THE CHOICE OF INSTRUMENTS 133 
melodious minor keys which experience showed them 
to prefer. The piccolo was then to follow, in shrill 
and high-pitched contrast. And, lastly, the mellow 
wood-notes of the flute were to soothe away whatever 
ruffled feelings the less tuneful piccolo had aroused. 
In case the creatures showed any marked preference 
for the flute over the violin, then the flute was to take 
precedence. 
There is a curious attraction in watching these half- 
human appeals to animal emotion, and marking the 
quick look of interest and surprise visible in most of 
their faces, as the sweet sounds gradually steal on 
their senses, and the growth of pleasure — or fear — as 
the creature springs to its feet, and either advances 
eagerly to listen, or with bristling hair retreats to the 
farthest corner of the den, until perhaps pleasure or 
curiosity overcomes their terror at the unusual sounds. 
Pleasure or dislike are often most strongly shown 
where least expected, and the result of our last experi- 
ment goes to show that the tiger has stronger dislikes, 
if not stronger preferences, in the musical scale than 
the most intellectual anthropoid apes. 
Our first visit was paid to “Jack,” the young red 
ourang-outang, which, since the death of “ Sally,” 
the chimpanzee, claims the highest place in animal 
organization among the inmates of the Zoo. He 
is a six-months-old baby, of extremely grave and 
deliberate manners, and perhaps the most irresistibly 
comical creature which has ever been seen in London. 
He is extremely well-behaved, not in the least shy, 
