HOW ANTS CARRY ON WAR 



parts, but were broken, curved, useless, like paralyzed 

 limbs, the joint effect of its enemies' mandibles and acid 

 batteries. Its antenme were both paralyzed, bent up, 

 and motionless. It was thus bereft of all sense of direc- 

 tion, and all power of communication and progressive 

 motion. It lifted up its head again and again in vain 

 efforts to rise. It shook its stumps of legs, rolled upon 

 its side, rested a moment, and then with ruling passion 

 of emmet tidiness, strong even in death, struggled to 

 support itself upon its abdomen, and tried to cleanse 

 (perhaps to heal) with its tongue a fore leg. 



Its adversary had not a whole leg left, its most per- 

 fect one being a middle leg that had lost the foot. All 

 the others were torn off to the thigh, or the tibia, or close 

 to the body, and one antenna was gone. There the 

 two foes floundered close together, dismembered and 

 dying, left to their fate by the comrades who had 

 mutually helped in the achievement of this great victory. 

 Like examples were scattered over the field, from which 

 the rage of conflict had died away, except as it lingered 

 here and there in duels or small groups of combatants 

 doggedly fighting out their controversy to the death. 



From time to time various groups had been removed 

 from the mass, and placed in artificial nests prepared 

 with a view to special experiments. Among these was 

 a pair whose fate I wished to follow separately. One 

 ant, that seemed to be quite sound, was interlocked with 

 an antagonist much damaged, having lost several legs 

 and an antenna. But it had tightly gripped in its jaws 

 a leg of its adversary, who snapped at its antagonist's 

 neck and face, and squirmed and doubled, and strove, 

 with many contortions but in vain, to disable its oppo- 

 nent and get free. 



is 215 



