2o 4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



culty is that, like all finite intelligences, ants are not equally Avise on 

 all occasions. Sometimes they hit upon the best expedient for evad- 

 ing or overcoming an obstacle, but sometimes, under circumstances 

 not more complicated, they fail. This is doubtless the case with man 

 himself. If contemplated by some being endowed with higher rea- 

 soning powers, would he not be pronounced a most curiously incon- 

 sistent mixture of sagacity and stupidity, now solving problems of 

 no small difficulty, and now standing helpless in presence of others 

 even more simple ? That such is in reality the case with man is 

 proved by the history of discoveries, and of their reception. Do we 

 not always say when we hear of any great step, whether in scientific 

 theory or in the practical arts, "How simple, how natural!" Yet, 

 simple and natural as it is, all sorts and conditions of men lived for 

 centuries without opening their eyes to it. To those who, on the 

 score of incidental blunders and stupidities, deny the rationality of' 

 animals, we would hold up the ever-memorable "egg" of Columbus,- 

 and exclaim," What, gentlemen, do you expect the ant to be be more 

 uniformly and consistently intelligent than your erudite selves?" 



Concerning the language of ants no small diversity of opinion has 

 prevailed ; but among actual observers the general conclusion is that 

 these tiny creatures can impart to each other information of a very 

 definite character, and not merely general signals, such as those of 

 alarm. It has been found that ants fetched by a messenger for some 

 especial purpose seem, when they arrive at the spot, to have some 

 knowledge of the task which is awaiting them, and set about it at 

 once without any preliminary investigation. The cases which we 

 quote elsewhere from Mr. Belt are very conclusive on this point. In 

 order to decide whether ants are really fetched to assist in tasks be- 

 yond the strength of any one of their number, Sir John Lubbock in- 

 stituted a very interesting and decisive experiment. It is well known 

 that if the laiwae of ants are taken out of the nest, the workers never 

 rest till they have fetched them back. Sir John Lubbock took a num- 

 ber of larvae out of his experimental formicary, and placed them aside 

 in two parcels very unequal in number. Each of these lots was soon 

 discovered by an ant, who at once fell to work to carry the larvae 

 back to the nest, and was soon joined by others, eager to assist. The 

 observer reasoned thus : If these ants have come to the spot by acci- 

 dent, it is probable that the number who arrive at each lot will be 

 approximately equal. On the other hand, if they are intentionally 

 fetched to assist in removing the larvae, the number in each case will 

 most likely bear some proportion to the amount of work to be done. 

 The result was, that the large heap of larvae was visited by about three 

 times as many ants as the small one. Hence the inference is plain 

 that ants can call assistance to any task in which they are engaged, 

 that they can form some estimate of the amount of labor that will 

 be required, and can make their views in some manner known to their 



