ON THE HABITS OF ANTS. 49 



again and thrown away like the rest. Under such circumstances, 

 then, it seems that ants make no difference between friends and 

 strangers. 



It may, however, be said in this experiment that, as ants do not 

 recover from chloroform, and these ants were therefore to all intents 

 and purposes dead, we should not expect that much difference would 

 be made between friends and strangers. I therefore tried the same 

 experiment, only, instead of chloroforming the ants, I made them in- 

 toxicated. This was a rather more difficult experiment. No ant would 

 voluntarily degrade herself by getting drunk, and it was not easy in 

 all cases to hit off the requisite degree of this compulsory intoxication. 

 In all cases they were made quite drunk, so that they lay helplessly 

 on their backs. The sober ants seemed much puzzled at finding their 

 friends in this helpless and discreditable condition. They took them 

 up and carried them about for a while in a sort of aimless way, as if 

 they did not know what to do with their drunkards, any more than 

 we do. Ultimately, however, the results were as follows : The ants 

 removed twenty-five fi-iends and tliirty strangers. Of the friends, 

 twenty were carried into the nest, where no doubt they slept ofi" the 

 effect of the spirit at least, we saw no more of them and five were 

 thrown into the water. Of the strangers, on the contrary, twenty- 

 four were thrown into the water; only six were taken into the nest, 

 and four of these were shortly afterward brought out again and thrown 

 away. 



The difference in the treatment of friends and strangers was, there- 

 fore, most marked. 



Dead ants, I may add, are always brought out of the nest, and I 

 have more than once found a little heap on one spot, giving it almost 

 the appearance of a burial-ground. 



I have also made some experiments on the power possessed by 

 ants of remembering their friends. It will be recollected that Huber 

 gives a most interesting account of the behavior of some ants, which, 

 after being sepai-ated for four months, when brought together again, 

 immediately recognized one another, and "fell to mutual caresses 

 with their antenme." Forel, however, regards these movements as 

 having indicated fear and surprise rather than affection, though he 

 also is quite inclined to believe, from his own observation, that ants 

 would recognize one another after a separation of some months. The 

 observation recorded by Huber was made casually ; and neither he 

 nor any one else seems to have taken any steps to test it by subsequent 

 experiments. The fact is one, however, of so much interest, that it 

 seemed to me desirable to make further experiments on the subject. 

 On the 4th of August, 1875, therefore, I separated one of my nests of 

 F. fusca into two halves, which I kept entirely apart. 



I then from time to time put an ant from one of these nests into 

 the othei', introducing also a stranger at the same time. The stranger 



VOL. XI, 4 



