VI ANIMAL TRAINING AND INTELLIGENCE l6l 



the four-handed folk, — the apes and monkeys, — 

 among which exists a vast diversity of tempera- 

 ment and tractability. Their emotional nature is 

 highly developed, and this often leads to an un- 

 certainty of temper, and a ferocity combined with 

 enormous strength, as age advances, which inter- 

 fere sadly with the work of the trainer. The 

 higher anthropoid apes become wholly unmanage- 

 able in advanced life. The imitative faculties of 

 monkeys are large, however, and it is these which 

 are cultivated, the teacher adding as much dis- 

 crimination as he can impart. 



It is hard to force these animals to fix their 

 attention upon, or persevere in, any one thing; 

 and it would seem that their minds are too bright, 

 while lacking balance of judgment, for the trick- 

 teacher's purpose. Hence, in shows, nowadays, 

 few monkeys are introduced except as rough- 

 riders upon ponies, where they lend a comical 

 element to the programme of the ring. Formerly 

 their grotesque appearance and gestures were 

 more taken advantage of. In France one may 

 see still (or lately could) a troupe of monkeys 

 managed as a part of a company of small trick 

 animals, in a performance called "The Roman 

 Orgy." The manager was an eccentric genius, 

 M. Corvi. Behind a table well provided with 

 biscuits and nuts sit a row of them, — some 

 dressed as monks, others in military style, and 

 others in the classic toga. A little monkey, with 



