Two strong interests come to expression in this report: the one in the
study of the adaptive or ideational behavior of the monkeys and the
apes; and the other in adequate and permanent provision for the thorough
study of all aspects of the lives of these animals. The values of these
interests and of the tasks which they have led me to undertake are so
widely recognized by biologists that I need not pause to justify or
define them. I shall, instead, attempt to make a contribution of fact on
the score of each interest.
While recognizing that the task of prospecting for an anthropoid or
primate station may in its outcome prove incomparably more important for
the biological and sociological sciences and for human welfare than my
experimental study of ideational behavior, I give the latter first place
in this report, reserving for the concluding section an account of the
situation regarding our knowledge of the monkeys, apes, and other
primates, and a description of a plan and program for the thorough-going
and long continued study of these organisms in a permanent station or
research institute.
In 1915, a long desired opportunity came to me to devote myself
undividedly to tasks which I have designated above as "prospecting" for
an anthropoid station and experimenting with monkeys and apes. First of
all, the interruption of my academic duties by sabbatical leave gave me
free time. But in addition to this freedom for research, I needed
animals and equipment. These, too, happily, were most satisfactorily
provided, as I shall now describe.
When in 1913, while already myself engaged in seeking the establishment
of an anthropoid station, I heard of the founding of such an institution
at Orotava, Tenerife, the Canary Islands, I immediately made inquiries
of the founder of the station, Doctor Max Rothmann of Berlin, concerning
his plans (Rothmann, 1912).[1] As a result of our correspondence, I was
invited to visit and make use of the facilities of the Orotava station
and to consider with its founder the possibility of coöperative work
instead of the establishing of an American station. This invitation I
gratefully accepted with the expectation of spending the greater part of
the year 1915 on the island of Tenerife. But the outbreak of the war
rendered my plan impracticable, while at the same time destroying all
reasonable ground for hope of profitable coöperation with the Germans in
the study of the anthropoids. In August, 1915, Doctor Rothmann died.
Presumably, the station still exists at Orotava in the interests of
certain psychological and physiological research. So far as I know,
there are as yet no published reports of studies made at this station.
It seems from every point of view desirable that American psychologists
should, without regard to this initial attempt of the Germans to provide
for anthropoid research, further the establishment of a well equipped
American station for the study not only of the anthropoid apes but of
all of the lower primates.
[Footnote 1: See bibliography at end of report.]
In the early months of the war while I was making every effort to obtain
reliable information concerning conditions in the Canary Islands, I
received an urgent invitation from my friend and former student, Doctor
G. V. Hamilton, to make use of his collection of animals and laboratory
at Montecito, California, during my leave of absence from Harvard. This
invitation I most gladly accepted, and in February, 1915, I established
myself in Santa Barbara, in convenient proximity to Doctor Hamilton's
private laboratory where for more than six months I was able to work
uninterruptedly under nearly ideal conditions.
Doctor Hamilton without reserve placed at my disposal his entire
collection of animals, laboratory, and equipment, provided innumerable
conveniences for my work, and in addition, bore the entire expense of my
investigation. I cannot adequately thank him for his kindness nor make
satisfactory acknowledgment here of his generous aid. Thanks to his
sympathetic interest and to the courtesy of the McCormick family on
whose estate the laboratory was located, my work was done under wholly
delightful conditions, and with assistance from Ramon Jimenez and Frank
Van Den Bergh, Jr., which was invaluable. The former aided me most
intelligently in the care of the animals and the construction of
apparatus; and the latter, especially, was of very real service in
connection with many of my experiments.
The collection of animals which Doctor Hamilton placed at my disposal
consisted of ten monkeys and one orang utan. The monkeys represented
either _Pithecus rhesus_ Audebert (_Macacus rhesus_), _Pithecus irus_ F.
Cuvier (_Macacus cynomolgos_), or the hybrid of these two species
(Elliot, 1913). There were two eunuchs, five males, and three females.
All were thoroughly acclimated, having lived in Montecito either from
birth or for several years. The orang utan was a young specimen of
_Pongo pygmaeus_ Hoppius obtained from a San Francisco dealer in
October, 1914 for my use. His age at that time, as judged by his size
and the presence of milk teeth, was not more than five years. So far as
I could discover, he was a perfectly normal, healthy, and active
individual. On June 10, 1915, his weight was thirty-four pounds, his
height thirty-two inches, and his chest girt twenty-three inches. On
August 18 of the same year, the three measurements were thirty-six and
one-half pounds, thirty-three inches, and twenty-five inches.
For the major portion of my experimental work, only three of the eleven
animals were used. A growing male, _P. rhesus_ monkey, known as Sobke; a
mature male, _P. irus_, called Skirrl; and the young orang utan, which
had been named Julius. Plates I and II present these three subjects of
my experiments in characteristically interesting attitudes. In plate I,
figure 1, Julius appears immediately behind the laboratory seated on a
rock, against a background of live oaks. This figure gives one an
excellent idea of the immediate environment of the laboratory. Figure 2
of the same plate is a portrait of Julius taken in the latter part of
August. By reason of the heavy growth of hair, he appeared considerably
older as well as larger at this time than when the photograph for figure
1 was taken. In plate II, figure 3, Julius is shown in the woods in the
attitude of reaching for a banana, while in figure 4 of the same plate
he is represented as walking upright in one of the cages.
Likenesses of Sobke are presented in figures 5 and 6 of plate II. In the
latter of these figures he is shown stretching his mouth, apparently
yawning but actually preparing for an attack on another monkey behind
the wire screen. Figure 7 of this plate indicates Skirrl in an
interesting attitude of attention and with an obvious lack of
self-consciousness. The same monkey is represented again in figures 8
and 9 of plate II, this time in the act of using hammer and saw.