24 THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 



pink piece from one pile. I repeated this test 

 many times. In another test I took a white 

 paper ball in one hand and a pink one in the 

 other, and held out my hands to the monkey, 

 who selected the white one nearly every time, 

 although I changed hands with the balls from 

 time to time. These experiments were mostly 

 confined to the Cebus monkeys, but a few of 

 them were made with Macaques. They seem to 

 be attracted generally by all brilliant colors, but 

 when reduced to a choice between two, such 

 seems to be their tastes. 



In my efforts to ascertain their mathematical 

 skill, I would take in one hand a little platter 

 containing one nut, or one small bit of some- 

 thing to eat, such as a piece of apple or carrot 

 cut into a small cube. In the other hand I held 

 a small platter with two or three such articles of 

 the same size and color, and holding them just 

 out of reach of the monkey and changing them 

 from hand to hand, I observed that the monkey 

 would try to reach the one containing the greater 

 number. He readily discerned which platter 

 contained one and which contained two or three 

 pieces. I was long in doubt whether he distin- 

 guished by number or by quantity, and my belief 



