92 THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



The destructiveness of monkeys is proverbial. They 

 gnaw boards as dogs do — at least I have seen it done by 

 the baboon and chimpanzee, their eating trough being 

 badly disfigured in that way. Long-tailed monkeys 

 amuse themselves by breaking off tough branches as 

 they clamber from limb to limb.* 



The book of daily observations, for which we are 

 indebted to Romanes's sister, is full of examples of 

 experimentation. It relates to a specimen of Cebus 

 fatuellus which Romanes gave to his sister in Decem- 

 ber, 1880. The following description is from her diary: 



" I notice that the love of mischief is very strong 

 in him. To-day he got hold of a wineglass and an 

 egg-cup. The glass he dashed on the floor with all his 

 might, and of course broke it. Finding, however, that 

 the egg-cup would not break for being thrown down, 

 he looked round for some hard substance against which 

 to dash it. The post of the brass bedstead appearing 

 to be suitable for the purpose, he raised the egg-cup 

 high above his head and gave it several hard blows. 

 When it was completely smashed he was quite satis- 

 fied. He breaks a stick by passing it down between a 

 heavy object and the wall, and then hanging on to the 

 end, thus breaking it across the heavy object. He fre- 

 quently destroys an article of dress by carefully pull- 

 ing out the threads (thus unripping it) before he begins 

 to tear it with his teeth in a violent manner. 



" In accordance with his desire for mischief, he is, 

 of course, very fond of upsetting things, but he always 

 takes great care that they do not fall on himself. Thus 

 he will pull a chair toward him till it is almost over- 

 balanced, then he intently fixes his eyes on the top 



* Loango Expedition, ii, p. 239. 



