organs appear to become somewhat more
complex, and capable of varying these sounds so as to give the effect of
consonants, which very much extends the vocal scope. The present state
of the speech of monkeys appears to have been reached by development
from a lower form. [Sidenote: EACH RACE HAS ITS PECULIAR TONGUE] Each
race or kind of monkey has its own peculiar tongue, slightly shaded
into dialects, and the radical sounds do not appear to have the same
meaning in different tongues. The phonetic character of their speech is
equally as high as that of children in a like state of mental
development; and seems to obey the same laws of phonetic growth, change,
and decay as human speech. It appears to me that their speech is capable
of communicating the ideas that they are capable of conceiving, and,
measured by their mental, moral, and social status, is as well developed
as the speech of man, measured by the same units. Strange monkeys of the
same species seem to understand each other at sight, whereas two monkeys
of different species do not understand each other until they have been
together for some time. Each one learns to understand the speech of the
other; but, as a rule, he does not try to speak it. When he deigns an
answer, it is usually in his own tongue. The more fixed and pronounced
the social and gregarious instincts are in any species, the higher the
type of its speech. They often utter certain sounds under certain
conditions in a whisper, which indicates they are conscious of the
effect which will result from the use of speech. Monkeys reason from
cause to effect, communicate to others the conclusion deduced therefrom,
and act in accordance therewith. If their sounds convey a fixed idea on
a given subject from one mind to another, what more does human speech
accomplish? If one sound communicates that idea clearly, what more could
volumes do? If their sounds discharge all the functions of speech, in
what respect are they not speech?

[Sidenote: CANNOT THINK WITHOUT WORDS]

It is as reasonable to attribute meaning to their sounds as to attribute
motives to their actions; and the fact that they ascribe a meaning to
the sounds of human speech, would show that they are aware that ideas
can be conveyed by sounds. If they can interpret certain sounds of human
speech, they can ascribe a meaning to their own. They think, and speech
is but the natural exponent of thought; it is the audible expression of
thought, and sig