The Omaha Sunday - Bee Magazine Pag
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This intelligent chimpanzee wrote upon a typewriter with great solemnity and apparent self -satisfaction."
Their Clever Tricks and Man-Like Actions
Lead Him to Conclude That They
Have a Low Form of Reasoning, Crude
Powers of Ideation, Sympathy and &) en
a Sense of
Humor
T Is always interesting to know lust
how much the great spes, who resemble
men' so stror-gly in appearance, ap
proach us in mental make-up.
Some men mar still be beard to express
an opinion that monkeys and apes are sot
Intelligent at all, a superficial view gen
erally based on the fact that they are less .
docile than dogs and horses, but scientific
observation tends . to place the man-like
apes continually nearer to man la the
mental scale.
Professor W. T. Shepherd, of Waynes
burg College, has been, making a detailed
examination of the two well-known chlm
panaees, Peter and Consul, who have de
lighted large audiences by their exceeding
ly human behavior on the stage. The pro
feasor studied the conduct of . the two dis
tinguished actors upon the stage. and also
held an examination ot them in private,
questioning their keepers and testing the
abilities of the actors by personal inter
rourse. Professor Shepherd's observations are
exceedingly interesting and give the two
chlmpaciees a very high place In the in
tellectual scale. The conclusions he draws
may be summarized as follows:
1. The very clever and man-like actions
of the apes are partly accounted for by.
(heir superior motor-equipment, so nearly
like that of man. whtrh enables them to
move with speed and accuracy, to turn
quickly, to selte objects with their hands,
and to adapt their bodies and limbs to
many different attitudes In a way not pos
sible to other animals.
2. The training which show animals re
ceive accounts for many of their tricks,
but the apes exhibit an ability to do things
which could not be learned by other ani
mal, however teachable. ' .
5. The semi-erect carriage of the apes
Is of great importance and enablea them to
perform acts which would be impossible
to other animals.
4. There are indications of intelligent
imitation in the mental make-up ot the
chlropanseea. a decidedly human char
acteristic. e. There are indications of a low form
of reasoning or of crude ideas in ihe apea.
6. There are indlcationa of more human
like emotions in these apes than monkeys
such as the Rhesus manifest, e. g sym
pathy and a sense of humor.
7. They show superior capacity for In
telligent reactions to that ot any ot the
lower order of animals.
g. With all allowances made, the apes
are superior tn intelligence to all sub
humans and so are nearer to man than any
of the other lower animals.
Professor Shepherd describes bis experi
ment in the Journal of Animal Behavior.
First he examined the chimpanzee Peter,
who dressed like a man, sat down to a
table, put on a napkin ad ate food with a
knife and fork. After eating, he struck a
match, lighted s candle, lighted a cigarette
and smoked. .He gave his keeper, Mo
Ardle. a light for the tatter's cigarette
from bis own.
Upon command from the keeper, the ape
danced on the stage fairly well, much like
a man, a sort ot jig-dance.
When roller-ekates were put on his feet
he skated around the stage skilfully. He
appeared to skate as well as a girl whom
he chased around the stage.
The animal got upon a bicycle himself
and rode it around the stage. He chased
the girl around the stage while riding the
wheel While riding he drank water from
a cup handed him. Then he skilfully rode
tstween a number of toottles and cut e
sort of figure S while riding between the
bottle. The ape picked up a bottle and
drank out of it while riding.
The animal rode the bicycle up an in
in
clined plane on the stage. ' The professor
noticed that he always Increased his speed
Just before coming to the inclined, plane.
After performing these feats Peter un
dressed and went to bed, very much like
s man does. ...
Upon command from the keeper, Peter
took tip a hammer and a nail ajnd drove
the nail Into the wall quickly and without
observable awkwardness.
As a test of imitation, the professor took
out his watch and pressed on the stem
slowly, and opened the watch three times,
while Peter watched his actions with atten
Uon and apparently with Interest Then
the professor reached it to him; he held it '
i
If
X
lip
P;r A
"Consul threaded gt needle, showing a remarkably human ability to use
, , the hands."
"Peter appeared to be laughing
but it is impossible to say
. just why."
Cut what he wrote. He took down the re
eeiver of a telephone and listened, or ap
peared to listen. The ape used a type
writer, that is, he pressed on the keys, so
far as the investlgstor could judge.
Consul threaded a needle, cut paper into
strips with scissors. He took a key and
locked and unlocked a padlock, and did
other acta requiring similar Intelligence.
These acts by Consul, like similar acta
by Peter, are perhaps accounted for prin
cipally by the animals' ' motor-equipment, '
erect carriage and training.
"Some of them, such as riding up the in
clined plane and increasing his speed to go
np, again raise the question of ideation or a
lower form of reasoning in the animals
mental make-up," observes the scientist.
The professor did not note in Consul
the good nature and sympathy shown by
Peter. The former ape showed the brute
In him by a certain roughness of manner
and by not .obeying his keeper very readily.
Peter, on the other hand, showed evi-
1
dences of affection for his keeper by such
acts as putting his arm around the latter
in a very human-like manner and kissing
him. When the professor questioned
Peter's keeper as to the sympathy and
good humor shown by apes, the keeper, in
the ape's sight, pretended to have hurt his
hand, whereupon Peter went to him, put
his arm around McArdle and by his acts
gave very evident signs of ape sympathy.
Peter acted in a similar manner when the
professor also pretended to have hurt his
hand.
It was Peter who gave the strongest
evidence for the argument that the chimpanzee-possesses
a sense of humor. . After
the chimpanzee had written something on a
slate he tried to hide it as if taking a ma
- llclous pleasure in puzzling the investigators.-
There was also at times an ex
pression on his face very much like a
human laugh, but it would be rash to as
sume that it was from the same source
without further investigation.
"Peter was clever , enough to put on increased . speed
before starting to ride his bicycle uphill."
horiiontal stroke of the pencil. The ape
made a rather poor T the first time shown.
He also made a W when I ahowed him
once. Peter seemed to like to use the
pencil and tablet." ,
Upon being ordered by his keepe, the
animal put a handkerchief around Pro
fessor Shepherd's neck and tied it quickly
and correctly when told to do so. He also
untlbd the knot quickly.
He came and slapped the professor on
the lower limb when the keeper bade him,
though apparently with some reluctance.
The animal would lie down and alt up when
ordered to do so.
When told to do so, Peter articulated the
word "mama." The ape apoke the word
something like a foreigner would apeak it
"I noted, however," says Professor Shep
herd, "that the wife ot the keeper pressed
her fingers against the ape'a under Up
when he spoke the word mentioned."
The writer then attempts to analyse the
factora In the apparently auperior Intel
ligence shown tn the actions of the ape
juat recited. In the first place he aeea in
th superior motor-equipment ot the ani
mal one ot the principal factors. Peter's
comparatively perfect hands enabled him
to use the knife and fork in eating and to
handle a cup in drinking. His man-like
lower limb, his hands and his upright fig
,ure enabled htm to ride the bicycle, to pick
up a bottle and drink while riding, etc
His auperior motor-equipment was also, aa
it aeems to the writer, a principal factor in
auch feats aa drlvinr a nail, tvlnr a hand.
not open. He thereupon attempted to ' kerchief In a knot and untying it. etc
uogs ana otner animals, if they had the in
telligence, lack the requisite motor-apparatus
to do auch acta.
Another principal faotor in all these acts
was, doubtless, training. We know that
horses, dogs, and even pigs, may be
trained to do many feats and that ability
to learn is not entirely equivalent to Intelligence.
"I '!'"'"-- f -- II
"The chimpanzee Peter used roller
skates very skilfully, exhibiting
once more his highly organ
ized motor equipment
and pressed on the stem correctly severs!
times, as If to open it However, he did
not press hard enough, and the watch did
open it with his finger nails. The keeper
stated that the ape had not received any
training in that act.
"I held out a writing tablet and a pencil
to Peter," aays Professor Shepherd. "He
at once aelaed them and began scribbling,
L e making irregular marks on the tablnt
J made, in his sight the letter T; a very
plain T, with simply one vertical and one
In the writing by the ape his man-like
hands, together with training, probably
account for the facility with which he
performed this human action, though imi
tation la possibly a factor here. What ae
counts for his seeming eagerness to mark
on the paper might, however, be an Inter
eating question. It would be Interesting,
also, to test bow far the ape might be
taught to carry his writing. Investigation
In this line is still very Incomplete.
Peter's articulation of the word "must
was possibly quite mechanical and parrot
like, perhaps not understood by himself.
Still. It would be interesting, the professor
observes, to test how far such speaking by
apea might be carried.
Peter's correct attempt to open the
watch appears to the Investigator like intel
ligent imitation. However. though the
. keeper assured the professor that the ape
had had no training in that act the scien
tist is Inclined to doubt the statement
Then, perhaps, we could account tor the re
action by the ape's hands, his training and
the well-known curiosity of all monkeys.
If the veracity of the keeper can be relied
upon, we have here, as it appears to the
writer, a case ot Intelligent imitation.
"In the matter of the ape Increasing
speed to ride up the Inclined plane, if train
ing doea not account tor it, we appear
to aee evidence of something very like
Ideation or reasoning of a low order," com
ments Professor Shepherd. "If, in this In
stance, ldeaa are present they are perhaps
what Hobhonse has named practical ideas,
. L e crude and unanalysed ideas. The
writer is inclined to believe that the lat
ter, together with motor-equipment and
training, are the factors Involved."
Consul, the other ape observed, did most
ot the feats which Peter had done, such as
putting on a napkin and eating at a table,
getting upon a bicycle and riding around
the atage, riding between nine bottle, rid
ing up an inclined plane. Consul did these
acta in a similar manner.
The latter ape also performed some other
feats. He poured out hie coffee, picked his
teeth, cleaned his teeth with a brush,
cleaned his tooth brash. He rode a wheel
with a lamp on his head, held by himself
while riding; he bored with an auger, put
the rounds in ami fitted together a ladder.
What the Chinese Can
Teach Us About Marriage
THAT young men and women ot the
civilised countries are physically
with some helo. . He took a tablet and
pencil and wrote, or the keeper aald he
wrote; but the professor could not make
Copyright 1918, by the Star Comoaar.' Graat Britain Biht Raaarvtd.
ready tor marriage many yeare
before they are financially ready to un- -dertake
ita responsibilities, is now given
as the cause for the Increase of the so
cial evil with its.tradn of illegitimacy,,
disease and childlessness.
Students of social betterment have
found that the confirmed bachelors and
spinsters who are apparently shirking
duties of privileges of marriage and
child-birth, do so not because of disin
clination or preference, but rather be
cause of lack of sufficient Incomes to
warrant an early, natural and happy
marriage. '
Sociologists, college professors ana
leaders ot young people's organisations .
have for many years deplored the de
crease In early marriages. They have
urged yoang men to marry and trust to
luck and hard work for the bread sup
ply. They have asserted that one love
affair In every life predominates all
others, that when this has come It is time
to marry, as love is likely never to come
with the same force again. Yet all of
this, though true, cannot persuade a far
seeing young man or girl to take the
venture on a salary of twelve dollars a
week.
In China It Is the parents of prospec
tive bridegrooms who make the arrange
ments tor the marriage ot their sons.
They aid and supervise the choice of a
wife and carry on all negotiations for
the dower of the bride.
After the marriage ceremony the young
bride is obliged to take up her abode in
the home ot her father-in-law. Her hus
band's living and her own are thereby
guaranteed and the bridegroom usually
serve In hla father's business. After as
certain period he becomes the sole means
of support the parents always retaining
however the direction ot the home, un
til, in turn, a younger generation is mar
ried, apprenticed, and ready to take the
reins of support ,
Among the Caucasian races a girl is
physically ready for marriage . between
the years of seventeen and twenty, and
a young man from nineteen to twenty
two. Instead, however, ot the. majority
ot marriages happening at these ages
we find them along In the very late twen
ties and early thirties) owing to the
fact that young men cannot establish
themselves in sufficiently remunerative
work until they are nearly thirty.
The solution of the problema Involved
in the increasing childlessness per cap
ita, In the disappointed lives, in much ot
our younger life may be found in apply,
ing the best ot the Chinese principles.
This would mean that father must
shoulder the responsibility of equipping
his son for a certain earning capacity la
his own or some other trade before the
son passes the age of twenty; that the
father must see to It that the son earns
a marriageable aalary at twenty or sup
plement It from his own; or if these
steps are not possible he must take un
der the protection of hla own roof hla
son's new bride until the son himself be
comes a self supporting father and la
turn takes on the responsibilities pi
fatherhood.
Following such a scheme of things
college-trained man would have to grad
uate from his atudles at about nineteen
years of age and enter Immediately on
hla life work. In a year or two he would
be in a position to marry with some de
gree of safety for his bride. He would
obtain some financial assistance from
hla rather If that were necessary. This
would then make things aa in the old
days, when many girls were married at
sixteen and when parents were not tn
such a great hurry to shunt their young
offspring out to shift for themselTa.
