242 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



disgust from merisa and even from wine, a favorite beverage in ordi- 

 nary time ; the only things they accepted were lemons, of which each 

 one ate an average of twenty pieces. In this wretched state they 

 comported themselves like men, and would, doubtless, have enjoyed a 

 sour herring if it had been possible to secure this antidote in the 

 country of the Mahdi. In the evening they felt better, and were all 

 right the next morning. I hoped this hard lesson would teach my 

 pupils the advantages of abstinence, but, alas ! I was mistaken once 

 more in my life. They drank and reveled all the same, and from that 

 day drank brandy with predilection. More than that, they claimed 

 their rum every day as a privilege. 



I took one of these baboons it was a female along to my home 

 in Germany, because she had always proved to be of extraordinary 

 sagacity, and actually exhibited a far greater intelligence than the 

 average of the countrywomen of Thuringia, where I was living. Apes 

 in general like other creatures, provided they submit to their caressing 

 and fondling. My baboon at first concentrated her tenderness upon 

 the children of the village, but, to her great sorrow, found no recipro- 

 city. Then she turned to cats and dogs, and teased and tormented 

 them in every way. A bright pussy, which the most of the time she 

 carried in her arms, was tired one day of her company and attempted 

 to escape. The ape strongly objected, and the kitten, in its strug- 

 gles, scratched her in the shoulder. Gravely the baboon seized one of 

 the paws of her pet, examined it carefully, and finding, probably, the 

 sharp claws a dangerous superfluity in so small a being, bit them all 

 off, one by one. We sometimes tried a practical joke on her by put- 

 ting a little powder near the place where she was secured during part 

 of the day, and flashing it by means of burning spunk. When the 

 powder flashed, she screamed and jumped back as far as her chain per- 

 mitted it. But she had very early found out the connection of things ; 

 the next time we threw the burning spunk near the powder, she rushed 

 forward, extinguished it, and quietly ate the explosive, which she prob- 

 ably relished on account of its saltpetrous taste. 



The aptitude of the Cynopithecini to distinguish between cause 

 and effect is really remarkable. They are aware when they have done 

 wrong, and expect punishment. An old crowned guenon, also called 

 Chinese bonnet, living in captivity, once assaulted its attendant, lacer- 

 ated his arm, and cut an artery. The animal being an old offender, 

 the master ordered it to be shot. When the man charged with carry- 

 ing out the order approached the cage of the ape, the latter, appre- 

 hending his fate, retreated to the adjoining shanty serving as bedroom, 

 which communicated with the cage by a door. Neither flatteries nor 

 tempting titbits could move him to come out from there. The man 

 then had dinner brought and placed in the front cage as usual, and 

 walked off. As soon as he was out of sight, the monkey cautiously 

 crawled out, took part of the food, and jumped back to his hiding- 



