A CUBAN CHIMPANZEE' 



DR. LOUIS MONTANfi 



Professor oj Anthropology at the University of Havana 

 Translated from the Spanish by C. S. Rossy 2 



In a notable report on ' The order of the Primates: an anatom- 

 ical parallel between man and apes ' (Paris, 1877), Broca, in 

 discussing the phenomena of gestation and the evolution of 

 certain parts of the foetal membranes in the Primates, states 

 that in this connection one can say very little about the anthro- 

 poid apes, because these animals do not reproduce themselves 

 in captivity, and that ' the little that is known of them has 

 been observed from some female killed while in gestation." 

 For this reason, the procreation and birth of a chimpanzee in 

 Cuba constitutes a scientific event worthy of registration in the 

 annals of natural science. According to our knowledge, it is 

 the first time that an anthropoid ape has been born in cap- 

 tivity. The following data have been obtained concerning the 

 family of the anthropoid ape to which we refer. 



Jimmy, the father, came from London to Havana in 1914. 

 This adult chimpanzee, 11 to 12 years of age, measures in height 

 1 meter and 13 centimeters. He is irascible and wild. 



Cucusa, the mother, an adult chimpanzee from Sierra Leona, 

 12 to 14 years of age, is a beautiful specimen of anthropoid ape. 

 She measures 1 meter and 30 centimeters, and her thoracic 

 perimeter reaches 90 centimeters. Cucusa had previously in- 

 dulged in amorous relations with Chimpi, a chimpanzee which 

 lived in the park of the "Quinta Palatino," the estate of Dona 

 Sra. Rosalia Abreu, from 1904 to 1914. He was a notable 

 anthropoid on account of his intelligence. Because of certain 

 intimate abnormalities of his physical constitution, Chimpi 

 had no succession. He died at the age of 14 years as the result 

 of acute myelitis, according to the reliable data revealed at an 

 autopsy made by Dr. Raimundo Menocal. 



1 A paper read before the Cuban Society of Natural History, " Felipe Poey," 

 on October 30, 1915. 



2 In this translation a few paragraphs which lacked scientific value have been 

 omitted. The original article was published by El Siglo XX, Havana. 



