How Animals Talk 



claims to have discovered the monkey words for 

 food, water, danger and other elementary matters. 

 Moreover, when his phonograph repeats these 

 simian words the monkeys of another locality seem 

 to understand them, since they run to the proper 

 dish at the word "food" or show evident signs of 

 alarm at the word "danger." 



It is doubtless much easier to deny such a con- 

 clusion than to prove or disprove it ; but denial is 

 commonly the first refuge of ignorance and the 

 last of dogmatism, and with these we are not con- 

 cerned. I do not know whether Garner claims too 

 much or too little for his monkeys; I have never 

 had opportunity to test the matter in the jungle, 

 and the caged monkeys with which I have occa- 

 sionally experimented are too debased of habit or 

 too imbecile in their affections to interest one who 

 has long dealt with clean wild brutes. At times, 

 however, when I have watched a monkey with an 

 organ-grinder, I have noticed that the unhappy 

 little beast displays a lively interest in the chitter 

 of chimney-swifts a lingo which to my dull ears 

 sounds remarkably like monkey-talk. But that is 

 a mere impression, momentary and of little value; 

 while Garner speaks soberly after long and im- 

 mensely patient observation. 



To return to first-hand evidence: among wild 

 creatures of my acquaintance the crows come 



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