G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 289 



almost equally clear that this is not in most cases their only 

 function. Some entomologists regard them as auditory, some 

 as olfactory organs. There is, however, a third alternative, 

 which I would venture to suggest, namely, that in those in- 

 sects in which the sense of hearing is highly developed they 

 may serve as ears, while in those which have a very delicate 

 8ense of smell they may act as olfactory organs. This view 

 is not in itself so improbable as might at first sight appear. 

 It is evident that, in the Articulata, organs of sense are de- 

 veloped in various parts of the body. Whether the curious 

 organ discovered by Miiller in the metathorax of certain Or- 

 thoptera be an ear or not, it must surely be an organ of some 

 sense. Hicks and others have described structures in the 

 halteres and wings of insects which have all the appearance 

 of being organs of sense; while among the Crustacea we find 

 the remarkable case of 3Iysis^ which even has an organ of 

 sense in its tail. It is not, then, so improbable as might at 

 first sight appear that the antennae should in some species 

 act as ears and in others serve for the perception of odors. 

 The position, moreover, which they occupy renders them a 

 most advantageous situation for an organ of sense. This 

 suggestion would also explain various experiments and ob- 

 servations recorded by skillful entomologists, and which it is 

 otherwise difficult to reconcile with one another. 



Many eminent observers have regarded the antenna as 

 auditory organs, and have brought forward strong evidence 

 in favor of their view. Lespes, for instance, found that a fe- 

 male Lociista vifidissima, which was very sensitive to sound, 

 lost apparently all power of hearing when the antennae were 

 removed. She lived a fortnisrht lonc^er and continued to eat. 

 JVI. Lespes observed no other result except the loss of hearing. 



So far as I am aware, no proof has yet been adduced that 

 ants possess the power of hearing. In order, if possible, to 

 throw some light upon this interesting question, I made a 

 variety of loud noises, including those produced by a com- 

 plete set of tuning-forks, as near as possible to the ants men- 

 tioned in the preceding pages, while they were on their jour- 

 neys to and fro between the nests and the larvae. In these 

 cases the ants were moving at a steady pace and in a most 

 business-like manner, and any start or alteration of pace 

 would have been at once apparent. I was never able, how- 



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