It is definitely known that anthropoid apes as well as monkeys can be successfully kept, bred, and reared in the West Indies. During the past year, on the estate of Doha Rosalia Abreu, near Havana, Cuba, a chimpanzee was born in captivity. A valuable account of this important event and of the young ape has been published by Doctor Louis Montané (1915). It therefore seems practically certain that regions could be found readily on Jamaica, Porto Rico, or smaller islands, which would be eminently satisfactory for the breeding of apes.
There are obvious reasons why an American station for the study of the primates should be located on territory controlled by the United States Government, and if a tropical location proves necessary, it would probably be difficult to find more satisfactory regions, aside from the inconveniences and risk of importation and the relative isolation of the investigators, than are available on Porto Rico.
I have not seriously considered the possibility of locating an American station on the continent of Africa, for although two of the most interesting and important of the anthropoid apes, the gorilla and the chimpanzee, are African forms, while many species of monkey are either found there or could readily be imported, it has seemed to me that the islands of the West and East Indies and the portions of the United States referred to above are much to be preferred over anything available in Africa.
In the East, Borneo, the Philippine Islands, and Hawaii are well worth considering. Borneo is the home of the gibbon and of at least one species of orang utan, and in addition to these important assets, it presents the advantages of (a) a wholly suitable climate and food supply for monkeys and apes; and (b) climatic conditions for investigators which, I am informed by scientific friends, are nearly ideal. For investigators the most serious disadvantage here, as in all other parts of the East, would be the isolation from other scientific work and workers.
The possibilities of Central America I considered several years ago when it seemed to me possible that work might profitably be done with monkeys and apes on the Canal Zone. The advantages are (a) a climate which promises fairly well for the animals; and (b) reasonable accessibility from the United States. The disadvantages are (a) a far from ideal climate for long continued scientific work; and (b) an environment which from the cultural and scientific point of view leaves much to be desired.
Were a permanent psycho-biological station for the study of the primates to be established in southern California, it would, even though wholly satisfactory conditions for the breeding, rearing, and studying of the animals were maintained, furnish more or less inadequate opportunity for the observation of the animals under free, natural conditions. It would therefore be necessary, to supplement the work of such a station by field work in Borneo, Sumatra, Africa, India, South America, and such other regions as the species of organism under consideration happen to inhabit.
Considering equally the needs of the experimenter and the demands of the animals, it seems to me reasonable to conclude that southern California should be definitely proved unsuitable before a more distant site were selected. For the information which I have been able to accumulate convinces me that it would in all probability be possible successfully to breed and keep the primates there, and it is perfectly clear that in such event the output of a station would be enormously greater because of the more favorable conditions for research than in any tropical region or in a more isolated location.
Assuming that satisfactory provision in the shape of a scientific establishment for the study of the primates in their relations to man were available, the following program might be followed: (1) Systematic and continuous studies of important forms of individual behavior, of social relations, and of mind; (2) experimental studies of physiological processes, normal and pathological, and especially of the diseases of the lower primates, in their relations to those of man; (3) studies of heredity, embryology, and life history; (4) research in comparative anatomy, including gross anatomy, histology, neurology, and pathological anatomy.
Each of these several kinds of research should be in progress almost continuously in order that no materials or opportunities for observation be needlessly wasted. Because of the nature of the work, it would be necessary to provide, first of all, for those functional studies which demand healthy and normally active organisms, whose life history is intimately and completely known. This is true of all studies in behavior, whether physiological, psychological, or sociological. Simultaneously with behavioristic observations and often upon the same individuals, genetic experiments might be conducted. This would be extremely desirable because of the relatively long periods between generations. After the usefulness of an animal in behavioristic or genetic inquiries had been exhausted, it might be made to render still further service to science in various experimental physiological, or medical inquiries. And finally, the same individual might ultimately be used for various forms of anatomical research. Thus, it is clear that the scientific usefulness of a lemur, a monkey, or an ape might be maintained at a high level throughout and even beyond the period of its life history.
The program thus briefly sketched would provide either directly or indirectly for work on every aspect of primate life. Especially important would be the intimacy of interest and cooperation among investigators, for the comparative method should be applied consistently and to the limit of its value. The results of various kinds of observation should be correlated so that there should ultimately emerge a unitary and practically valuable account of primate life, to replace the patchwork of information which we now possess.