56 APES AND MONKEYS 



upon those who have the charge of these little pets the 

 importance of keeping them supplied with toys. In this 

 respect they are just like children. For a trifle one can 

 furnish them with such toys as they need. It is absolutely 

 cruel to keep these little creatures confined in solitude and 

 deny them the simple pleasure they find in playing with a 

 bell, a ball, or a few marbles. A trifling outlay in this way 

 will very much prolong their lives. Monkeys are always 

 happy if they have plenty to eat and something to play 

 with. I recall no investment of mine which ever yielded a 

 greater return in pleasure than one little pocket match-safe, 

 costing twenty-five cents, which one evening I gave to 

 Nellie to play with. I had put into it a small key to make 

 it rattle, and also some bits of candy. She rattled the box 

 and found much pleasure in the noise it made. I showed 

 her how to press the spring in order to open the box ; but 

 her little black fingers were not strong enough to release 

 the spring and make the lid fly open. However, she caught 

 the idea and knew that the spring was the secret which 

 held the box closed. When she found that she could not 

 open it with her fingers, she tried it with her teeth. Failing 

 in this, she turned to the wall, and standing upright on the 

 top of her cage, she took the box in both hands and struck 

 the spring against the wall until the lid flew open. She 

 was perfectly delighted at the result, and for the hundredth 

 time, at least, I closed the box for her to open it again. On 

 the following day some friends came in to visit her. I gave 

 her the match-safe to open. On this occasion she was in 

 her cage, and through its meshes she could not reach the 

 wall. She had nothing against which to strike the spring 



