CHAPTER VII. 



Interpretation of Words. — Specific Words and Signs. — The 

 Negative Sign and Sounds. — Affirmative Expressions. — 

 Possible Origin of Negative and Positive Signs. 



In my intercourse with these little creatures, 

 I cannot forget how often I have caught the 

 spirit of their tones when no ray of meaning as 

 mere words of speech had dawned upon me, and 

 it is partly through such means that I have been 

 able to interpret them. As a rule each act of 

 a monkey is attended by some sound, and each 

 sound by some act, which to another monkey of 

 the same species always means a certain thing. 

 There are many cases perhaps, in which acquired 

 words or shades of dialect are not quite clear to 

 them, just as we often find in human speech; 

 but monkeys appear to meet this difficulty and 

 overcome it just as men do. They talk with 

 one another on a limited number of subjects, but 

 in very few words, which they frequently re- 

 peat if necessary. Their language is purely 

 one of sounds, and while those sounds are ac- 

 companied by signs, generally, I think, they are 



