758 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



from Cape Lopez, West Coast of Africa, about 

 1 " south of the Equator. She was born about 

 the second of January, 1910. Prof. Garner ob- 

 tained her a month later. She was then too 

 young to walk and was fed upon milk and fruit 

 juices. Her education has been quite different 

 from that of Baldy. From the start her owner 

 sought to teach her how to distinguish geometric 

 forms, such as the cube, cylinder, cone and 

 sphere ; also the square, circle and rhomb. He 

 also demonstrated that the great apes are not 

 color blind by arranging movable flaps of 

 such colors as green, yellow, blue and red. 

 Susie learned to lift the different flaps at the 

 word, also to pick out the forms called for. 

 Among her many interesting exhibitions of high 

 intelligence is the ability to pick up objects to 

 the number of one, two or three upon command. 

 If Susie remains in good health she will be a 

 very popular feature of the Park during the 

 coming summer. 



Among our observations of the present col- 

 lection of great apes is one that is particularly 

 worthy of mention while considering the speci- 

 mens that have been enumerated. Upon arrival, 

 all of our specimens were mere infants, too 

 young to have been taught what to fear in their 

 native wilds. With these very young specimens 

 the writer conducted a series of experiments to 

 ascertain what symptoms of fear, if any, they 

 would display at the sight of creatures that 

 would undoubtedly alarm their parents. In the 

 cage with the babies was placed a very formid- 

 able looking (though quite inoffensive) South 

 American iguana — a large lizard with a dorsal 

 crest of red spines. The very young chimpan- 

 zees and orangs would approach the strange 

 object with caution. As the lizard moved they 

 hastily retreated, but curiosity conquered and 

 they would finally poke the newcomer, then 

 hastily back away. A closed basket with fold- 

 ing lid and containing a snake was placed in the 

 cage. This always proved of marked interest. 

 The young apes immediately inspected the bas- 

 ket, threw back the lid, stared at the strange ap- 

 parition within, but were finally curious enough 

 to touch the snake, following its movements with 

 interest; although a certain spirit of caution was 

 evident. 



Similar experiments conducted with these 

 same apes, some four years later, were particu- 

 larly interesting, especially so when we consider 



the fact that these creatures had none of the 

 lessons of the wilds or the prompting of parental 

 influence. The iguana sent them scurrying up 

 the bars of the cage, but the snake threw them 

 into a state of intense fear. The writer remem- 

 bers Baldy investigating the snake basket a 

 few months ago. As the unsuspecting ape 

 threw back the cover, he uttered the equivalent 

 to a scream of terror, sprang from the basket, 

 and hurled himself up the bars, whence he 

 climbed to the top of the cage, every hair on 

 his body standing on end. As Baldy looked 

 down at the snake, his lips were drawn back in 

 a snarl of rage, utterly foreign to this good- 

 tempered animal. The other large apes were 

 similarly affected. Instinct is a word too often 

 used in theoretically explaining the actions 

 of really intelligent animals ; but in the case of 

 these captive-reared apes, the intense abhorrence 

 noted appears to be an instinctive fear devel- 

 oped by creatures whose parents inhabited a 

 country that is generously supplied with dan- 

 gerous reptiles, but who themselves never saw a 

 serpent in a jungle. 



NfSPHH 



DOUBLE NORWHAL TUSKS. 

 Recently acquired for the National Collection of Heads 

 and Horns. 



