HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



201 



Among them we may name Max Miiller, Cox, 

 Baring-Gould, Tylor, Kelly, and others. Mr. Hard- 

 wick's book is a contribution to the same general 

 subject, based chiefly on the folk-lore of Lan- 

 cashire and the northern counties. It displays an 

 intimate knowledge of the author's topic, and a 

 loving acquaintance with English literature. JNIore- 

 over, it is pleasantly and charmingly written, in most 

 excellent English, and there pervades in every page 

 an earnestness which shows what importance he 

 attaches to it. ^YG have read it through carefully 

 and profitably, and cordially hope all its readers 

 will enjoy the same pleasure as ourselves. 



Du Brcuil's work on the " Scientific Culture of 

 Emit Trees" is already well and favourably known, 

 and every horticulturist will be glad to see it 

 translated into English. It has also had the ad- 

 vantage, whilst being prepared for us in our native 

 tongue, of being superintended by two able and 

 practical gardeners. This second edition has been 

 revised, and is prefaced by a short introduction by 

 George Glenny. The illustrations are numerous, 

 and such as will be of advantage to amateur gar- 

 deners, and the whole book is got up iu a tasteful 

 style. 



The work of M.Eiguicr has been before the world 

 some lime, and the opinion of naturalists upon it is 

 generally known. This edition is smaller and more 

 portable than the former, and like it is embellished 

 with a large number of ably-executed woodcuts. 

 As it has come out under the revision and correc- 

 tion of Professor Duncan, it is shorn of a good 

 many of tlic startling incidents and attempts at 

 the marvellous which characterize Eiguicr's books. 

 Embracing the general history of insects all over 

 ihc world, many portions of tlicir description are 

 necessarily very meagre. 



THE INSTINCTS OE ANTS. 



EVEN a mere casual observer must sometimes 

 be struck with the apparent fact that these 

 little insects have the faculty of communicating 

 with each other, and conveying special information 

 concerning their own welfare or requirements, and 

 also the sense of reasoning to a very surprising 

 degree, which enables them to meet certain diffi- 

 culties as they occur. 



If some moistened sugar be placed near the nest 

 of the small black garden ant, a solitary straggler 

 will soon accidentally discover it; he imbibes his 

 own load, and finds his way to the nest with infor- 

 mation : speedily a number of others emergf^, make 

 straight for the sugar, and continue to pass to and 

 fro in the most sedate and business-like manner till 

 the whole of the provender is conveyed to the nest. 

 Their behaviour is very different in the case of live 

 prey. If a small caterpillar is placed in their way, 



one or two will at once attack it ; but if they find 

 they are not strong enough to master it, one will 

 sometimes run away into the nest and give the 

 alarm. Numbers of them then come rushing out to 

 the rescue in great anger and excitement, which 

 subsides the moment their prey is slaughtered 

 of which the majority take no further heed, but 

 leave only one or two to drag the carcass home- 

 wards. I once emptied out a sac of spider's eggs 

 (taken from a neighbouring rose-bush) near to an 

 ants' nest. These were speedily discovered, but 

 were evidently a kind of provision that they had 

 never been accustomed to, for many, in endeavouring 

 to carry them away, grasped them so hard as to 

 break the shell, and they had to stop to devour the 

 contents then and there. This accident frequently 

 happened at first, but they speedily learned to 

 handle them carefully and carry them without 

 breaking them ; and many times afterwards I fed 

 this colony with spider's eggs, which were removed 

 without a single case of breakage, as they perfectly 

 well remembered the nature of the provision that 

 they had to deal with. 



But the staple food of this species of ant is 

 " honeydew," which is a secretion forcibly ejected 

 from the two tubes on the backs of numerous 

 species of aphides. The ants lick this off the sur- 

 face of the leaves where it has been cast, but they 

 mostly prefer obtaining it direct from the aphides 

 themselves, which they cherish and protect with 

 the most zealous care, evidently considering them 

 as their flocks and herds. This is a well-known 

 fact. But on one occasion I happened to observe, 

 under the curled-up leaves at the top of the twig of 

 a currant-bush, an immense number of aphides as 

 usual under their charge, and guarded by a dozen 

 or so of ants. Two common "ladybirds " were also 

 there, devouring the aphides iu spite of the efforts 

 of the ants to prevent it, who displayed the greatest 

 anger by springing on the backs of the robbers and 

 trying to get hold of their legs on either side. At 

 every attempt the ladybirds coolly tilted their 

 impenetrable eli/ira from side to side, so as to leave 

 no room beneath for the assault, and, with antennae 

 drawn in, continued their meal with perfect im- 

 punity. While watching this amusing scene, a 

 prowling earwig made its way up the stalk (earwigs 

 are great destroyers of aphides). It thrust half its 

 body under the leaves, and after eating one or two 

 was speedily discovered, but proved no match for 

 the ants, who, attacking its legs and antennae, soon 

 compelled it to beat an inglorious retreat, hotly 

 pursued by several of the ants. During the night 

 there came a heavy shower of rain, and a day or so 

 afterwards I stepped out of the path to see how the 

 ants and their charge were progressing. Much to 

 my surprise, I found that they had carried up par- 

 ticles of wet loam, and plastered and built up every 

 external opening between the leaves in a most 



