Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1892 — Talking with Marmosets. [ARTICLE]

Talking with Marmosets.

While the American gentleman is busily engaged in his researches into monkey speech, 4 a lady correspondent of the Spectator at Oxford has written to point out that the “nimble marmoset” has already been the object of similar investigations, and, as it would seem, with remarkable success. Nearly a hundred years ago a book-seller residing on the Quai Voltaire in Paris, at the sign of the Tower of Babel, published a little book in which the writer made an endeavor to reduce the chatter of this tiny creature to articulate translatable language. More than this, the Spectator correspondent keeps marmosets, and is able from her own observations to confirm the Tower of Babel man’s discoveries. Thus the peculiar whistle, or ouistiti, from which this little creature has its French name, is described as a long, sharp, piercing sound, repeated two or three times, signifying the want of something or some one, and it happened that this lady had a very young one that always cried, “Ouistiti, ouistiti,” to the older one for help, if it thought itself in danger. “Ghriii," a long-drawn high tone, is translated in the book into “come,” and all those that the Spectator’s correspondent has possessed have thus called her to come to them. “Guenakiki” expresses (says the book) terrible fear; “Trouakiki,” violent, despairing grief; “Trouagno,” intense pain, “save me,” and a marmoset who had broken his leg thus warned the lady of the fact. “Krrrreoeoeo,” often repeated (continues our contemporary’s correspondent), means very happy indeed; “Keh,” a little better; “Korrie,” annoyed, disturbed; “Ocoeo,” deep terror; “Anic,” feebly apd melodiously uttered, means help, protect. “Quih,” “I want something very much;” “Quouece,” despair of escaping some danger. The latter cry, we are assured, she has often beard all her marmosets make at the sight of anything strange to them or which reminded them of some known danger. Altogether it must be confessed that we have a very fair commencement of a dictionary of the Marmosettian tongue.—London News.