304 Life and Immortalty. 
birds, which it devours with avidity, not even waiting to pluck 
off the feathers. Eggs are also thought to form a no incon- 
siderable part of this Capuchin’s diet. 
Some few years ago, Prof. Cope had in his possession a 
tame Sai, which was kept in a cage, or, rather, was supposed 
to be kept in it, for the animal had a strong aversion to con- 
finement, and was sure to break loose therefrom sooner or 
later. When in durance vile, and wishing to break prison, 
he always directed his attention to the hinges, and no matter 
how firmly they were fixed, he was sure before long to ex- 
tract the staples, pull out the nails, and so open the door at 
the hinges, and not at the latch. 
Finding that the cage could not hold him, his master had 
him confined by a strap fastened around the waist, after the 
fashion of monkeys. The strap, however, proved to be of no 
more use than the cage, for the crafty animal soon contrived 
to open it, and this he did by ingeniously picking out the 
threads by which the strap was sewn to the buckle, and so 
rendering the fastenings useless. 
Again he was confined to the cage and carefully watched. 
Having rid himselfof the strap, he began to consider how he 
might apply it tosome useful purpose. So, having perceived 
that some food had fallen beyond his reach, he took one 
end of the strap in his paw, flung the other over the morsel 
of food, and so drew it toward him. In this feat he displayed 
great accuracy ofaim, seldom missing the object which he de- 
sired. Once or twice, when he had to make a longer throw 
than usual, he loosened his hold of the strap. The first time 
that this happened, some one handed him the poker. He 
took it, drew the strap toward him, and resumed its use as 
before. 
No intelligent person can deny that these acts were 
prompted by reason. So far from even being aided by 
instinct, the animal was certainly acting in direct opposition 
to it. The instinct of an animal when confined or tethered 
in any way is to break loose by main strength, and the 
