The experiment was rendered still more crucial on May 5 by the placing of the two poles upright in opposite corners of the large cage.  For a few minutes after he entered the cage, Julius did not see them, and his time was spent pulling and gnawing at the box.  Then he discovered one of the poles, seized it, and pushed it into the box.  He tried four times, then went and got the other pole and pushed it into the opposite end of the box.  Twice he did this, then he returned to the original pole, bringing the second one with him.  He pushed it in beside the first, and as it happened, shoved the banana out of the opposite end of the box.  But he did not see this, and only after several seconds when he happened to walk to that end of the box did he discover the banana.  The total time until success was fifteen minutes.

Subsequently the ape became very expert in using the pole to obtain the banana, and often only a minute or two sufficed for success.  It was not possible for him to direct the stick very accurately, for when he was in such a position that he could look through the box, he could not work the stick itself.  It was, therefore, always a matter of chance whether he obtained the banana immediately or only after a number of trials.

Although it is possible that the use of the poles in this experiment was due to observation of human activities, it seems probable in the light of what we know of the natural behavior of the anthropoid apes that Julius would have solved this problem independently of human influence.  It was the expectation of the experimenter that the pole would be used to push the banana through the box, but as a matter of fact the ape used it, first of all, to pull the food toward him, thus indicating a natural tendency which is important in connection with the statements just made.  Subsequently he learned that the banana must be pushed through and obtained at the farther end of the box.  I am not prepared to accept the solution of this problem as satisfactory evidence of ideation, but I do know that few observers could have watched the behavior of the orang utan without being convinced that he was acting ideationally.

Draw-in Experiment

An interesting contrast with the box and pole test is furnished by what may be called the draw-in experiment.  This was planned as a simple test of Julius’s ability to use a stick to draw things into his cage from beyond the wire side.  A board was placed, as is shown in figure 34 of plate VI, with sides to hold a banana, carrot, or some other bit of food, in position.  In the actual test either a carrot or a banana was placed about two feet from the wire netting and a stick two feet long was then put into the cage with the ape.