mental status of the gorilla species has been under a cloud. Until
now it has been much misunderstood and unappreciated. Of the few
gorillas that have been seen in England and America, I think that
all save John have been so morose and unresponsive, _and so
undeveloped by companionship and training_, that mentally they
have been rated far below the chimpanzee and orang.

Our own Dinah was no exception to the rule. Personally she was a
stupid little thing, even when in excellent health. Her most
pronounced and exasperating stupidities were shown in her refusal
to eat, or to taste, strange food, even when very hungry. Any ape
that does not know enough to eat a fine, ripe banana, and will
only mince away at the _inner lining_ of the banana skin, is
an unmitigated numskull, and hardly fit to live. Dinah was all
that, and more. But, alas! We have seen a few stupid human
children who obstinately refused even to taste certain new and
unknown kinds of food, because they "know" they will not like
them! So Dinah was not alone in her childish folly.

At last a chain of circumstances placed an intellectual and
sensible gorilla, two years of age, in the hands of a family
specially fitted by education and home surroundings to develop its
mind and its manners. The results of those efforts have given to
the gorilla an entirely new mental status. Thanks to the
enterprise and diligence of Major Rupert Penny and Miss Cunningham
in purchasing and caring for a sick and miserable young male
gorilla,--a most hazardous risk,--a new chapter in wild-animal
psychology now is to be written.

In December, 1918, "John Gorilla" was purchased in a London