IX 



THE MAN-LIKENESS OF THE CHIMPANZEE 



DURING the past twenty years, millions of thinking 

 people have been startled, and not a few shocked, by 

 the amazing and uncanny human-likeness of the 

 performances of trained chimpanzees on the theatrical stage. 

 Really, when a well trained " chimp " is dressed from head to 

 foot like a man, and is seen going with quickness, precision and 

 spirit through a performance half an hour in length, we go 

 away from it with an uncomfortable feeling that speech is all 

 that he lacks of being a citizen. 



In 1904 the American public saw Esau. Next came Con- 

 sul, — in about three or four separate editions! In 1909 we had 

 Peter. Then came I know not how many more, including the 

 giant Casey and Mr. Garner's Susie; and finally in 19 18 our 

 own Suzette. The theatre-going public has been well supplied 

 with trained chimpanzees, and the mental capacity of that 

 species is now more widely known and appreciated than that of 

 any other wild animal except the Indian elephant. 



There are several reasons why chimpanzees predominate on 

 the stage, and why so few performing orang-utans have been 

 seen. They are as follows: 



1. The orang is sanguine, and slower in execution than the 

 nervous chimpanzee. 



2. The feet of the orang are not good for shoes, and biped 

 work. 



3. The orang is rather awkward with its hands, and finally, 



4. There are fully twice as many chimps in the market. 

 But the chimpanzee has certain drawbacks of his own. 



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