Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 25.djvu/538

524 hold of the chain was enough to make him disappear in the straw. But he very soon learned by experience that the source of the detonation was not in the chain but in the pistol, and could easily distinguish it from the other appendages of the chain, of which he was not afraid at all. Sitting on the straw in his cage, he would attentively watch my movements while I was handling these appendages. The closer my fingers approached the formidable object, the greater became his anxiety, and with his eyes riveted upon the instrument and with tense ears, he would dance continuously in the cage, all ready to go under the straw. He would assure himself beforehand, for greater security, that the cage-door was well shut; and one day, when the bolt had not been pushed in, he leaped out from the cage, which did not seem safe enough for him, and went and hid himself under the bed in the next room. As I gradually removed my hand from the pistol, I would receive chuckles of approbation; and, with his lips pushed forward and the muscles of his ear moving by jerks, he would manifest a very great joy.

The conclusion is forced by these facts, that monkeys by experience become more prudent and more cunning. Carrying experiments of this kind further, I have observed that the monkey can recognize the object of its fear even in a picture, manifesting a faculty which is largely wanting in little children and savages. I one day received an armorer's illustrated catalogue. It had among other objects a drawing of a revolver of the natural size, an arm which the rhesus had never yet seen. I gave the catalogue to my pet, and he, after the manner of many monkeys, began to turn the leaves. But, as soon as he got to the picture of the revolver, he dropped the catalogue, groaned lustily and made faces, and at once ran to hide himself in the straw, which he would not leave till the pamphlet was taken away.

The last fact proves the superiority of simian intelligence over that of the other mammals. I disagree on this point from Perty, who says, "A small number of animals, among which is the elephant, recognize drawings of objects that are familiar to them." I must avow that my investigations on this subject, upon the few elephants living in Europe, have given me negative results. I do not know of any domestic animal that can distinguish a picture. It is useless to show dogs faithful drawings of the dog, or of game; the result is nearly always the same. The animals will smell the paper, examining the substance, not the picture, and, once convinced there is nothing in it to exercise their teeth upon, they resignedly abstain from any more profound investigation. Monkeys, at least Old World monkeys, act differently.

The rhesus, a baboon (Inuus ecaudatus), three Java monkeys (Macacus cynomolgus), and a sajou (Cebus hypoleucus) were drawn in crayon for an illustrated magazine in pictures having a striking resemblance to the originals. I gave each monkey his portrait. The rhesus and the Java monkeys recognized the pictures at once, and acted