128 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



cage, and getting on a level with the bottle, reached 

 across the angle formed by the two sides of the cage 

 and drank. In this position it was no matter to him 

 how much the water ran out, it couldn't touch him. 

 Elisheba watched him until she quite grasped the 

 idea, when she climbed up in the same manner and 

 slaked her thirst. 



I scolded the boy for serving them with such cruel 

 tricks, but it taught me another lesson of value 

 concerning the mental resources of the chimpanzee, 

 for no philosopher could have found a much better 

 scheme to obviate the trouble than did this cunning 

 little sage in the hour of necessity. 



I have never regarded the training of animals as 

 the true measure of their mental powers, but the real 

 test is to reduce the animal to his own resources, and 

 see how he will render himself under conditions that 

 present new problems. Animals may be taught to 

 do many things in a mechanical way, and without 

 any motive that relates to the action ; but when they 

 can work out the solution without the aid of man, 

 it is only the faculty of reason that can guide them. 



One thing that Aaron could never figure out was 

 what became of the chimpanzee that he saw in a 

 mirror. I have seen him hunt for that mysterious 

 ape for an hour at a time, and he broke a piece off 

 a mirror I had in trying to find it, but he never 

 succeeded. 



I have held the glass firmly before him, and he 

 would put his face up close to it, sometimes almost 

 in contact. He would quietly gaze at the image, and 



