MONKEYS — GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 479 



believe anthropoid, but cannot tell the species — was in the great 

 iron cage with a number of smaller monkeys, and was lording 

 it over them with many wild gambols, to the amusement of a 

 crowd of spectators. Many things — fruits and the like — had 

 been thrown between the bars into the cage, which the ape was 

 always forward to seize. At last some one threw in a small 

 hand looking-glass, with a strongly made frame of wood. This 

 the ape at once laid hold of, and began to brandish like a ham- 

 mer. Suddenly he was arrested by the reflection of himself in 

 the glass, and looked puzzled for a moment ; then he darted his 

 head behind the glass to find the other of his kind that he 

 evidently supposed to be there. Astonished to find nothing, he 

 apparently bethought himself that he had not been quick 

 enough with his movement. He now proceeded to raise and 

 draw the glass nearer to him with great caution, and then with 

 a swifter dart looked behind. Again finding nothing, he re- 

 peated the attempt once more. He now passed from astonish- 

 ment to anger, and began to beat with the frame violently on 

 the floor of the cage. Soon the glass was shattered, and pieces 

 fell out. Continuing to beat, he was in the course of one blow 

 again arrested by his image in the piece of glass still remaining 

 in the frame. Then, as it seemed, he determined to make one 

 trial more. More circumspectly than ever the whole first part 

 of the process was gone through with ; more violently than ever 

 the final dart made. His fury over this last failure knew no 

 bounds. He crunched the frame and glass together with his 

 teeth, he beat on the floor, he crunched again, till nothing but 

 splinters was left. 



Mr. Darwin writes: 'Eengger, a most careful ob- 

 server, states that when first he gave eggs to his monkeys 

 in Paraguay, they smashed them, and thus lost much of 

 their contents ; afterwards they generally hit one end 

 against some hard body, and picked off the bits with 

 their fingers. After cutting themselves only once with 

 any sharp tool, they would not touch it again, or would 

 handle it with the greatest caution. Lumps of sugar 

 were often given them wrapped up in paper ; and Eeng- 

 ger sometimes put a live wavsp in the paper, so that in 

 hastily unfolding ijt they got stung ; after this had once 

 happened, they always first held the packet to their ears 

 to detect any movement within.' ^ 



' Descent of Man, •p-p.TTS. 



