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188
The Speech of Monkeys
·
R. L. Garner
37
After
this
I
always
gave
him
some
food
in
acknowledgment
of
his
efforts,
and
I
observed
from
day
to
day
that
he
improved
in
making
this
sound,
until
at
last
it
could
scarcely
be
detected
from
the
sound
made
by
Puck.
This
was
accomplished
within
a
period
of
less
than
six
weeks
from
my
first
visit.
In
this
case,
at
least,
I
have
seen
one
step
taken
by
a
monkey
in
learning
the
tongue
of
another.
This
was
most
interesting
to
me
in
view
of
the
fact
that
I
had
long
believed,
and
had
announced
as
my
belief,
that
no
monkey
ever
acquired
the
sounds
made
by
another
species,
or,
indeed,
ever
tried
to
do
so.
I
admit,
however,
that
this
one
instance
alone
is
sufficient
to
cause
me
to
recede
from
a
conclusion
thus
rendered
untenable,
and
the
short
time
in
which
this
one
feat
was
accomplished
would
indicate
that
the
difficulty
was
not
so
great
as
I
had
regarded
it.
[Sidenote:
SPEECH
USUALLY
LIMITED]
I
still
regard
it
as
a
rule,
however,
that
monkeys
do
not
learn
each
other's
speech,
but
the
rule
is
not
without
exceptions.
I
have
observed,
and
called
attention
to
the
fact,
that
when
two
monkeys
of
different
species
are
caged
together,
that
each
one
will
learn
to
understand
the
speech
of
the
other,
but
does
not
try
to
speak
it
as
a
rule.
When
he
replies
at
all,
it
is
always
in
his
own
vernacular.
I
wish
to
impress
the
fact,
that
monkeys
do
not
generally
carry
on
a
connected
conversation.
Their
speech
is
usually
limited
to
a
single
sound
or
remark,
which
is
replied
to
in
the
same
manner;
and
to
suppose
that
their
conversations
are
elaborate
or
of
a
highly
social
character,
is
to
go
beyond
the
bounds
of
reason.
This
is
the
respect
in
which
the
masses
fail
to
understand
the
real
nature
of
the
speech
of
monkeys
or
other
animals.
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