“That the monkey possesses intelligence to a considerable degree is probably true,” said a hotel proprietor who has a small menagerie on his premises. “I believe, however much of the intelligence with which the animal is credited is due to his love of mimicry. The other day two young men with two girls were at the monkey’s cage feeding him peanuts. One of the girls was chewing gum and one of the men suggested that she give the monkey some, expecting that if he took it in his mouth it wold stick to his teeth and he would make sorry work of trying to chew it. The girl at once parted with the sweet morsel she was so industriously chewing, extending it toward the cage. The monkey grabbed it instantly, and put it into his mouth, but instead of chewing it or attempting to, began pulling it out in small ribbons, as children are frequently seen to do. When he had it all out of his mouth he rolled it into a compact ball between his hands, threw it into his mouth and began the operation again. He appeared to enjoy the performance as much as his visitors. That was imitation.”
“That’s all right,” rejoined another, “but I had an experience with that same monkey, wherein he displayed intelligence. I was by the cage smoking one day and I thought to annoy him by blowing smoke in his face. I was much surprised to find that instead of being annoyed he enjoyed it, as was evidenced by his edging up as near me as possible to receive the smoke in larger volumes. Soon he began scratching himself at the point where most of the smoke came against him. When I had smoked one side for a few minutes he would turn squarely round to have the other side treated in the same way. Then he sat directly in front of me an received the smoke squarely in the face and neck. I don’t know whether he held his breath, but he did not cough, sneeze or wince a particle. To complete the job, he then sat with his back toward me and it would have done you good to have seen him scratch. It made me think of the kickers of a hay-tedder in motion. Now, that monkey knew through some sort of intelligence that nothing will send flees [sic] and other insects to the surface or stupefy them as effectually as tobacco smoke.” Utica Observer.
The question of whether or not monkeys (and other primates) are intelligent has fascinated people for quite a while now. A Google meander brings up scholarly works, popular books, and even a site that is upset at the “deliberate evolutionist propaganda” of the National Geographic Society (sorry, no linking there).
On my meander from Google through Amazon.com, I came across The Great Ape Project. This organizations goals seem to be the natural extension of the article above. I can imagine the logic flows like this: “If monkeys are intelligent, and they are a lot like us, then why don’t they have the same rights?” This, I think, is the underlying reason for research into primate intelligence. What makes humans human?