s.s, just as she would to a knot-hole in the wall. I tried in vain for some time to get the gla.s.s away from her lest she might injure herself with it, but only succeeded after considerable labour and through the help of her keeper.

[Sidenote: McGINTY'S DELIGHT WITH MIRROR]