February 18, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



231 



The only thing missing is Eoanthropus^ and 

 since he was never there anyway, the loss is 

 small; besides, we can well afford to continue 

 our search and live in the hope that he may be 

 caught next time. Meanwhile the restorations 

 by Woodward, McGregor and others may still 

 serve a more or less useful purpose as substi- 

 stutes for Eoanthropus until he shall have 

 been found. 



George Grant MacCurdy 

 Yale University, 

 New Haven, Conn. 



PROVISION FOR THE STUDY OF 

 MONKEYS AND APES 



Biologists are generally agreed that the 

 study of the primates, and especially of the 

 monlveys and anthropoid apes, is of extreme 

 importance. It is evident that this work, 

 nevertheless, has been neglected. "We have 

 but fragmentary and unsatisfactory knowledge 

 of the structure and development (gross anat- 

 omy, histology, embryology) of most of the 

 primates; we know less, definitely, concerning 

 their physiological processes, diseases and 

 pathological anatomy; still less, of the phe- 

 nomena of heredity and of their life history; 

 and next to nothing, with certainty, concerning 

 their instincts, habits, other individual modes 

 of behavior, mental life, and social relations. 



The reasons for this ignorance where knowl- 

 edge might reasonably be expected are not 

 difficult to discover. Most investigators are 

 either impelled or compelled by circumstances 

 to work on easily available and readily man- 

 ageable organisms. Many of the primates fail 

 to meet these requirements, for they are rela- 

 tively difficult and expensive to obtain by im- 

 portation or breeding, and to keep in normal 

 condition. It is clear from an examination 

 of the literature on these organisms and a 

 survey of the present biological situation that 

 the neglect by scientists of systematic study 

 of all of the primates excepting man is due, 

 not to lack of appreciation of their scientific 

 value, but instead, to technical difficulties and 

 the costliness of research. 



For hundreds of years men have been inter- 

 ested in the various types of lower primates 



and have more or less casually and incidentally 

 studied aspects of their lives. But thus far 

 there has been no definite plan or program for 

 the systematic and continuous study of these 

 animals. In view of the obvious and urgent 

 need of such a program for research which is 

 admittedly of practical as well as theoretical 

 importance I venture to present to my scien- 

 tific colleagues the following briefly sketched 

 plan. 



There should be provided in a suitable local- 

 ity a station or research institute which should 

 offer adequate facilities (1) for the mainte- 

 nance of various types of primates in normal 

 and healthy condition; (2) for the successful 

 breeding and rearing of the animals to many 

 generations; (3) for systematic and continu- 

 ous observation under reasonably natural con- 

 ditions; (4) for experimental investigations 

 from every significant biological point of 

 view; (5) for profitable cooperation with ex- 

 isting biological institutes or departments of 

 research throughout this country and the 

 world. 



The institute should be located in a region 

 whose climate is in high degree favorable to 

 the life of a variety of lower primates and to 

 man. It is eminently desirable to avoid, in 

 the interests of scientific achievement, an en- 

 ervating tropical climate and unnecessary 

 isolation from civilization and from centers 

 of scientific activity. Since it is probably im- 

 possible to find a location which would be 

 ideal for both subjects and observers, it wiU 

 doubtless prove necessary to sacrifice in a 

 measure the interests of each. During the 

 past three or four years, I have accumulated 

 information bearing on the several problems 

 involved in the locating of an anthropoid sta- 

 tion and have had opportunity to prospect for 

 such an institute in widely separated regions. 

 Chief among the regions considered are 

 Borneo, Hawaii, southern California, Florida, 

 the Panama Canal Zone, Jamaica and the 

 Canary Islands. Of all of these, southern 

 California seems at present most promising, 

 and although it is not perfectly certain that 

 any or all of the anthropoid apes can be suc- 

 cessfully bred there (various other primates 



