Bringing up a Young Monkey (Erythrocebus patas)

Bringing up a Young Monkey (Erythrocebus patas)Author(s): Niels BolwigSource: Behaviour, Vol. 21, No. 3/4 (1963), pp. 300-330Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4533058 .

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BRINGING UP A YOUNG MONKEY (ERYTHROCEBUS PATAS)

by

NIELS BOLWIG 1)

(Department of Zoology, the University of Ibadan.

Formerly of Makerere College, Kampala)

(With 15 Figures) (Rec. 3o-VII-I962)

CONTENTS Page

Introduction ......... ...... 301 Technique . . . . . .. 302

Appearance and growth .. . . . . . . 302 Sleep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Fredrik's behaviour shortly after being captured . .. . 306 HARLOW'S first three phases . . . . . . . . . . . 307

I: The reflex phase . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 2: The phase of attachment ..... 308 3: The phase of exploration . .. 312

a: Exploration as a factor affecting the relationship to the guardian .312 b: Play. 314 c: Relationship to other animals . . . . . . . . . 315 d: Sexual display. 318

Colour preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 Interest in dolls and pictures . . . . . . . . . . 318 Vocalisation . .. . . . . . . . . . 319 Postural expression and expressive actions . . . . . . . 319 Possessive behaviour and training . . . . . . . . . . 321 Observations on a new-born Cercopithecus ascanius . . . . . . 323 Conclusions . . . . . .. 325 Summary . . . . . .. 327 References .. . .... 328

I) This study of the development of a young patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas) was a strenuous one, making great demands upon the author and all in his neighbourhood. I should like, therefore, to thank warmly all who have made this work possible - the staff and students of Makerere College, my neighbours and lastly, my family who for many months had to share home and affection with the animal and show unlimited endurance.

Finally my thanks are due to Makerere College for its financial support.



BRINGING UP A YOUNG MONKEY 301

INTRODUCTION

On a visit to Serere Experimental Station, Teso, Uganda, on the I5th October, I96o, a young male Patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas) was presented to me by Mr R. E. OLIVER. Its mother had been clubbed three days earlier and the baby had a small wound on its left temple probably inflicted at the same time. Otherwise the animal seemed perfectly healthy. Mr OLIVER

suggested that it was only five days old, judging from the presence of about '4" dried up umbilical cord still attached to the navel and from the general weakness of the animal. It is, however, possible it was somewhat older, but

certainly not more than 2 weeks of age. Although the gait was unsteady and the movements not well co-ordinated the animal could run with considerable speed. It showed no fear of man, cried much, and panicked when left alone. Mr OLIVER had named it Fredrik, a name which will be used

throughout this account.

Various workers have in the past brought up monkeys and apes from early infanthood in order to study and compare their intelligence and

development with that of man. HARLOW and collaborators (I958-I960) have

recently ventured into a thorough experimental study of the development of neo-natal rhesus monkeys. Although their work is far from concluded it has

clearly shown that clinging to an object, particularly a soft one is of the

greatest importance to the animal's psychological well-being and development. All other factors such as warmth and nursing are of a greatly inferior

importance although perhaps less inferior than they originally thought. HARLOW'S team experimented with mother substitutes made from uncovered wire or cloth covered sponge rubber cylinders. Further observations showed that the social adjustment of the monkey is influenced by the character of the mother or her substitute and a normal infantile affection pattern may even be destroyed in cases where young infant monkeys act as mother substitutes for one another. HARLOW and co-workers found that the infant's

relationship to its mother falls into three main stages. The first is a reflex

stage during which it becomes attached to its mother. This lasts for about IO-20 days and is followed by a stage of attachment during which the animal shows signs of comfort and relaxation in the mother's presence. At an age of 70 days the attachment to the nursing mother begins to dwindle and the animal spends much time exploring its surroundings. However, a strong bond has been formed between mother and child which is almost unbreakable and the infant will when in distress return to its mother for comfort and reassurance. This bond may last for years. It is known from the study of human infants that in them also strong ties are formed between child and



302 N. BOLWIG

mother (BOWLBY I951) and that children without a mother or adequate mother substitute become socially maladjusted. To quote a professional social worker: "Even a bad mother is better than no mother."

TECHNIQUE

With a single monkey infant such as Fredrik I decided that comparatively little experimental work of value could be done and that the direct method of observation would be the most profitable. Moreover, I wanted to add the animal to my troop of captive patas whose social behaviour and organisation I wished to study. From previous experience I knew that young monkeys which were not given adequate physical comfort and satisfaction developed various bad habits such as thumb, toe and penis sucking, by which they could cause themselves bodily harm. Moreover such monkeys usually had difficulties in adjusting themselves socially among other monkeys. It was for these reasons I decided myself to become the mother substitute for Fredrik.

While looking after Fredrik notes were made of all his various activities and his development. Occasional experiments testing his abilities and social attitude were made. A photographic record was also made of his activities,

APPEARANCE AND GROWTH

At the time Fredrik was handed over to me he had a remarkable, large back head and very large ears. In profile he showed a striking resemblance to the Egyptian princesses from the period of Nefertete and Tut-Ankh- Amon (Fig. I). His hands and feet were not particularly elongated and much shorter than in the adult. They were approaching those of a human in

shape, and the lines on his palms were very similar to those of man (Fig. 2) Fredrik's principal colour was gingery, and on his dorsal side his hairs

had black tips. The hairs on his crown were blackish and on his hands, dorsal forearm and feet they were silvery gray. His skin was of a fleshy colour with blue patches on his chest. His almost entire inner upper arms and total forearm, inner thigh and ano-genital region were also blue. His glans penis was carmine in colour. A dark pigmented patch was found at the outer corner of each eye. These patches grew later on to form about a quarter of a circle round his eyes but thereafter they faded and gradually disappeared. It was subsequently noticed that small dermal lesions induced pigmentation which eventually faded away again.

From the I Ith November (age 5-6 weeks) dark red hairs began to be visible between the black hairs on Fredrik's crown and about a week later his crown had changed completely from a blackish to a deep red colour. The adult fur



BEHAVIOUR XXI

2

4 5

Fig. i. Profile showing resemblance to that of Tut-Ankh-Amon. - Fig. 2. ca. 3 weeks old - Note the almost human hand. - Fig. 3 a & b. ca. IO-II weeks old showing full adult colouration. - Fig. 4. "Hand washing". - Fig. 5. Asleep rolled in a blanket. The

firm pressure seemed to have a calming effect.

PLATE III



BEHAVIOUR XXI PLATE IV

6

_'' I | *................. :. | ! ...................... . . _

.

7 1o

Fig. 6. Asleep on a chair, ca. 8-9 weeks old. - Fig. . Stealing flowers. - Fig. 8. Fredrik sucking the author's ear for consolation.- Fig. o "Dinky Toys" were favoured

playthings.



BEHAVIOUR XXI

9,~~~~ts, i . v ,,

.: ..:'' ia . ~',:~ : .'"' "-"' . . ..-.. -, i

..,:. . . ..... .- :.' . . . _

j P. s~~4A

1 Iil ill )

13 12

'J 14 15

Fig. i a & b. Play with a serval kitten. The monkey always had the initiative in com- munal games. - Fig. I2. Anger - note the lowering of eyebrows, stiff gaze and tight lips. - Fig. I3. Horror - note the slanting eyebrows and the contraction of all muscles affecting the mouth, leaving the teeth covered. - Fig. I4. Laughter - note the tight upper lip and relaxed lower lip. - Fig. I5. A red-tailed monkey drinking from a

HARLOW's mother substitute.

PLATE V

W s'.^ ,.a. .1

\3V;i M _ }~~ fa I.-!

4w "''Ii't-.




could also be seen breaking through on other parts of his body but in a less dramatic manner. Most noticeable was the development of some magnificent, pale, yellowish gray whiskers, and a darkening of his nose mainly due to a dense growth of short black hairs, but also to some pigmentation of the skin (Fig. 3).

At the time of Fredrik's arrival his eyes were dark gray. This colour

gradually changed to dark brown. When I received Fredrik his 2 upper and 4 lower incisors had just broken

through. On the 2ISt October the outer upper incisors were also through and on the 29th his canines appeared. On the 20th November I noticed that his canines were long and his first back teeth were breaking through. On the 23rd November all the first back teeth were through. On February ist he had all back teeth except for the 2nd left lower tooth, which later on proved to

develop abnormally. Already on his arrival Fredrik was able to move about on his own. Although

his steps were uncertain he could, when panicking, run with a considerable

speed, and in play he made small rather helpless attempts to jump. The grip with his hands was firm and stronger than with his feet. The thumb was not used as a finger opposed to the others (power grip: NAPIER 1960). The use of the thumb developed very slowly. In December it was still incomplete and in February he was still unable to pick up a pin from the floor although the thumb was now always used when picking up small objects like sunflower seeds. Common to all my patas was that they never developed the skill of other monkeys in picking up and handling things and they could often be seen to eat "dog fashion" with both hands on the ground.

Although the patas does not develop a skill in using its thumb which is

comparable to that of man, there is nevertheless a parallel development in the use of the hand. The human child is also at first unable to use its thumb as an independent finger which can be opposed to the other fingers. This skill develops later on. As in Amblystoma (COGHILL, I929, I936) the trend is that the reactions of the total organism precede separate movements of part of the body. Later on partial movements become individuated out of

larger movements. A curious lack of co-ordination between sight and movements persisted for some time. If presented with an object hanging from a

string he always judged the direction correctly but not the distance, and he found it very difficult to get hold of it. His hands met somewhere between one inch in front to one inch behind the object and he looked puzzled that it was his own finger he got hold of and not the object. The result was often a curious desperate gripping of his own fingers which looked almost as if he washed his hands. Later on a similar "handwashing" was frequently observed



304 N. BOLWIG

when he appeared frustrated or unable to make up his mind. On the Ist November Fredrik had improved his co-ordination so much that he rarely failed to grab an object but his "hand washing" remained as a displacement (Fig. 4).

SLEEP

On his arrival Fredrik seemed to need much sleep. For the first seven weeks he was rolled firmly up into a blanket every night (Fig. 5) and bedded in a travelling bag standing next to my bed. At the beginning he woke every night, came up into my bed and demanded food by biting my ear hard. Usually he took a good meal of milk and any other food he was offered. From the middle of November he slept right through the night. During the day he

usually slept for about a half to three-quarters of an hour in the morning, in the noon and again in the evening. His sleeping periods occurred fairly regularly after his three-hourly meals and gradually they decreased in length and disappeared co-incidental with the reduction in the number of his meals.

At the beginning his bed habits left much to be desired, but early in December he stopped fouling his bed during sleep. As it was considered

unhealthy for him to sleep rolled up in a blanket when the weather was hot we tried putting him to sleep in a box, with a blanket covering him loosely. He refused, however, to sleep for very long at a time in this new bed and came up into my bed where he proceeded to sleep on my pillow next to me,

preferably with my ear-lobe in his mouth. He was a very quiet sleeping companion causing very little disturbance. During February he became less

particular about where he slept and no longer insisted upon being within reach of me. He could, for example, sleep at the foot of my bed or snuggle up to my wife. In the evening before my bed time he could, when tired lie down on a chair (Fig. 6) or the sofa or just sit upright somewhere and sleep with his head lolling backwards. This habit began early in December. When thus bedding himself he could sometimes be seen to take hold of a blanket, or some material, and try to drag it over his head.

As Fredrik's need for my close presence during sleep became less he

gradually stopped sucking my ear during the night and by the middle of

March it was only in cases of distress or strong emotion that he did so.

FOOD

At the beginning, Fredrik was given cow's milk diluted with an equal amount of water. This strength was gradually increased so that on the Igth October the proportion was one part of water to two parts of milk. This

dilution was maintained for some time, ultimately being gradually reduced.




A little water, however, was nearly always added even at later stages as Fredrik seemed to prefer it. Otherwise he would demand a separate drink of water by going to the tap and trying to turn it on. At the beginning Fredrik was fed regularly every three hours during the day and once during the night. There was some variation from day to day in the amount he wanted to drink which indicated similar fluctuations to those described in human babies by SIMSAR'IAN and MCLENDON (I942). It was further observed

that, as with human infants, the number of feedings Fredrik demanded per day decreased as he grew older (SIMSARIAN & MCLENDON, I945).

On 27th October Fredrik stole some porridge from the dogs and it was therefore decided to try him on Farex. From the 28th and onwards he was

given a little of this cereal mixed with three parts of milk at each meal. He preferred it to pure milk and the amount he ate soon increased. On the Ist November mashed bananas were added for the first time to his diet and on the following day he also took some paw-paw without any ill-effect. On the 7th November he took some banana with gravy added and on the 8th Novem- ber he was seen to eat some earth after having been somewhat off food earlier on that day. He also chewed stones and all sorts of leaves and seeds. In the evening he refused to take mashed banana but greedily ate whole banana as well as some raisins. Farex with gravy, cooked peas and carrot

puree also met with his favour. Since none of these articles was found to hurt him it became possible to offer him a fair variety of foods which

gradually could replace much of the milk. Later on, bread, a little raw or cooked meat, lettuce, cabbage and many other foods were added to his diet. Besides what was given to him he seemed to find many things himself, such as brightly coloured flowers which he either collected in the garden or stole from the vases (Fig. 7), seeds, fruits, leaves, insects etc. By trial and error he seemed gradually to learn what was eatable and what not. New foods were stored in his check pouches and, so it seemed, chewed and swallowed in minute portions. Later on I learned, by watching him, of tasty fruits I had not previously known were eatable. Large insects horrified him at the beginning but soon he learned to handle them and to break off the legs of grasshoppers. Frequently he was stung, without much ill effect, by wasps and bees and was bitten by spiders. These shocks sometimes made him aggressive towards an insect until, by bitter experience he decided to leave it alone. He would then withdraw and sit down and rub his sore hand.

Right from the beginning of November Fredrik liked to drink urine passed by himself and others. It seemed obvious that he was missing certain salts in his diet. Otherwise he had no particularly dirty habits. It is possible he obtained some of the salts absent from his diet by eating soil and chewing



306 N. BOLWIG

stones. Soap appealed to him and he liked to sit on my shoulder while I was

shaving and lick off the lather. The very-mixed diet apparently preferred by Fredrik and particularly

the amount of earth he could consume often startled me, but only on a

very few occasions did he develop stomach upsets whereas a pair of gray vervets (Cercopithecus aethiops) I had a few years earlier regularly con- tracted diarrhoea which I found almost impossible to cure by using any of the accepted medicines. If on the other hand I set them free and allowed them to feed themselves they recovered within a couple of days. This brings to mind the observations made by DAVIS (I928, I93I, I933) on human

children. He allowed children to select their own foods out of a large variety. Often the selection was very unorthodox and sometimes even startling from an adult's point of view. Frequently they ate certain foods in waves. After a

period in which they ate a moderate amount of fruits, eggs or cereals a period might follow during which they consumed large quantities of them. A child which had active rickets spontaneously consumed large quantities of cod- liver oil and then later on when this condition was overcome left it untouched.

Physical examinations and measurements seemed to show that the children studied by DAVIs had made wholesome selections and had thrived. Their sense of what was good for them was better than generally expected (SIMSARIAN, I948).

The excellent health and fine physical development of Fredrik indicated that he too instinctively knew how to balance his diet. His preferences varied and often came in waves. Some days he might eat large quantities of paw-paw and not touch bananas; on other days it might be the other way round or he might discard both for something else. It was often puzzling as to what food to offer him but something was usually found which he would eat, and when he once started to feed himself this question gave me very little cause for worry. Also the quantity of food consumed showed great daily variations and if he seemed to be off food on one day he usually made up for it on the next.

These observations seem to show that the feeding behaviour of infant

monkeys and human children has much in common and that the human

parent perhaps ought to show less anxiety about what the child stuffs into its mouth than is often the case.

FREDRIK'S BEHAVIOUR SHORTLY AFTER BEING CAPTURED From the information I received Fredrik screamed incessantly during his

first days in captivity while holding his clenched fists close to his cheeks. On the day I received him this behaviour had subsided but an almost un-




interrupted crying with a soft low voice and rounded lips had replaced it. The screaming with wide open mouth and distorted face was only heard when the observer moved out of his immediate reach or sight. On such occasions he would more often than not run staggering to the nearest person in sight.

HARLOW'S FIRST THREE PHASES

Fredrik showed in his early days three types of behaviour similar to those described by HARLOW (I960). It was, however, obvious that they did not

give rise to three clearly separate periods in the animal's life. It was more as if these behaviour patterns were present simultaneously. They were, however, not equally pronounced at the various stages of the animal's life and they acted as antagonists to one another. In succession they partly suppressed one another giving rise to periods with predominant reflexive, clinging or

exploratory behaviour. These phases are described and discussed in the following sections.

I: THE REFLEX PHASE

There was no doubt that at first Fredrik reacted to objects with which he came in touch. He firmly gripped any object placed in his hand and protested by screaming if it was removed, reacting more strongly if an object was removed from his hand than from his foot. He showed no signs of preferring hairy to other soft objects on which he easily could get a firm grip. A similar

grasping reflex is also known from human children whose grip may be so

strong that a new-born child when holding on to a bar can support its own

weight. The sucking reflex seems to be developed very early in humans as well

as in animals. HOOKER (1943) observed a sucking reaction in a human foetus of about 82 weeks, when it was stroked with a hair in the region of the mouth. At the time of birth this reflex is highly developed and the mouth is at this stage probably the most sensitive part of the body.

GESELL and ILG (I937) observed that human children at time of birth

might show a "surprising strength of bite" which they thought was "not only unseasonable but unsuitable to normal sucking". Similarly, in his early days, Fredrik was inclined to bite very hard and lacerate the lobes of my ears when allowed to suck them, so that I found it necessary to "ration" him on this

point. Undoubtedly this biting was due to lack of proper nervous control of the action and as he grew older and gained more control over his various movements the biting which accompanied the suction became gentler and

finally almost vanished.



308 N. BOLWIG

At the outset Fredrik would suck any object placed in his mouth, but very soon he began to discriminate. Hard objects were discarded and only soft

objects were sucked persistently. As far as I was concerned the lobes of my ears got first preference, fol-

lowed by lips, nose, eye-brows and the soft skin under my chin, while my fingers interested Fredrik least.

Rubber teats, such as the teats of his milk bottle were discarded except when he was hungry. They ranked even lower than my fingers. The sucking had very little to do with hunger and feeding, since the animal would suck

just as eagerly after as before meals, but when hungry or thirsty he tended to bite as well as suck.

The animal seemed to have a tendency, particularly when upset, to press the ventral side of its body against larger objects after first having caught hold of them with its hands. It is possible that the so called Moro Umklam-

merungs reflex known from human infants (clasping or embrace reflex of

FREUDENBERG, I92I) is a similar reaction. In the human infant a blow on the table on which the child rests on its back may cause it to throw out its arms and legs and then bring them together as in embrace.

According to MCGRAW (I937) the cerebral cortex is not functioning in the earlier phase of the response. Later on when the cortex develops and comes into action these primitive movements give way to more controlled and calculated ones. In other words the action is to start with a more generalised one due to lack of organisation and co-ordination in the central nervous

system. If this is correct the movements are not necessarily atavistic types of behaviour reminiscent of the clinging behaviour of the infant monkey but father related to a type of behaviour caused by apparently "all out"

discharges from the central nervous system such as were often noticed in Fredrik.

Right from the beginning it was noticed that Fredrik when excited or upset, got fits comparable to epileptic fits. His legs became stretched, his body rigid and his head bent backwards. Also his teeth were clenched. Such fits are also known from other infant monkeys, and I have been told that they are due to an incomplete myelinisation of the nerves. During severe fits the animal became slightly cyanosed. As time went on the fits became less and less frequent and finally they stopped altogether. These fits, in the early days, exhausted Fredrik and were frequently followed by a short sleep.

2: THE PHASE OF ATTACHMENT

In the first couple of weeks of his life Fredrik was prepared to accept any one to whom he could cling as his guardian, but if handled more by one




person than by another he very quickly developed a bond with this person and the attachment quickly grew closer and closer until in the end it became almost unbreakable. Thus it was noticed that on the I5th October, the day I took Fredrik over he showed some preference for his former owner, Mr OLIVER. The following three days he was handled more by my younger daughter than by any other member of the family. On the I8th October he

ran, when left alone with me, to the door through which my daughter had

just passed and screamed, obviously feeling insecure. On her return he

stopped crying and when picked up snuggled happily into her arms. During the following days the attachment shifted from my daughter to me, and it became so strong that I had to carry him on my shoulder wherever I went, whether it was to give a lecture, to laboratory courses, to meetings, to parties and even to the theater. Later on, when he began to walk about on his own he would, when in distress, always come to me to "tell me all about it"

(Fig. 8). For a long time, right up to the age of about 3Y2 months he could be very troublesome if left in the care of some other member of the family. After that age he became less particular as long as someone he liked and trusted was within easy reach. However, although he seemed progressively to bother less about me he reacted strongly to the possibility of a real separation. Often he could wander far away, but he always made sure where I

was, so that he could return to me if necessary. The following record from

I4th February clearly illustrates this attitude:

Fredrik played in the college garden while I was attending some other monkeys in an outside cage. I forgot all about him and went into the workshop nearby. From the window I suddenly saw him come galloping round the corner of a building and run across the lawn to the cages. Not finding me where he had left me he started calling, looking much distressed. I shouted to him from the window and immediately he ran at full speed towards me uttering the small sharp cries which indicated that he was upset. In one big jump he landed ont the window sill, flung himself into my arms and rushed for my ear with an almost twittering sound of joy. After a minute's hectic sucking he calmed down and was soon off again on a new exploration.

This record is very typical for that period. Although he spent most of his time away from me, often right out of sight, and although he often seemed to prefer other company, there was a very strong bond between us which could not be broken so easily and which I hardly dared break - not at least

abruptly or in one stage. By the end of July, after 3k2 months separation, Fredrik still came to me and sucked my ear when upset or tired, although at that time he had settled down well in a cage with other monkeys.

It was obvious that the sucking of my ear was of the greatest importance for the animal's feeling of comfort and security. When upset it calmed down much quicker when allowed to suck than when allowed only to cling to me.



310 N. BOLWIG

According to HARLOW (I958, 1959, I960) the contact between the body of the infant monkey and its mother as well as its ability to get a firm hold with its hands and feet has a greater calming or comforting effect on the animal than any other stimulus. He wrote for example (HARLOW & ZIM- MERMANN, I959): "The experimental analysis of the development of the infant monkey's attachment to an inanimate mother surrogate demonstrates the overwhelming importance of the variable of soft body contact that characterized the cloth mother, ... Finally, probably the most surprising finding is that nursing or feeding played either no role or a subordinate role in the development of affection as measured by contact time, responsive- ness to strangeness, and motivation to seek and see".

From my observations it is obvious that contact is of very great importance for the animal's feeling of comfort and security. The object with which the animal is in contact is far more effective when soft than when hard. No affection seems to be induced as a result of feeding. The animal never showed signs of affection towards its milk bottle other than a frantic interest at

feeding time. But something soft to suck seemed to have a greater effect than any other stimulus. From the behaviour of the animal it seemed beyond doubt that the sensitivity to contact radiated out from five points, namely the mouth, the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. Of these the mouth ranked highest as a centre of comfort. It was followed by the palms of the hands and finally by the feet. As one moved further and further away from any of these centres the calming effect of contact became less and less. Next to the mouth followed the lips in importance, then the cheeks, chin and nose, followed by the ventral surface of the neck, the upper chest, lower chest and lastly the abdomen.

Similarly the importance of contact seemed to diminish from the palms of the hands up the arms, and from the soles of the feet up the legs. A firm

pressure on Fredrik's back also had a slight calming effect, although greatly inferior to any of the above mentioned areas except perhaps for the abdomen.

Unfortunately it was impossible to show statistically that there is such an

arrangement of contact points, because it would have been necessary to

frighten the animal more than was desirable from the point of view of

making other observations, in order to obtain the necessary figures. Instead a number of photographs must suffice to substantiate what has been mentioned (Fig. 8, Fig. 9). It will be seen from these photographs that the animal, when in distress, grasps its guardian firmly with its hands and perhaps also with its feet, and presses first its oral or near oral region and then its chin, ventral neck and chest against its guardian. How much of the body is pressed against the guardian and how firmly it is done, depends




upon the animal's state of tension and also upon whether or not it is able to suck a soft part of the guardian's body. The better the contact the sooner the animal calms down. If restless before sleep, gentle stroking of nose, lips and chin often had the desired effect, while stroking of forehead, scalp and back proved almost useless.

A curious posture often demonstrated when the animal was slightly upset, after being scolded or when very sleepy consisted in pressing chin, cheek and

Fig. 9. Horror. - Note how the animal presses its cheek, chin and ventral surfaces against the guardian.

chest against the floor while lifting the abdomen high up on streched legs. This done the animal rolled over on it side and back often gripping its toes with its hands. It may be suggested that the animal, by pressing chest and chin against the floor calms itself down, but it may also be an act of

displacement. Similarly to HARLOW'S experiments the observations showed that rocking

had a calming effect and so had also the heat from a flannel covered hot water

bottle, but neither approached in importance the bodily contact with the

guardian.



312 N. BOLWIG

3: THE PHASE OF EXPLORATION

a: Exploration as a factor affecting the relationship to the guardian.

Although Fredrik on the day I took him over was still in a stage of

development where many actions were in their reflexive phase, it was

interesting to notice that he showed a marked interest in his surroundings. The exploration was at first mainly a visual (exploration), but hands and mouth were also used. Most of all he was drawn to faces and of these more to the eye region than to any other part. After having discovered that my ear lobes were softer than any other part of my person most attention was paid to them, but over and over again he returned to my eyes which seemed to fascinate him. It is possible that during this first period of exploration he learned to know the members of the family as individuals and also to interpret our expressions. It was also noticed right from the beginning that in case of distress he sought refuge near to our faces and not near to any othet

part of our bodies. He would struggle desperately to climb up our legs and arms in order to reach up to our faces.

The trend to explore inanimate objects, which was noticed already on the first day became gradually more predominant and seemed to increase in proportion to his physical development. It acted as an antagonist to the phase of attachment and gradually became dominant over it during his hour to hour activities. On the 25th October I noted:

"He is now able to jump at least i'6" - He plays and runs about. He is

getting more steady on his feet although still a bit wobbly". Again on the 27th the record mentions that "he now tends to walk further

afield" and on the 28th that "he played, ran and jumped a good deal and stole food from the dog's plates."

On the 3Ist October he walked as far as 12 feet away from me. On the 4th November I remarked: "It becomes easier every day to leave Fredrik alone for a moment as long

as he is occupied and familiar with his surroundings." A limitation to Fredrik's exploration was set at the beginning by his

inability to climb chairs and tables but on the 7th November he managed for the first time to climb the legs of a chair and reach the seat with both

hands, without however being able to swing himself onto it. From now on

nothing on chairs and tables was safe from him because he would try to

grab what was close to the edge and pull it down. A few days later he was able to get onto chairs and tables and on the 22nd November I remarked that nothing could prevent him from climbing onto the tables where he stole




flowers from the vases. There was thus a large new field for Fredrik to

explore without necessarily increasing his distance from me. At the beginning of December Fredrik became such a nuisance in the

house that from the I2th and onwards we began to shut him outside at meal times. He protested loudly and he continued to do so, but as he did not appear to be unduly upset we took very little notice of all his fuss.

As time went on Fredrik became more and more adventurous and walked

progressively further afield. He liked to go visiting with me and have rides in the car. In December-January he was with me on a couple of safaris. When stopping the car I allowed him to run about freely and he always came when called. Crowds of onlookers never worried him and he ran without hesitation in among people who scattered in all directions. On the ist February Fredrik entered the students' canteen where he enjoyed himself so much with the students that he refused to come to the car when called. This was the first occasion on which he did not respond to my calls and soon this became a progressively more frequent occurrence. On the 8th February he left me in the bank causing disturbances in the offices as well as in

Kampala main street by refusing to come back. On the Ioth February he left me at the college and went into the geology laboratory where he upset a class and caused disturbances by not coming when called. On several later occasions he refused to come to the car when called and we decided to teach him a lesson by driving off without him. Discovering that we really were off he panicked and ran screaming and as fast as he could after the car. When I stopped he almost flew into the car, and as always when he was in distress he gave my ear a good suck.

In February when Fredrik began to stray I decided to try to leave him for some hours every day in a cage with other monkeys of his own kind. This attempt was, however, not very successful. Although he knew the other

monkeys well and was accustomed to play with them he panicked as soon as he knew I wanted to leave him behind, screamed, clung desperately to me and then tried to tear the door open. He would sit and cry until I

finally let him out. Afterwards he would cling to me and refuse to leave me out of sight for the rest of the day. In the evening when asleep he would wake up with small shrieks and cling to me, showing all signs of terror when I tried to release his grip.

It soon became obvious that the apparent detachment from me was less

complete than I thought, and there was no doubt that the restriction on his freedom to move freely about horrified him.

Another attempt to introduce Fredrik to the inside of a cage was made in the middle of March. This time it was a big cage at my home housing an



314 N. BOLWIG

adult female and a sub-adult male patas monkey. Fredrik was very familiar with the cage and its inhabitants and used to accompany me when I cleaned it or entered it for other reasons. He was very friendly with the male and the two animals often had wild games with one another. During the last week before the attempt was made he was looked after by a servant he liked and saw very little of me. This time he did somewhat better in the cage. Although he screamed a great deal and tried to tear the wire with his hands he occasionally forgot about me and started to play with the male patas. Unfortunately his attitude towards the cage soon began to deteriorate and no more attemps were made before I had to leave on a three months' trip to Europe. It was, however, interesting that on 2nd April Fredrik himself asked to be let into the cage. After about half an hour of games with the male he asked to be, and was, let out.

Although at the time of my departure early in April Fredrik spent most of his time away from me in the company of humans or other animals he remained much attached to me and up to the last day he came to me in preference to others when he was upset. I remained his chief guardian.

This attitude still persisted at the end of July when we were reunited. At that time he could be left all day long with the other monkeys with whom he played well. If, however, he was attacked or became frightened for other reasons while I was in the cage he would shelter with me, jump onto my shoulder and suck my ear. It was lucky that at the time of my departure his detachment from me was so far advanced that I could leave him to be looked after by some one else during my long absence. An interesting observation was that although he settled down well with his new guardian, he seemed to miss me at least at the beginning and an old blanket I had given him seemed to give him much comfort when in distress. Factors which

probably contributed to detach Fredrik from me were the various cuffs, blows and other rough treatment he occasionally received. Thus on 2Ist November he stole some black mud from a bucket in the chemical laboratory and stuffed it into his mouth. Not knowing what it was I scooped it out with a finger and rinsed his mouth with water under a tap. Afterwards he was scared of me and tried for some time to avoid me. On the 2nd December he went as far as to threaten me so that I should not interfere with his activities.

b: Play. The word "play" is used in the paragraphs following to describe any

action which is performed as an outlet for surplus energy which is not required by the animal for its immediate vital activities such as collecting food, eating, mating, nursing and other activities which further its own survival and that of




its species. The activities thus lack obvious purposiveness and seem to be

performed for their own sake, although the animal in its play more often than not explores its own abilities and its surroundings, and learns by its experiences. As the nervous and muscular co-ordinations progress with growth and through exercise, and as the animal gains more experience, new fields for exploration open up.

Fredrik's play was rather stereotyped and the improvement was more noticeable in his abilities than in the actual type of game. The play mainly consisted of exploring with hands and mouth (not with feet), biting, chasing, jumping, climbing, falling, rolling over and teasing in various ways. The latter was a typical exploring activity in which he tried out how far he could

go before he met with reprisals. The reprisals often gave a stimulus to new

attempts rather than acting as a deterrent. In other words, the "feed back" of the reprisal stimulated him to investigate the reprisal itself. When a game was at its highest he could threaten like an angry adult and lash out with his hands and only his mouth would indicate that the threat was not seriously meant.

During his first few weeks Fredrik's most favoured toys were some

"Dinky Toy" motorcars. He could play with them over long periods, pushing them forwards and backwards as a human child would have done. A small car which made some noise when pushed was preferred to others. He loved

stealing my pencil out of my hand, biting and tearing books, papers and electric wires, stealing flowers from vases and running away with objects which might produce a strong reaction from us. It was undoubtedly the reaction from us more than anything else which stimulated him to these activities. A particularly favoured object was a roll of toilet paper.

As with a human child he liked splashing with water and from the end of January he started diving into the water when a member of the family had a bath. He swam dog-fashion swallowing more water than was good.

Hide-and-seek was a favourite pastime invented by Fredrik himself.

(My baboon invented exactly the same game). The animal would run

away from me and hide in a place I was likely to pass. If I "found" him we had a good wrestle; otherwise I would be attacked from behind, after having passed, and have my legs bitten. A "fight" was always the outcome.

c: Relationship to other animals.

The first time Fredrik encountered another animal on his many small

exploration trips was on 31st October. Before then he had only come across inanimate objects which did not react to his approaches or at the most rolled

Behaviour XXI 21



316 N. BOLWIG

away. His only experience with living beings was with humans to whom he could cling for comfort or protection. On this date he happened to irritate a cat which lashed out at him. Fredrik took fright, screamed and fled to me, but a moment later he left me again and approached a pekingese dog whose tail he cautiously proceeded to pull. The dog growled and Fredrik withdrew hastily. Stimulated by his experience he made several new

approaches during which he quickly learned how far he could go without

running too great a risk. From now on Fredrik's interest in other animals increased.

When on the IIth November two ca. 9 days old servals arrived he showed

very little interest in them. It was obvious that by their lack of reaction to his

approaches, they did not offer the sought-for "feed back." On the 20th of the same month he began to play a little with them. At that time the kittens were themselves beginning to walk about and explore and on the 6th Decem- ber the record shows that he had great games with them. It was interesting to notice that while the two servals played independently of one another and did not markedly increase the velocity of each other's activity when

they accidentally met, the more intelligent Fredrik clearly reacted to their

presence and on his own initiative sought, induced and promoted the stimulation they could give him in his own activities (Fig. ii). The two servals were like perpetually rolling balls which occasionally collided and

only changed the direction of one another's movements, while Fredrik was like a ball which was magnetically drawn towards the others and which needed the impulse of the others to remain in motion.

It was an interesting fact that Fredrik soon learned to seek the company of other animals and that he showed very little fear in his dealings with them, although bigger animals such as goats and cows apparently filled him somewhat with awe and frequently were scolded from a safe distance, preferably from my shoulder. He could play well with much bigger dogs as long as they were not too rough and he got on particularly well with puppies and kittens. On the 20th November, for example, he met a dachshund puppy for the first time. After a few playful introductions the two animals became friends and had a good romp together. If a bigger dog did not please him he would threaten it and strike at it with his hands.

Reptiles had no repellent effect on Fredrik. As soon as he could move

quickly enough he would catch and play with lizards; usually with fatal results to the latter. A 3 ft poison-snake I caught alive on ist December while he sat on my shoulder did not worry him in the least nor did an I I' 6" live python which, shortly after, was brought to me and which I demonstrated to my students with Fredrik alongside as usual.




In marked contrast to this was his slight horror of a live white rat which was put in front of him on the I4th November.

Grasshoppers, which could give sudden kicks with their spiny legs frightened him at first but later on he learned to handle them and to eat them. He would spend much time on the window-sill catching and eating flies. It seemed difficult for him to distinguish between harmless insects and those that could inflict pain, and he was frequently stung by bees and

wasps or bitten by spiders. He would then rub his hands and sometimes have another go at them and he never seemed to suffer any swellings or lasting ill effect. Previous observations on baboons handling scorpions (BOLWIG, I959) seem to indicate that the toxin may have far less effect on monkeys than on man.

Fredrik got on very well with monkeys of his own species, but it took him some time to learn and to accept his place in the hierarchy. At the beginning he would ignore the leader of the troop and he was naturally severely rebuked, but never injured. If I dared punish him while in the cage or

happened to frighten him so that he yelled, the other animals came to his rescue and threatened or even attacked me.

This behaviour of defending someone in distress is well known from baboons (ZUCKERMAN I932, BOLWIG I959) and Chimpanzee (YERKES and

YERKES, 1945; FELCE I948) but seems better developed in species living on the ground than in arboreal types. Early in March Fredrik and a beloved

kitten were with me in the cage. All went well at the beginning but suddenly

my big male for some unknown reason attacked the kitten. He was joined

by the leading female and for a couple of seconds the situation looked rather

dangerous. Fredrik who saw it and heard the kitten yell jumped down from

my shoulder and attacked the two big animals with an amazing ferocity and

courage. This made it possible for me to rescue the kitten before harm

was done. Towards humans Fredrik was very affectionate. He could snuggle against

them and often showed his liking for them. He rarely demonstrated any dislike toward them. Many a time did he break off a wild game, rush to

my shoulder, fling his arms round my neck and give me what virtually amounted to a kiss, usually on my mouth. Then he would rush off again and continue his game.

When the detachment from me was well in progress he often left home and visited our neighbour's African servant whose children he liked to play with. At college he made friends with students and staff and occasionally he walked off with them.



318 N. BOLWIG

d. Sexual display.

Patas monkeys seem far more modest in their sexual display than baboons

(BOLWIG, 1959) and play mounting is not very frequent among my animals. Fredrik could occasionally be seen to mount the servals in play and try to

bring his erected penis in contact with their hindquarters while holding them

with his hands round the middle. He always tackled them in the correct

position and not from any awkward angle such as is sometimes noticed in

baboons. This may have been due to the fact that the servals always tried to run away. Except for such occasions erections were very rare although

they started very early in his life, the first time one was noticed being on the

25th October.

COLOUR PREFERENCE

Already a week or two after Fredrik's arrival I noticed a preference for

strongly coloured objects. Blue in particular was favoured more than any other colour. A woman in a blue dress or a servant in a blue kanzu was

always preferred to anyone wearing another colour. The same applied to his

"Dinky Toys." He invariably picked up the blue cars first. In the Geology Department he showed a tendency to pick up blue stones in preference to

yellow, green or brown. Similarly he was somewhat more attracted by blue

flowers than by flowers of other colours. In order to get a statistical expression of his colour sense I presented

him first with coloured wool, in which, surprisingly enough, he took no

interest, then with bits of coloured plastic. Unfortunately the colours of the

latter were not equally bright and as Fredrik's sole idea was to steal them

before I could spread them out, the experiment came to nothing. Later on

when realizing he could play with the plastic pieces he lost interest altogether.

INTEREST IN DOLLS AND PICTURES

There was no doubt that Fredrik could recognize dolls as reproductions of something living. He would study them carefully and examine their faces with his hands, first concentrating on the eyes and thereafter on other parts. He would emit small calls in a low soft voice while running his hands over the face.

At the beginning of February Fredrik was shown various animal films.

Unfortunately I was unable to watch all his reactions but there was no doubt about the interest he took. On the 2nd February he showed particular interest in a black-white film of my ring tailed lemurs whom he knows well. He "commented" on the film with various small sounds, finally going up to the screen and trying to touch the moving animals with his hands.




On the 4th February Fredrik jumped up to me while I was reading one of Dr HARLOW'S papers with pictures of young monkeys. He snatched the

paper out of my hand, held it up in front of him and pressed his lips against one picture which clearly showed a small monkey. Another picture on the same page which did not clearly show the monkey was ignored. To make sure that it was not a coincidence I showed him another page with pictures. Again Fredrik examined the pictures only, not the text, and pressed his lips against some of them. The reaction came as a surprise because he previously had had

ample opportunity to see photographs of himself but he had never taken much notice, nor did he pay any particular attention to his own image in a mirror. In this case, however, the reaction might be accounted for by the fact that the picture showed a younger monkey than himself. When shortly after a very young red-tailed monkey was brought to my house he showed some gentle interest in it, but soon lost it again. Nothing in his behaviour could explain his sudden interest in the pictures. There was, however no doubt from his reaction that he had recognised what he saw in the two- dimensional picture and his interest may have been facilitated by the films he saw the previous days.

VOCALISATION

Compared with most other monkeys Fredrik is very vocal. On his arrival he cried a lot with slightly pouched and rounded lips. The sound was a rather carrying rounded "ooo - ooo oo" in the region of A, B, on the piano. Fear he expressed with loud shrill cries, and anger with explosive throat sounds like quick coughs; "aa-aa-aa." A similar sound was emitted when, after having been separated from me, he threw himself into my arms. This could be followed by a soft joyful almost twittering little cry or whistle. This sound was also used when he encountered some of his particular friends such as the two servals, with which he often played. Yet another sound, peculiar to

himself, which he made when especially relieved and happy and when

snuggling or trying to snuggle close, was a rather long drawn-out tremulous treble noise, wavering up and down and dying away on slightly lower notes.

POSTURAL EXPRESSIONS AND EXPRESSIVE ACTIONS

Fredrik very soon developed modes of expression which were identical to those of our adult patas. These expressions could involve the whole or part of the body, particularly the face.

Threat, attack and anger were noticed for the first time on 2nd December when he threatened a big part-Labrador puppy. His

posture was the typical one with lowered backhead, lifted chin, open mouth



320 N. BOLWIG

and a stiff gaze with wide open eyes. His body and limbs stiffened and he lashed out with both hands. Later on this threat and attacks were observed

many times but not frequently. On occasion it even occurred in play, but with the difference that his gaze was relaxed, not stiff.

A n g e r was clearly expressed by his face alone. Htis eyebrows were lowered, probably with a slight frown, his lips were tightened due to contraction to the circum oris muscle and the corners of his mouth drawn

slightly downwards by the platysma. In cases of a I gher intensity of anger his upper lip was lifted into a snarl at the level of the canine, particularly at the side facing the offender (Fig. I2). Raising of hairs on head, neck or shoulders was never noticed as part of his expression of anger.

F e a r, ho r r o r an d de s p a i r. Slight fear was usually indicated by ducking and looking at the opponent. The extent to which the body was lowered depended on the degree of fear. At the same time the animal's ears were pressed backwards against the head and if much frightened the top of the ear might even be folded slightly down. In cases of horror and (lespair he would come to me for rescue, rush towards me, thrust his arms round

my neck and press his cheek, neck and chest against me (Figs 8 and 9). The extent to which the whole or part of his body was pressc(l against me was dependant on the degree of fear. Eventually, when beginning to calm down and thus free to take his eyes off the source of danger he would suck

my ear. If prevented from sucking he needed considerably longer to recover.

His face was always very expressive when horrified or in despair. The corners of his mouth would be drawn slightly downwards and his lips in- wards due to an apparent tightening of the platysma muscle or he might start his small soft cries with rounded mouth-opening and lips slightly pouched. In cases of increasing horror where escape seemed unlikely, the pull of the platysma would become greater and the zygomatic muscle would begin to pull as well. His mouth would open but his lips would cover the teeth

except for the most extreme cases when the very strong pull by the platysma and zygomaticus would draw the lips away from the teeth and expose them

(Fig. I3). The strong pull by the zygomaticus would in extreme cases affect the lower outer corner of his eyes. At the same time a slight lowering of the outer end of the eyebrows probably due to the zygomaticus together with a

lifting of their median end due to a contraction of the muscles of his scalp, would add to his expression of horror.. The final result was a complete distortion of his face identical to that observed in children under similar conditions. The wide open mouth surrounded with deep furrows and the

slanting eyebrows left no doubt in the human observer as to the animal's state of fear.




J oy can be more difficult to interpret and I have on many occasions seen even other monkeys of the same species misinterpret the mood of a gay animal.

At its lowest intensities a slight pulling up of the corners of the mouth

may be noticed. It is, however, very difficult to tell whether this is due to

anger or joy. The pulling is, however, not caused by the platysma but by the

zygomatic muscle alone and at higher intensities the result is an upwards pulling of the corners of the mouth which also tightens the upper lip and, in most monkeys like Fredrik, draws it over the upper teeth (Fig. I4).

The small love bites and licks which could not always be clearly distinguished from suction for comfort often took the character of kisses. The way he could break off a game to show his affection in this way has

already been described. My big female baboon could behave similarly towards me.

POSSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR AND TRAINING It seems to be a general rule among monkeys that the more difficult it is

to obtain something from someone else the greater attraction will this some-

thing have. Fredrik was no exception to this rule. Whatever he was told not to touch he wanted to touch, and what he could not have he tried to steal. This of course was the greatest obstacle to having him in the house.

There are three ways of handling the disobedient animal or child which here will be termed a. the negative approach, b. the neutral approach and c. the positive approach.

a. The negative approach: By negative approach is meant the approach by which the dominant individual A. punishes the inferior individual B. in order to deter B. from doing certain things. This approach is most commonly met with among humans and animals. It is the normal instinct to defend one's possessions and defend them if necessary by force.

Among animals, A. will have to fight that B. shall not abduct his mate, steal his food, occupy his abode or shelter or roost, or kill his offspring. Among primates including human primates, this antagonism and competition between the individuals is a carrying factor of their hierarchical societies. Among monkeys it leads to a selection so that the best individuals have the greatest chance to propagate and maintain the population. In cases of shortage of food it may, however, lead to the young and weak individuals not getting enough to eat. On the other hand, the young will, by noticing what food is treasured most by its superior, learn what is good, less good, or perhaps undesirable to eat. The more strongly the good food is defended by A. the more desirable it is to B. and next time B. finds some he will most certainly snatch it and



322 N. BOLWIG

keep it jealously to himself. There can thus be no doubt that the young monkey in some ways learns something useful from the punishment, but

contrary to dogs and humans, it will not normally act as a deterrent, but as an incitement to steal. The young monkey will learn to be cautious and

cunning. From this it will be understood that there is very little hope of training

a monkey by punishing it. Various attemps were in fact made to keep Fredrik from stealing, pulling things onto the floor, or chewing and tearing up books and papers, by using the "negative" methods, but every one was a

complete failure. Unfortunately the "negative" method was unavoidable on

many occasions because it could be used swiftly as a momentary deterrent which could prevent accidents or losses, but the object of Fredrik's interest had as far as possible to be removed without delay.

b. The neutral approach: By this is meant an approach which allows the animal to carry out its intended act and thereby either I: let the object itself punish it or 2: let the animal lose interest by lack of interference.

On most occasions I is inapplicable. There are, however, moments when it works very well. On a safari early in January Fredrik wanted to play with a burning paraffin-stove. He burnt his hands, got angry and lashed

at the stove burning himself once more. Now he got furious and hit out

at the stove with both hands, burning them both. After that he gave up, retired and sat down and nursed his painful hands. From then on I had no

need to fear accidents. Fredrik could play on the box with the burning stove

without ever touching the hot parts. Very similar was Fredrik's experience with the burning pressure-lamp. He

tried to bite the hot parts, burned his tongue and left it alone thereafter.

Although he was frequently stung by bees and wasps he never learned not to touch them. Similarly even as I write this he has not yet learned to leave a burning cigar alone. It is possible that he has not discovered the difference between a harmless and a harmful insect and the burning and

not burning part of a cigar. He has eaten so many harmless insects and unlit cigars without ill effect that until he discovers the difference between those which hurt and those which do not he will continue as before taking a few stings, bites and burns in his stride.

In the case, of 2 where no punishment was inflicted the upbringing of Fredrik has been quite successful. When playing in my office he was often

given objects to play with similar or identical to those I used. Usually after some time the objects ceased to be of interest and I could work in peace.




He liked to bite things and could ruin them that way, but normally he was not violent with them and did not often drop and break things when not disturbed. It was therefore often possible, with much self restraint, to apply the neutral attitude where the object itself would not punish. One day for

example Fredrik stole a small figure from the table. Apparently he expected me to run after him and was, while he watched me, ready to drop his treasure at any moment. When I did not react he put it calmly down on the floor from where I soon, but not too soon after could collect it without its

having so much as a chip! However, things did not always end as well as this, and that was why the easier negative approach was so frequently applied.

c. The positive approach is a method by which the animal's attention is distracted from the original object of its interest and its actions are guided into new lines. This method takes courage, imagination and self-

discipline. Various methods can be employed, much depending on the situation and the type of animal. In the case of Fredrik I most frequently pretended that what he did was all right, but if he did something else it would mean trouble.

One day as I was passing through the room with a roll of toilet paper in my hand I noticed that Fredrik jumped onto the table to snatch some

precious object. To change his line of action I dropped the toilet paper onto the floor allowing it to un-roll a few feet. Hurriedly I bent down to gather it up again pretending to do so in order to prevent Fredrik from touching it. This immediately made Fredrik forget his original intention and instead he went for the paper.

It will be readily understood that this sort of thing is far from easy! Substitutes are hard to find at a moment's notice but, if they can be found, the method often works.

From time to time, well-meaning people advised me to try to hasten Fre- drik's development, to punish him more severely, lock him out of the house or

put him in a cage. Every time I tried, against my better judgement, to follow such advice it resulted in a set-back in the monkey's development. He became more clinging, more mischievous and more difficult.

OBSERVATIONS ON NEW-BORN CERCOPITHECUS ASCANIUS

While the patas monkey is a highly specialized ground-living monkey of the savannah which only ventures up into trees by night to sleep, or, occasio-

nally by day to collect food, the red-tailed monkey (Cerocopithecus ascanius) is a typical arboreal forest animal which only descends to ground-level by day to raid the cultivated fields.



324 N. BOLWIG

Preliminary observations seem to indicate that the patas live in troops which are firmly welded together and under the leadership of an old male. The hierarchical organisation appears no less pronounced than among baboons (ZUCKERMAN, I932, BOLWIG I959). The red-tail, on the other

hand, is far less well organised and it seems as if the troops can break up and re-unite. (HADDOW, I952, BUXTON, I952). In captivity, their hier-

archical organisation appears less pronounced than in the patas. Such differences in biology can be expected to be reflected in the behaviour of the

very young of the species. It was therefore with great interest that, on 25th February, I96I, I accepted a male red-tailed monkey - less than a week old.

Unfortunately, university examinations, and shortly after, overseas leave made it impossible to spend as much time with the monkey as could be desired.

The first peculiarity noticed was that the animal seemed quite contented when put in a box with a cloth to hug. It easily became frightened but did not seem to miss its mother and did not cry.

On this point there was a very marked difference from Fredrik who when he arrived could not have been more than one week older than the newcomer, probably even less. Fredrik cried loudly when left alone; the red-tail was content with its blanket.

Another feature worth noticing was that the movements of the small red tail were not well co-ordinated. It had fits and gave jerks similar to those of Fredrik when he was very young and these persisted for several weeks when the animal got excited. Already on the first day it attempted, but not with

great success, to follow moving objects with its eyes. It was, however, only a few days before it mastered its eye-movements. As with Fredrik, this

monkey also found it difficult, for a considerable time, to judge distances

and, when trying to catch at an object its hands would often meet ahead of the desired prize. Its lips seemed very sensitive and it clearly indicated that it liked having them' touched with somethifig soft, but unlike HARLOW'S

monkeys it did not try to follow the soft object 'when it was moved away in order to maintain touch. Its grip on 'things was firm but less persistent than that of Fredrik on arrival. It was somewhat more adventurous than Fredrik and left of its own free will an object to which it had been clinging to explore the surroundings. It was particularly interested in eyes and tried to examine them with its hands.

To be better able to check on some observations made on Fredrik it was decided to rear the red-tail on HARLOW'S mother-substitutes. Two mothers were given to the animal - one with a white face and one with a face of a colour pattern similar to that of an adult red-tailed monkey (Fig. 1 5). Each




mother had two teats, one of a slightly harder rubber (red) than the other

(black). It was hoped in this way to learn something about the importance of the face and of the consistency of the teat. Feeding took place as far as

possible every 3 hrs. Out of 75 feedings spread over Io days 36 were from the mother with

a white face and 39 from the mother with a painted face. 644 cc milk was drunk from the mother with a white face and 837 from the painted mother. The experiment shows no significant difference in the monkey's preference for one mother over the other. HARLOW (I96I) found the same in rhesus

monkeys. With regard to the teats the monkey learned after a few trials which teat

was the softest and thereafter it never went to the harder teat even if the black teat was empty of milk and the red one full. Later on it was noticed that if the monkey found that one black teat was slightly harder than the other it learned very quickly and went to the softer one.

The monkey never slept on its slanting mother-substitutes but preferred to sleep on the horizontal floor hugging a piece of flannel. It remained very adventurous and spent more time exploring the room than it did with its mother-substitutes. The attachment to its mothers was less strong than was the case in HARLOW'S rhesus monkeys. When sleepy, or in case of danger, however, it returned to them and could be seen standing on the head of one of them scolding the "enemy". The monkey seemed to have no great desire to suck something soft for comfort when it was in distress as Fredrik had

done, but when asleep next to its mothers it was often seen sucking its big toe. Unfortunately it was not possible to get a teat or a dummy which

compared with its mother's teat in softness and texture.

CONCLUSIONS

The very interesting and important results obtained by HARLOW and collaborators have on the whole been confirmed by this study of a young patas monkey. Moreover, the brief observations on the small red-tailed

monkey more or less agree with their results. Although the present observations are made on single-individuals and not on a great number the differences they show in comparison with one another and with Harlow's rhesus

monkeys may be significant. The patas is a specialised strictly terrestrial monkey. The rhesus monkey

is arboreal but not as specialized an arboreal as the red-tailed monkey. All three monkeys live in hierarchically organised troops. How strict and how

strongly welded together is the troop of the patas is still an open question but observations indicate that it is a very firmly built unit. The troop of the



326 N. BOLWIG

red-tail seems to be much more loosely knit than that of the two others. (HADDOW 1952; BUXTON 1952). This alone may explain some of the great differences in the mother-child relationship observed.

It is true that the animals described in this paper were brought up very differently but when one considers the differences in the behaviour of the neo-natal red-tail, the rhesus and the patas, something more than different

technique seems to play a part. The patas was more dependant on its guardian than the other two species seem to be, and also more demanding. The red- tail was unconcerned about its guardian as long as it had something soft to hold on to. And even if it had no foreign object to cling to it could quite contentedly hold on to and hug its own tail. It is possible that the rough terry- towelling is much too hard in comparison with the extremely soft fur of a red-tailed monkey. Another possibility is that the HARLOW'S mother substitutes were not natural enough because when our monkey at an age of about 5 weeks was presented with a primitive doll with arms and legs it immediately took to that in preference to its nursing "mother". It always preferred live company to its dead "mother" but went close to its mother substitute in case of alarm without ever clinging to her. However, the initial behaviour remains and can only be explained by differences in the innate social instinct of the three species of monkeys.

A point which seems to be ignored by those comparing the mother-child

relationship of monkeys and man is the "nesting" habit of the humans which is unknown among monkeys. While a monkey mother will never put her child down and leave it for a moment this is common practice among most human tribes and races. There is a tendency in man to live a sedentary life, build shelters, huts or houses which form the centre of the territory of the family group and where much activity takes place. In these "nests" they leave their children to varying extents when it is inconvenient for the mothers to carry them with them. The monkey child will always be with its mother. It is built to cling to her by its own force. It is always in contact with its mother's soft warm comforting body. In man it is different. If the mother cannot hold the child in her arms because she needs both her arms to be free for work and if she cannot or does not tie it to her body she must put it down. The child is not built to hold on to its mother. Although the gripping reflex of its hand is well developed its bodily strength fails it. Moreover, on the comparatively hairless female human body there is nothing suitable for baby hands to grip. Such differences in morphology and innate behaviour must affect the development of the child.

The experiments made by HARLOW (I96I) and those made by myself show that the young monkey does not bother about the appearance of the




head and face of the mother-substitute. However, it must mean something that the mother has a head because when I removed the head from the ''mother" the red-tailed monkey became uncertain as if it did not know where to go for milk although the teat was clearly visible. Also the fact that Fredrik, less than three weeks old, clearly distinguished between my daughter's and my face seems to indicate that more experiments are required. I do not know if HARLOW varied the shape, colour and immediate surroun-

dings of the eyes of his mothers. I did nothing of that kind. It does seem therefore as if more research must be carried out before the final word on this point can be given.

HARLOW and collaborators maintain that what matters to the young monkey is the texture of the mother, that she is easy to cling to and soft. Nursing plays at most a minor role. HARLOW, however, agrees that the mouth of the

young monkey is very sensitive to touch and that the monkey will try to get its mouth in contact with something soft. What HARLOW seems to overlook is the dual function of the teat as a source of food and as a comforter. The child is not primarily bound to its mother because she is a source of food but because she gives comfort. To Fredrik the milk bottle was the source of

food, but I gave the comfort, and my ear-lobe was the most comforting part of me. Hence the sucking of my ear when he was tired or in distress. The extreme sensitivity of the mouth was clearly demonstrated when the red-tail

began to test the teats which looked the same but felt slightly different before it settled down to drink from the softest one, not necessarily the one which

gave the best flow of milk.

Unfortunately it was not possible to get hold of any teats which in texture

compared with that of the soft teat of a monkey, but before any further

opinion is expressed on the importance of the teat as compared with the

importance of the character of the mother's body more experiments are

required. SUMMARY

i. A young patas monkey was reared by the author from extreme youth (two weeks old at the most). A great deal of attention was given to its upbringing and great efforts were made to emulate the care which, one judged, it would have received from its mother.

2. HARLOW'S stages of reflex, clinging for security, and final detachment through exploration were clearly recognised although the reflex stage seemed less pronounced than in the rhesus monkeys.

3. The importance of clinging to a soft object was confirmed. 4. The mouth region, lower face, chin, ventral neck and chest seem to be the

most important contact points, besides the palms of the hands and feet. 5. Contrary to HARLOW'S experiments the observations seem to show that sucking

something soft is of the greatest importance to the animal's comfort and feeling of security.



328 N. BOLWIG

6. Observations were made on the animal's diet and on what it put into its mouth, thereby gradually learning what was eatable.

7. Many observations were made on the monkey's play, its relationship to other animals and its interest in dolls, films and pictures.

8. Various emotional expressions are described. Laughter is traced back to the play- bite and the kiss to the sucking and playing with the mother's teat similar to the origin of the human kiss.

9. Methods of training are discussed taking the animal's particular social and possessive behaviour into consideration. The conclusion is that punishment usually has an effect opposite to that desired.

Io. A comparison was made with a small red-tailed monkey brought up with a HARLOW'S mother-substitute. It is suggested that various differences in the behaviour of the two neo-natal monkeys is connected with differences in social behaviour such as troop organisation.

ii. It is suggested that when the mother-child relationship of humans is compared with that of other primates more consideration should be taken of the "nesting" behaviour of humans.

REFERENCES

BEACH, F. A. & J. JAYNES (1954). Effects of early experience upon behaviour of animals.- Psychological Bull. 51, p. 239-63.

BLAU, T. H. & L. R. BLAU (I955). The sucking reflex: The effects of long feeding vs short feeding on the behaviour of a human infant. - Journ. Abnormal Social Psy chology 51, p. 123-125.

BOLwIG, N. (I959). A study of the behaviour of the chacma baboon, Papio ursinus. - Behaviour, 14, p. I36-I63.

BOWLBY, J. (I95I). Maternal care and mental health. - World Health Organisation. BUXTON, A. P. (I952). Observations on the diurnal behaviour of the redtail monkey

(Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti) in a small forest in Uganda. - Journ. Animal Ecol., 21, p. 25-58.

COGHILL, G. E. (I929). Anatomy and the problem of behaviour. - N. Y. Macmillan. (1936). Integration and motivation of behaviour as problems of growth. - Journ.

Genetic Psychology 48, p. 3-I9. DAVIS, C. M. (1928). Self-selection of diet by newly weaned infants. - Amer. Journ.

of Diseases of children 36. (93I). Self-selection of diets: An experiment with infants. - The Trained Nurse

and Hospital Review 86, p. 629-634. (I933). A practical application of some lessons of the self-selection of diet study

to the feeding of children in hospitals. - Amer. Journ. of Diseases of Children 46, P. 743-750.

FELCE, W. (I948). Apes. - London. FREUDENBERG, E. (192I). Der morosche Umklammerungsreflex und das brudzinkische

Nackenzeichen als Reflexe des Sauglingsalters. - Miinchen Med. Wchenschr. 68, p. I646-47.

GESELL, A. & F. L. ILG, (I937). Feeding behaviour of infants. - Philadelphia, Lippin- cott.

HADDOW, A. J. (1952). Field and laboratory studies on an African monkey, Cercopithe- cus ascanius. schmidti Matschie. - Proc. Zool. Soc. London 122, p. 297-394.

HALVERSON, H. M. (1931). An experimental study of prehension in infants by means of systematic records. - Genetic Psychology Monographs io, p. 107-86.

HARLOW, H. F. (1958). The nature of love. - Amer. Psychologist 13, p. 673-685. (I959). Basic social capacity of primates. - Human Biology 31, p. 40-53.




- (959). Love in infant monkeys. - Scientific American 200, p. 68-74. -- (960). Primary affectional patterns in primates. - Amer. Journ. Orthopsychiatry

30, p. 676-84. Nature and development of the affectional systems. - (In manuscript).

- Development of the second affectional systems in macaque monkeys. - (In manuscript).

& R. R. ZIMMERMANN (I959). Affectional responses in the infant monkey. - Science I30, p. 421-432.

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134, P. 647-657. NEWTON, N. R. (I95I). The relationship between infant feeding and later behaviour.

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(I945). Further records of the self-demand schedule in infant feeding. - Journ. of Pediatrics 27, pp. I09-I4.

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ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

i) Verf. zog einen h6chstens zwei Wochen alten Patas-Affen auf, wobei er nach Kraften bemiiht war, ihm die Mutter voll zu ersetzen.

2) Wie HARLOWS Rhesus-Affen klammerte sich der Patas-Affe anfangs aus Sicher- heitsgriinden an den Pfleger, wenn auch nicht so stark; dann loste er sich von ihm um des Erkundens willen.

3) Auch weiche Gegenstande umklammerte er. 4) Die wichtigsten Kontaktpunkte schienen seine Hand- und Fussflachen, die Mund-

gegend, die untere Gesichtshalfte, Kinn, Kehle und Brust zu sein. 5) Im Gegensatz zu HARLOWS Befunden weisen die Beobachtungen darauf hin, dass

das Saugen an etwas Weichem fur das Wohlbefinden und das Gefiihl der Sicherheit des Tieres von gr6sster Bedeutung ist.

6) Es wurde beobachtet, was das Tier ass und was es alles in den Mund steckte, bis es allmihlich Essbares von Nichtgeniessbarem unterschied.

7) Es wurden viele Beobachtungen iiber das Spiel des Affen und seine Aufmerksamkeit fur Puppen, Tiere und Bilder, sowie iiber seine Beziehungen zu anderen Tieren angestellt.

8) Es werden mehrere Ausdrucksbewegungen beschrieben. Das Lachen wird auf spie-



330 BOLWIG, BRINGING UP A YOUNG MONKEY

lerisches Beissen, der Kuss auf das Saugen und Spielen mit der Brustwarze der Mutter zuriickgefuhrt, ihnlich wie unser Kuss.

9) Bei der Besprechung der Dressurmethoden wird das soziale Verhalten und das Streben nach Besitz besonders beriicksichtigt. Strafen wirken sich gew6hnlich nur nach- teilig aus.

IO) Wie der Vergleich mit einem kleinen rotschwinzigen Affen lehrt, der mit HARLOW'S Mutterattrappe aufgezogen worden war, diirften einige Unterschiede im Ver- halten der beiden Affen zum Teil auf Unterschiede ihres sozialen Verhaltens, ins- besonders der die Gruppenorganisation zuriickzufiihren sein.

ii) Man sollte beim Vergleich der Mutter-Kind-Beziehung beim Menschen und den anderen Primaten das ,,Nest-"verhalten starker beriicksichtigen.



Bringing up a Young Monkey (Erythrocebus patas)

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