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188
The Speech of Monkeys
·
R. L. Garner
55
In
cases
where
monkeys
have
been
fed
for
a
long
time
on
bread
and
milk,
or
on
any
one
kind
of
food,
when
a
banana
is
shown
him
he
uses
a
sound
which
the
phonograph
shows
to
differ
slightly
from
the
ordinary
food
sound.
I
have
recently
had
reason
to
suspect
that
this
difference
of
inflection
somewhat
qualifies
the
sound,
and
has
a
tendency
to
make
it
more
specific.
The
rapidity
with
which
these
creatures
utter
their
speech
is
so
great
that
only
such
ears
as
theirs
can
detect
these
very
slight
inflections.
I
am
now
directing
my
observations
and
experiments
to
this
end,
with
the
hope
that
I
may
determine
with
certainty
in
what
degree
they
qualify
their
sounds,
by
inflections
or
otherwise.
I
have
observed
that
in
the
phonograph
the
sounds
which
formerly
appeared
to
me
to
be
the
same
are
easily
distinguished
when
treated
in
the
manner
described
in
the
second
part
of
this
work,
where
I
describe
at
length
some
of
my
experiments
with
this
wonderful
machine.
[Sidenote:
THE
NEGATIVE
SIGN]
One
of
the
most
certain
of
my
discoveries
in
the
Simian
speech,
is
the
negative
sign
and
the
word
"no."
The
sign
is
made
by
shaking
the
head
from
side
to
side
in
a
fashion
almost
exactly
like
that
used
by
man
to
express
the
same
idea.
I
have
no
longer
any
doubt
of
the
intent
and
meaning
of
this
sign,
and
the
many
tests
to
which
I
have
subjected
it
compel
me
accept
the
result
as
final.
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