OF WILD ANIMALS 73 



utmost to seize and drag me forcibly within reach of her teeth, 

 for the punishment which she felt that I deserved. 



A large male orang-utan named Dohong, under a similar 

 test, revealed a very different mental attitude. He dexter- 

 ously snatched a valuable watch-charm from a visitor who 

 stood inside the railing of his cage, and fled with it to the top 

 of his balcony. As quickly as possible I thrust my handker- 

 chief between the bars, and waved it vigorously, to attract him. 

 At once the animal came down to me, to secure another trophy, 

 and before he realized his position I successfully snatched the 

 charm from him, and restored it unharmed to its owner. Do- 

 hong seemed to regard the episode as a good joke. Without 

 manifesting any resentment he turned a somersault on his 

 straw, then climbed upon his trapeze and began to perform, as 

 if nothing in particular had occurred. 



The orang is distinctly an animal of more serene temper and 

 more philosophic mind than the chimpanzee. This has led 

 some authors erroneously to pronounce the orang an animal 

 of morose and sluggish disposition, and mentally inferior to 

 the chimpanzee. After a close personal acquaintance with 

 about forty captive orangs of various sizes, I am convinced that 

 the facts do not warrant that conclusion. The orang-utans 

 of the New York Zoological Park certainly have been as cheerful 

 in disposition, as fond of exercise and as fertile in droll per- 

 formances as our chimpanzees. Even though the mind of the 

 chimpanzee does act more quickly than that of its rival, and 

 even though its movements are usually more rapid and more 

 precise, the mind of the orang carries that animal precisely as 

 far. Moreover, in its native jungles the orang habitually 

 builds for itself a very comfortable nest on which to rest and 

 sleep, which the chimpanzee ordinarily does not do. 



I think that the exact mental status of an anthropoid ape is 

 best revealed by an attempt to train it to do some particular 

 thing, in a manner that the trainer elects. Usually about 

 five lessons, carefully observed, will afford a good index of the 



