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the Relative Edibility of Insects. 5 
eaten. The monkey was, of course, not allowed to snatch 
an insect from my hand without having adequately seen it. 
It was brought in such a way that he could see it well 
before it came within reach :—often insects were put on 
the ground out of his reach and allowed (or forced) to crawl 
gradually towards him. In the case of a butterfly, it was 
found a good plan to cut off the two wings of one side, so 
that it could be allowed to flutter about on the ground; 
moreover, the amputated wings could be kept for record : 
in the case of very active winged insects it was sometimes 
necessary to quiet them a little with a short period in a 
cyanide-bottle. Wherever possible the actual specimen 
that was refused was kept for record. In the case of 
edible species the ideal was to find a pair in copula of which 
one could be given and the other kept. A second individual 
could usually be found, but in a few cases, unfortunately, 
there is no specimen for record. 
All insects experimented with were “ hand-picked,” 
that is to say I went to look for them and did not collect 
by beating bushes or sweeping beds of herbs. So that 
every insect was seen in the surroundings it had chosen 
for itself, and thus only can one judge with confidence 
whether a species 1s aposematic or procryptic. 
A very much more interesting method is to take the 
monkey out hunting on a lead. The monkey, of course, 
must be very tame, otherwise he is either anxious to escape 
or else frightened at being taken away from his home. 
In the place where I first commenced these observations 
there was an excellent piece of ground, flat, with grass kept 
short by cattle-grazing, and low bushes dotted about. 
M: could see his home from there, and though on the first 
few occasions he was a little frightened of going away from 
me for more than a few feet, he soon became quite at home. 
I used to take him out on a long lead, note-book in hand, 
and note down exactly what he did, what he ate, and what 
he did not eat. It was necessary to keep him on the rope, 
as otherwise he would rush about much too quickly and get 
out of reach. Under these almost natural conditions one 
got most interesting results, and saw how M. avoided 
insects that had the appearance of inedibility, and how 
remarkably quick he was in discovering the edible species. 
Indeed, his acuity of vision frequently was surprising. 
He would often leap down from my arms and take one of 
his favourite Acridians, which I had quite failed to see, 
