revealed a very different mental attitude. He dexterously snatched
a valuable watch-charm from a visitor who stood inside the railing
of his cage, and fled with it to the top of his balcony. As
quickly as possible I thrust my handkerchief between the bars, and
waved it vigorously, to attract him. At once the animal came down
to me, to secure another trophy, and before he realized his
position I successfully snatched the charm from him, and restored
it unharmed to its owner. Dohong seemed to regard the episode as a
good joke. Without manifesting any resentment he turned a
somersault on his straw, then climbed upon his trapeze and began
to perform, as if nothing in particular had occurred.

The orang is distinctly an animal of more serene temper and more
philosophic mind than the chimpanzee. This has led some authors
erroneously to pronounce the orang an animal of morose and
sluggish disposition, and mentally inferior to the chimpanzee.
After a close personal acquaintance with about forty captive
orangs of various sizes, I am convinced that the facts do not
warrant that conclusion. The orang-utans of the New York
Zoological Park certainly have been as cheerful in disposition, as
fond of exercise and as fertile in droll performances as our
chimpanzees. Even though the mind of the chimpanzee does act more
quickly than that of its rival, and even though its movements are
usually more rapid and more precise, the mind of the orang carries
that animal precisely as far. Moreover, in its native jungles the
orang habitually builds for itself a very comfortable nest on
which to rest and sleep, which the chimpanzee ordinarily does not
do.

I think that the exact mental status of an anthropoid ape is best