The Speech of Monkeys

Social intercourse among men has been the chief means of developing human speech, and we find a true index to its condition in the social status of the different races of mankind; and by coming closer home, we find that even in different communities of the same race and within the limits of the same nation, a difference in the accuracy and volume of speech, which is measured by the difference of social culture. We find in rural districts, sparsely peopled and remote from the great centres of population, that speech is less polished and the number of words used greatly reduced in comparison to the same language used in the great cities and more populous communities, where, by reason of contact with each other and the constant use of speech, the vocal powers are much more developed and the command of language very much improved. This same law of development, inversely applied, would lead us in a direct line down through Nature, rank by rank, and we would find it a reliable unit of measure throughout the whole perspective of development. The faculties of music, taste, and reason are measured by a like unit. It is difficult to trace the musical powers of animals, since music does not contribute to the comfort or development of types and only affords pleasure to the intellectual being, and hence is only an accomplishment obeying no rule of normal growth. [Sidenote: THE FACULTY OF REASON]