MENTAL LIFE OF MONKEYS AND APES 139 



mation as is available the advantage seems to be greatly in 

 favor of the latter. 



Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, and for that matter, several of 

 the West Indies, offer possible sites for a successful station. I 

 have reasonably intimate personal knowledge only of the con- 

 ditions in Jamaica. The major advantages in the West Indies 

 are (a) suitable climatic conditions and food supply for the 

 animals; and (b) reasonably satisfactory climatic conditions for 

 the staff. These are, however, more than counterbalanced in 

 my opinion by the following serious disadvantages: (a) the 

 relative isolation of the investigators from their fellow scien- 

 tists; (b) the necessity of importing all of the animals originally 

 used; (c) the risk of destruction of the station by storms. 



It is definitely known that anthropoid apes as well as mon- 

 keys can be successfully kept, bred, and reared in the West 

 Indies. During the past year, on the estate of Dona Rosalia 

 Abreu, near Havana, Cuba, a chimpanzee was born in cap- 

 tivity. A valuable account of this important event and of the 

 young ape has been published by Doctor Louis Montane (1915). 

 It therefore seems practically certain that regions could be found 

 readily on Jamaica, Porto Rico, or smaller islands, which would 

 be eminently satisfactory for the breeding of apes. 



There are obvious reasons why an American station for the 

 study of the primates should be located on territory controlled 

 by the United States Government, and if a tropical location 

 proves necessary, it would probably be difficult to find more 

 satisfactory regions, aside from the inconveniences and risk of 

 importation and the relative isolation of the investigators, than 

 are available on Porto Rico. 



I have not seriously considered the possibility of locating an 

 American station on the continent of Africa, for although two- 

 of the most interesting and importaat of the anthropoid apes, 

 the gorilla and the chimpanzee, are African forms, while many 

 species of monkey are either found there or could readily be 

 imported, it has seemed to me that the islands of the West and 

 East Indies and the portions of the United States referred to 

 above are much to be preferred over anything available in 

 Africa. 



In the East, Borneo, the Philippine Islands, and Hawaii are 

 well worth considering. Borneo is the home of the gibbon and 



