tainly be in the highest degree improbable, it could not be said to be impossible. In the present case, however, the old ants had absolutely never seen the young ones until the moment when, some days after arriving at maturity, they were introduced into the nest; and yet in twenty-one cases they were undoubtedly recognised as belonging to the community.

It seems to me, therefore, to be established by these experiments that the recognition of ants is not personal or individual; that their harmony is not due to the fact that each ant is individually acquainted with every other member of the community.

At the same time, the fact that they recognise their friends even when intoxicated, and that they know the young born in their own nest even when they have been brought out of the chrysalis by strangers, seems to indicate that the recognition is not effected by means of any sign or password.

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1 6

CHAPTER VII.

POWER OF COMMUNICATION.

THE Social Hymenoptera, according to Messrs. Kirby and Spence, have the means of communicating to each other information of various occurrences, and use a kind of language which is mutually understood, and is not confined merely to giving intelligence of the approach or absence of danger; it is also co-extensive with all their other occasions for communicating their ideas to each other.'

Huber assures us as regards Ants 2 that he has 'frequently seen the antennæ used on the field of battle to intimate approaching danger, and to ascertain their own party when mingled with the enemy; they are also employed in the interior of the ant-hill to apprise their companions of the presence of the sun, so favourable to the development of the larvæ, in their excursions and emigrating to indicate their route, in their recruitings to determine the time of departure," &c. Elsewhere also he says 3that should an Ant fall in with any of her associates from the nest they put her in the right way by the contact of their antennæ.’ 2 Loc. cit. p. 206.

1 Introduction to Entomology, ii. p. 50. Loc. cit. p. 157.

These statements are most interesting; and it is much to be regretted that he has not given us in detail the evidence on which they rest. In another passage, indeed, he himself says, "If they have a language, I cannot give too many proofs of it.' Unfortunately, however, the chapter which he devotes to this important subject is very short, and occupied with general statements rather than with the accounts of the particular experiments and observations on which those statements rest. Nor is there any serious attempt to ascertain the nature, character, and capabilities of this antennal language. Even if by motions of these organs Ants and Bees can caress, can express love, fear, anger, &c., it does not follow that they can narrate facts or describe localities.

The facts recorded by Kirby and Spence are not more explicit. It is therefore disappointing to read in the chapter especially devoted to this subject, that, as regards the power possessed by Ants and Bees to communicate and receive information, it is only necessary to refer you to the endless facts in proof, furnished by almost every page of my letters on the history of Ants and of the Hive Bee. I shall therefore but detain you for a moment with an additional anecdote or two, especially with one respecting the former tribe, which is valuable from the celebrity of the narrator.'

The first of these anecdotes refers to a Beetle (Ateuchus pilularius) which, having made for the

1 Loc. cit. p. 205.

reception of its eggs a pellet of dung too heavy for it to move, 'repaired to an adjoining heap and soon returned with three of his companions. All four now applied their united strength to the pellet, and at length succeeded in pushing it out, which being done, the three assistant Beetles left the spot and returned to their own quarters.' This observation rests on the authority of an anonymous German artist; and though we are assured that he was a 'man of strict veracity,' I am not aware that any similar fact has been recorded by any other observer. I am by no means satisfied that his explanation of what took place is correct. M. Fabre,' in his interesting observations, places the facts in a very different light.

The second case is related by Kalm, on the authority of Dr. Franklin, but again does not seem to me to justify the conclusions drawn from it by Messrs. Kirby and Spence. Dr. Franklin having found a number of ants in a jar of treacle, shook them out and suspended the jar' by a string from the ceiling. By chance one ant remained, which, after eating its fill, with some difficulty found its way up the string, and, thence reaching the ceiling, escaped by the wall to its nest. In less than half an hour a great company of ants sallied out of their hole, climbing the ceiling, crept along the string into the pot and began to eat again; this they continued until the treacle was all consumed, one swarm running up the string while another passed

1 Souvenirs Entomologiques.

down. It seems indisputable that the one ant had in this instance conveyed news of the booty to his comrades, who would not otherwise have at once directed their steps in a body to the only accessible route.'1

Elsewhere, Messrs. Kirby and Spence say: 2-If you scatter the ruins of an ants' nest in your apartment, you will be furnished with another proof of their language. The ants will take a thousand different paths, each going by itself, to increase the chance of discovery; they will meet and cross each other in all directions, and perhaps will wander long before they can find a spot convenient for their reunion. No sooner does any one discover a little chink in the floor through which it can pass below than it returns to its companions, and, by means of certain motions of its antennæ, makes some of them comprehend what route they are to pursue to find it, sometimes even accompanying them to the spot; these, in their turn, become the guides of others, till all know which way to direct their steps.'

Here, however, Messrs. Kirby and Spence do not sufficiently distinguish between the cases in which the ants were guided, from those in which they were directed to the place of safety. It is obvious, however, that the power of communication implied in the latter case is much greater than in the former.

A short but very interesting paper by Dujardin on this subject is contained in the 'Annales des Sciences' for 1852. He satisfied himself that some bees which

1 Loc. cit. p. 422.

2 Introd. to Entomology, vol. ii p. 6.