Donald Kellogg was merely 10 months old when his parents commenced a trial involving him and Gua, the chimpanzee, to ascertain if the animal could develop more human traits. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Comments
Luella and Winthrop Niles Kellogg were convinced they could utilise their own offspring in a disturbing study with a chimpanzee.
Infant Donald Kellogg was a tender 10 months old when he turned into one of the participants in the dreadful and ill-fated investigation.
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The little one was often in floods of tears as he was subjected to awful procedures carried out by his parents, Luella and Winthrop Niles.
The scientist pair thought that if they nurtured the chimpanzee together with their own child, the creature would evolve into something more like a human – a prospect that resulted in ruinous outcomes.
The Kelloggs welcomed Gua the chimp into their residence on June 26, 1931, as documented by the Mirror US.
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The shocking experiment had to be brought to a halt nine months later when it became clear that Donald was “becoming more ape-like than human”.
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His parents noticed Donald was biting, crawling, and making grunting sounds akin to a chimp.
Donald was required to sleep in a bed similar to the chimp’s, and the “brother and sister” were addressed in a similar fashion.
Firearms were discharged in one part of the trial to observe if Donald or Gua would exhibit a quicker reaction.
Both the child and chimp were struck on their heads with cutlery to evaluate how distinct their skull sounds were.
The investigations were ongoing, and even though they were shortened, Winthrop was still able to publish a book – The Ape and the Child: A study of environmental influence upon early behaviour.
The Kellogg spouses were heartened by Gua’s development, particularly physically, but realized she found it hard to keep pace with Donald intellectually after he started to construct sentences. The Psychological Review, while discussing the results of the trial, remarked: “We are advised that the study reached its end on March 28, 1932, when Gua was returned to the Orange Park primate colony through a phased rehabilitation process.
“However, as for the reason why, the Kelloggs, who are exceptionally specific regarding numerous other aspects, leave the reader in contemplation.”
They reflected on the unexpected termination of the tests, and added: “Firstly, the routine that the Kelloggs upheld for the nine-month duration was so demanding that they might have ceased due to exhaustion.
“Secondly, they might have desired to use the remaining time on leave from Indiana to formulate the book draft for publishing. Thirdly, Gua was maturing, acquiring strength and, as stated by Kellogg, turning out to be less predictable and harder to handle.
“It is plausible the Kelloggs were worried that Gua could unintentionally injure Donald.”
It is reported that mother Luella grew apprehensive that her son was evolving into more of a chimp than a human, which brought about the termination of the trials. Nevertheless, existence carried on fairly normally for a period, with Winthrop earning a living by researching bottle-nose dolphins at Florida State University.
He passed away in the same summer as his wife in 1972, and sadly, their son died just one year later at 43 years of age, supposedly due to suicide. As for Gua, she was sent away following the experiment, but unfortunately, she succumbed to pneumonia at three years old, merely one year later.