THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 163 



religion until recently; and even now the ten- 

 der-footed doctors guard their theories with a 

 vigilance and jealousy worthy of. the angel that 

 guarded the gates of Eden. 



Why should it be thought strange that mon- 

 keys talk? They see, hear, love, hate, think, 

 and act by the same means and to the same end 

 as man does. They experience pain and pleas- 

 ure, to express which they cry and laugh just 

 as man does. If the voluntary sounds they make 

 do not mean something, why may those creatures 

 not as well be dumb? If they do mean some- 

 thing, why may we not determine what that 

 meaning is? It is true that their language is 

 quite meagre and suited only to a low plane of 

 life; but it may be the cytula from which all 

 human speech proceeds, or it may be the inferior 

 fruit borne upon the same great tree of speech. 

 The organs of sensation in these creatures are 

 modelled by the same design as those of man, are 

 adapted to the same uses, and discharge the same 

 functions. Then why should the vocal powers 

 alone be abnormal except in a degree measured 

 by the difference of place which they occupy in 

 the scale of nature? 



Social intercourse among men has been the 



