HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



II 



ants from the box to a larvae-breeding cage, where- 

 by I could gain a better insight to their movements. 

 This difficulty I surmounted by placing the box con- 

 taining the ants on a stand situated in the centre of a 

 tin full of water, and then transferring its contents 

 to the larvre-cage by means of a spoon. Of course, 

 any of the ants chancing to drop from the spoon fell 

 into the water and were easily captured. 



As a natural sequence of the rude behaviour to 

 which they bad been subjected, the nest and its 

 occupants were in a state of considerable confusion, 

 and it was difficult to believe that such apparently 

 puny creatures could create cosmos out of the state 

 of chaos presented to my view. 



The natural instinct of the insect, soon, however, 

 asserted itself, and a few minutes after the time of 

 their transfer the ants v/ere all busily engaged in 

 dragging about the pieces of twigs and leaves of 

 which their nest is principally composed. 



It was some time before they pitched upon the 

 exact situation for their new abode, and, so far as I 

 could judge, they seemed to over-estimate the quantity 

 of their materials, for many of them crept up the sides 

 of the cage and attached pieces of twig, far above the 

 kvel to which the top of their nest could attain. 

 These pieces they seemed to fix to the side by means 

 of a gummy secretion, and they never afterwards 

 attempted to remove them. 



The nest soon began to assume its natural form as 

 the busy builders applied their combined strength to 

 the task, and everything in the shape of food dropped 

 into the cage speedily disappeared into the cavity which 

 formed the entrance to the chambers of the nest. 



On one occasion I dropped into the cage a piece of 

 bread of such large dimensions that, after repeated 

 effiDrts, the ants found it was impossible to remove 

 it, and I felt certain that they would have to give 

 up their efforts, and was just about to remove it 

 from the cage when I was called away. I did not 

 see the nest again till next day, and when I did so, I 

 found that they had entirely covered up the bread 

 with material from the nest. In order to do this they 

 must certainly have worked pretty nearly all the 

 night, as the time when I had last seen them, and 

 when the bread was at no part covered, was nine 

 o'clock at night and was then almost dark. I saw 

 thevn again immediately after rising, and then the 

 bread was entirely covered. Now to show the 

 prodigiousness of their work, I took the following 

 proportions : — 



Length of the wood-ant (Z'. ntfa) three-eighths of an 

 inch, measurement of bread was three inches by two 

 inches, whilst the average length of the twigs used in 

 covering i^ inches, and some even as long again. 



Many of the twigs would be conveyed to their 

 position by more than one ant, but this would be 

 seldom, and even in most cases where this was done 

 it would not tend to lessen the labour, for I have often 

 noticed, that if at any time the wood ant showed any 



lack of reasoning power it was when two or more of 

 them were endeavouring to drag the same object to 

 their nest, as almost invariably in those cases, they 

 each endeavoured to pull in opposite directions, and 

 thus all progress was retarded. 



Artificial light seemed to have attractions for them, 

 much in the same way as it has attractions for night- 

 flying moths, and whenever I approached them with 

 a lighted candle or taper, or indeed whenever the gas 

 was lighted far above them, they would gather in 

 great numbers on the glass window of the cage, and 

 remain there until the light was put out. 



I have noticed too that their sense of hearing was 

 very acute, and on the occasion of any uncommon 

 noise in my room, they would, to an ant, rise on their 

 two hind legs in a menacing attitude, as though 

 awaiting the approach of an enemy. 



I was not, unfortunately, permitted to keep my ants 

 for any great length of time, for soon after getting 

 them I was obliged to have my holidays out of town, 

 and when I returned my ants were gone, and how 

 much I mourned their loss no one can tell. I have 

 not to this day learned their true fate, though I have 

 long suspected that some of my nervously constituted 

 friends were the cause of their disappearance, as I 

 had heard one or two of them express their fears, in 

 an aside, that in case of their escape from the cage, 

 the ants would prove decidedly unpleasant neighbours. 



I did not intend to allow this comparative failure to 

 deter me from further observation in the direction of 

 Heterogyna, and accordingly the following summer 

 when staying in Morpeth I bent my steps in the 

 direction of the Bothal Woods, where I knew I should 

 find F. ricfa in abundance. 



The walk leading through these woods will class 

 with any for beauty of scenery, a freshly delightful 

 picture being disclosed to view every few yards of the 

 journey ; pictures of nature which hold spell-bound 

 even the veterans of the paint-brush and palette. On 

 the occasion of my visit in search of F. rufa, as I was 

 wandering along by the side of the river, my curiosity 

 was aroused by seeing an unusual commotion in the 

 water, and on creeping nearer to ascertain what it was, 

 I was delighted to see that an otter was fishing in the 

 waters, and that its frequent dives after fish had 

 caused the commotion which had placed my inquisi- 

 tive senses on the qui vive. 



I stood silent for a few moments, and presently its 

 head appeared above water; the head disappeared, 

 and, immediately following, part of its back came to 

 view, that too, disappeared beneath the water, and I 

 knew that it had gone in search of some luckless trout. 

 I was right ; in a few moments it was back to the 

 surface again grasping a large trout in its jaws. It 

 swam swiftly to shore and proceeded to devour its 

 captive, and I left it to enj,oy its rich feast in peace. 



Ihis, however is a digression for which I must 

 apologise, and having done so I hasten back to my 

 gossip about my favourite Formica. 



