Show TO ELEVATE THE MONKEYS A scheme for producing an of intellect among A man of large means who resides in washington has recently declared his intention privately to devote to a very original purpose the idea says the washington star is that no satisfactory opportunity has ever been afforded for the development of the intellect of the brute intelligence like bodily qualities is susceptible of improvement pro through breeding asvery one knows who has thought about the evolution of the dog from the wolf by artificial selection this rich man proposes that monkeys or be taken as subjects for experiment simply because man understands those animals better than he does others let fifty of them half males anal half females be placed in a paddock fault ably provided with separate quarters for the sexes then have them breed pair by pair as shall be directed by those who superintend some of them will develop certain abilities more conspicuously than others for example curtain individuals will exhibit a superior understanding of the commands addressed to them or wih show a greater dexterity in ol 01 objects those which appear stupid are to be expelled from the colony their places being filled by fresh recruits when a male and a female are found who exhibit the same sort of aptitude in any direction they are to belated be mated this process carried on for generations would necessarily result in the development of superior characters until finally after the lapse of twenty five years perhaps there would almost certainly be apes or monkeys far higher in the scale of reason than any known up to the present time these putative cousins of the human race have already exhibited a mental and even mechanical capacity sufficient to give ground for great hopes of possible development in point of intellect chimpanzees have been taught to bring things to the table and the big baboon of india is commonly used in that country today to day as a servant for working the fans with which flies are kept away from dinner tables explorer stanley has given an account of apes which carry torches at night this is believed by scientists to be an absurdity because all the anthropoid and simian tribes are too afraid of fire to render such a thing possible it is a fact well known tha gorillas while they will gather about a deserted camp fire for the sake of warmth will never think of keeping the embers alight by adding fuel nevertheless every book on natural history relates manyan instance illustrative of these creatures thinking powers and there is no question that it could be greatly improved by the process of judicious breeding even a pig can be taught to count up to ten |