MOSES SIGNS HIS NAME 139 



satisfaction of the most exacting linguist. If he had only 

 learned one word in a whole lifetime, he would have shown 

 at least that the race is capable of being improved and 

 elevated in some degree. 



Another experiment that I tried with him was one that 

 I had used before in testing the ability of a monkey to 

 distinguish forms. I cut a round hole in one end of a 

 board and a square hole in the other, and made a block to 

 fit into each one of them. The blocks were then given 

 to him to see if he could fit them into the proper holes. 

 After being shown a few times how to do this, he fitted 

 the blocks in without difficulty ; but when he was not re- 

 warded for the task by receiving a morsel of corned beef 

 or a sardine, he did not attempt it. He did not care to 

 work for the fun alone. 



In colors he had but little choice, unless it was some- 

 thing to eat ; but he could distinguish them with ease if 

 the shades were pronounced. I had no means of testing 

 his taste for music or sense of musical sounds. 



I must here take occasion to mention one incident in 

 the life of Moses, such as perhaps never before occurred in 

 the life of any chimpanzee. While it may not be of scien- 

 tific value, it is at least amusing. 



While living in the jungle I received a letter enclosing 

 a contract to be signed by myself and a witness. Having 

 no means of finding a witness to sign the paper, I called 

 Moses from the bushes, placed him at the table, gave him 

 a pen, and had him sign the document as witness. He did 

 not write his name himself, as he had not mastered the art 

 of writing ; but he made his cross mark between the names, 



