WHY IS TEE HUMAN EAR IMMOBILE? 235 



evidence of the appreciation which they have of sound. The chat- 

 tering differs, moreover, from the mere monotonous repetition of a 

 sound and if it has any function, it is probably a function which 

 can be fulfilled only by the apprehension of a series of diverse sounds. 

 It is also of interest to note the statement of Professor Haeckel that 

 he has heard from apes of very different species ' remarkable clicking 

 sounds'; and it has been thought that these sounds are still present 

 in the language of Bushmen. 



Mr. E. L. Garner made some years ago a study of the 'speech of 

 monkeys,' and he reached the following conclusions:* "The sounds 

 which monkeys make are voluntary, deliberate and articulate. They 

 are always addressed to some certain individual with the evident pur- 

 pose of having them understood. . . . They wait for and expect an 

 answer, and if they do not receive one they frequently repeat the 

 pounds. They usually look at the person addressed and do not utter 

 these sounds when alone or as a mere pastime. . . . They understand 

 the sounds made by monkeys of their own kind. . . . when imitated 

 by a human being, by a whistle, a phonograph, or other mechanical 

 devices. . . . The fundamental sounds appear to be pure vowels, but 

 faint traces of consonants are found in many words." "As a rule 

 each act of a monkey is attended by some sound." In a later work. 

 Mr. Garner, after study of the apes in their native haunts, says that 

 the chimpanzee has a vocabulary of twenty-five to thirty words; he 

 claims that he learned ten of these words so that he could hold com- 

 munication with the animals using them.f 



Mr. Eomanes't account of the song, if such it may be called, of 

 the chimpanzee 'Sally' may here be quoted: "It is sung without any 

 regard to notation in a series of rapidly succeeding howls and screams 

 — very loud, and accompanied by a drumming of the legs upon the 

 ground." Mr. Garner has observed similar exhibitions given by chim- 

 panzees. He also heard a performance of the kind in the African 

 forest ; the natives and others attributed it to the gorilla, but Mr. Gar- 

 ner thinks it not unlikely that it was given by the chimpanzee. 



Darwin § calls attention to the fact that two species of the gibbon, 

 the Hylobates agilis and the Hylobates leuciscus have musical powers. 

 In regard to the song of the former he quotes Mr. Waterhouse, who 

 says : "It appeared to me that in ascending and descending the scale, 

 the intervals were always exactly half tones; and I am sure that the 

 highest note was the exact octave to the lowest. The quality of the 

 notes is very musical." 



* ' The Speech of Monkeys,' pp. 169-170. 



f ' Apes and Monkeys,' p. 108. 



% ' Mental Evolution in Man,' p. 377. 

 ' Descent of Man,' p. 567. 



