10-24 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



OPERATING FOR AN ABSCESS 

 In this case the patient did not submit cheerfully. 



ments of the great apes. Adroit grasping, 

 either by hand or foot, hand over hand climb- 

 ing of ropes and girders, or deft swinging from 

 a trapeze are accomplished with ease and 

 abandon by these little men of the woods. 

 In a class of their own for dexterity, they are 

 unexcelled and practically unequalled. But 

 broken bones and bruises are not infrequent. 



Betty, one of the largest chimpanzees, has 

 just recovered froma fractured hip, and soawk- 

 wardly was this effected as to excite amaze- 

 ment. In attempting to climb a short ladder 

 to the sleeping box, her left leg slipped be- 

 tween the steps at the top, whereupon she 

 promptly toppled over and snapped the bone 

 at the articulation. It was merely a "green- 

 tree" fracture; but it needed a plaster-of-paris 

 support and three weeks in the hospital. 



Betty deserves a better fate. She is by far 

 too good a patient to compel the doctor to 

 devote all his time to her, by gracefully re- 

 covering from one malady only to acquire 

 another. 



Dick, another chimpanzee, has fallen from 

 the roof and into the habit of fracturing bones. 

 Every now and then Dick is trussed up like 

 a Thanksgiving turkey so that a leg or an 

 arm may have a respite. All the great apes 

 are utterly passive under treatment. Dick 

 is jubilant, sometimes boisterous and belliger- 

 ent. Sickness does not pall on him, it is a 

 safety-valve for his activity. 



Several of the orangs have broken arms and 

 legs at various times, all of which have 

 healed satisfactorily. The great anthropoids 

 are in many ways perfect subjects under the 



LYNX WITH FRACTURED LEG 



It was necessary to use an anesthetic to 



control the animal. 



doctor's care. They yield obediently and 

 without protest to any operation or treatment. 

 Their low-keyed but well-balanced nervous 

 organism preserves a perfect pathological 

 control of the vital organs. This is more ap- 

 parent in the sluggish orangs than the active 

 chimpanzees. If they cannot convey to their 

 attendant by definite communication an 

 understanding of the need of submission to 

 aid, their instinctive method of expression 

 comes uncannily near it. 



The treatment of fractures is not as complex 

 however, as the care required in many of the 

 delicate ailments which seem almost like a 

 habit with the orangs and chimpanzees. They 

 are almost invariably wheezing and coughing 

 after a drafty Sunday. If the temperature 

 falls to a degree where it is necessary to heat 

 the building, the opening and closing of doors 

 by the throngs of visitors has an immediate 

 effect upon the delicate membranes of the 

 nose and throat. 



A houseful of children could not cause more 

 turmoil than our family of nine great apes. 

 Monday morning finds the doctor's office 

 assailed with, "Dick is coughing," "Susie is 

 sneezing," "Baldy doesn't seem as lively as 

 usual this morning," and "Betty is hanging 

 on to the steam pipes in her quarters and is 

 wheezing like a grampus." Noses will have 

 to be greased; chests rubbed with camphor- 

 ated oil, cough medicine administered and 

 blankets produced. Then for two or three 

 days there will be mournful little bundles 

 of blanketed "chimps" and "orangs" with 

 solemn faces and bleary eyes sitting around 



