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188
The Speech of Monkeys
·
R. L. Garner
129
[Sidenote:
LIFE
AND
CONSCIOUSNESS]
The
classification
of
genera
and
species
is
in
a
great
degree
arbitrary;
but
much
less
so
than
are
these
abstract
characters
of
life
and
mind.
There
is
nowhere
a
line
at
which
emotion
stops
and
thought
begins;
there
is
nowhere
a
line
at
which
thought
stops
and
expression
begins;
there
is
nowhere
a
line
at
which
expression
stops
and
speech
begins.
These
blend
into
each
other
so
that
only
by
comparing
the
extremes
can
we
discern
a
difference.
The
tenets
of
metaphysics
have
heretofore
been
made
to
harmonise
with
the
tenets
of
theology,
and
hence
it
is
that
we
have
learned
to
follow
the
laws
laid
down
by
others
and
not
to
think
for
ourselves.
It
has
been
as
much
a
heresy
to
gainsay
the
dogmas
of
science
as
those
of
religion
until
recently;
and
even
now
the
tender-footed
doctors
guard
their
theories
with
a
vigilance
and
jealousy
worthy
of
the
angel
that
guarded
the
gates
of
Eden.
[Sidenote:
CONSCIOUSNESS
AND
EMOTION]
Why
should
it
be
thought
strange
that
monkeys
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
pleasure,
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
something,
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?
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