226 The Serpent and the Ape. [April, . 
ment he refers to in “The Descent of Man,” and also in “The 
Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals,” as illustra- 
tive of the extent to which those qualities are developed in that 
branch of the animal kingdom. 
Reading his statement, the writer conceived the idea that the 
results obtained were capable of a deeper application than was 
then given them, and he proceeded to try the experiment for him- 
self. The Monkey House at the Philadelphia Zoological Garden 
afforded the opportunity, so a dead snake was coiled up in a news- 
paper, the corners of which were twisted together in such a man- 
ner that they would readily come undone, and the package was 
then set on the floor of a cage containing forty or fifty monkeys 
of a great variety of species. It was instantly spied by a female 
Cynocephalus, who was the principal leader in all the pranks with 
which the monkeys constantly amused themselves; she seized the 
paper by one corner, and set off across the cage, dragging it be- 
hind her, evidently intending to have a good time with it. 
Before she had gone more than a few feet, the paper became un- 
folded, and the snake slipped partly out. She instantly dropped 
the paper and sidled off in a very comical manner with her head 
over her shoulders, keeping an eye behind her, much as Lot's 
wife must have looked back on the fascinating terrors of the cities 
of the plain. No sooner did the rest of the monkeys perceive the 
dreadful object in their midst, than they approached, step by step, 
and formed in a circle of six or eight feet diameter, having for its 
centre the snake quietly coiled up on the floor. None dared, how- 
ever, to touch it or to go beyond the established line of safety, 
with the exception of one large Macaque, the acknowledged leader 
of the cage, who cautiously approached and made an occasional 
_ snatch at the paper, apparently to see if the enemy was really 
devoid of life as it appeared to her; all the others, meanwhile 
looking on in breathless attention. 
At this point, a.string which had previously been attached to 
- the tail of the snake was gently pulled. The serpent lengthened 
slightly, and the monkeys fled up the sides of the cage, chattering 
and screaming like magpies; when they got to a safe distance 
they halted for observation, and after some moments, seeing nO 
further sign of danger, they gradually returned, one by one, to 
their former position—the large ones in the front’ rank, and the a 
smaller ones, crowded out by superior strength, forming behind 
and looking over their shoulders. 
