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188
The Speech of Monkeys
·
R. L. Garner
137
It
is
as
reasonable
to
attribute
meaning
to
their
sounds
as
to
attribute
motives
to
their
actions;
and
the
fact
that
they
ascribe
a
meaning
to
the
sounds
of
human
speech,
would
show
that
they
are
aware
that
ideas
can
be
conveyed
by
sounds.
If
they
can
interpret
certain
sounds
of
human
speech,
they
can
ascribe
a
meaning
to
their
own.
They
think,
and
speech
is
but
the
natural
exponent
of
thought;
it
is
the
audible
expression
of
thought,
and
signs
are
the
visible
expression
of
the
same;
born
of
the
same
cause,
acts
to
the
same
end,
and
discharges
the
same
functions
in
the
economy
of
life.
To
reason
is
to
think
methodically;
and
if
it
be
true
that
man
cannot
think
without
words,
the
same
must
be
true
of
monkeys.
I
do
not
mean,
however,
to
claim
that
such
is
a
fact
with
regard
to
man
thinking;
but
if
such
can
be
shown
to
be
a
fact,
it
will
decide
the
question
as
to
the
invention
of
human
speech,
as
it
was
necessary
for
man
to
think
in
order
to
invent;
and,
by
the
same
rule,
he
could
not
think
a
word
which
did
not
exist,
and
therefore
could
not
have
invented
it.
But
I
beg
to
be
allowed
to
stand
aside
and
let
Prof.
Max
Mueller
and
Prof.
Whitney,
the
great
giants
of
comparative
philology,
settle
this
question
between
themselves;
and
I
shall
abide
by
the
verdict
which
may
be
finally
reached.
But
theories
are
useless
things
when
the
facts
are
known;
and
since
I
have
actually
learned
from
a
monkey
a
certain
sound
having
a
certain
value
and
meaning
a
certain
thing,
and
by
repeating
that
sound
to
a
monkey
of
the
same
species
have
met
with
uniform
results,
have
understood
him,
and
been
understood
by
him,
no
argument
could
be
so
potent
as
to
cause
me
to
believe
that
this
was
accident.
I
am
aware
that
coincidents
occur;
but
when
they
become
the
rule
instead
of
the
exception,
they
are
no
longer
mere
coincidents,
but
are
the
normal
state
of
things.
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