54 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1890. 



human point of view, so will only say I was disappointed with them 

 generally. I never succeeded in frightening my ants by noise alone ; 

 noise had always to be accompanied by an earth tremor or wind. 



I several times endeavoured to keep workers of vagans in captivity 

 but never with any success ; they swarmed up the sides of my highly 

 polished tin-box with ease, and in my island arrangement, which 

 kept smaragdina in perfect security, they found their way with won- 

 derful rapidity to the brick surrounded by the moat, and then took 

 to the water without a moment's hesitation, and with one or two 

 strokes with their legs they got over the two or three inches of water 

 with almost the ease and dexterity of a water-boatman. 



On one occasion I put two workers in with smaragdina. One 

 escaped at once ; the other was seized, but fought her way clear, and 

 followed her companion with splendid determination and quickness. 

 It would require much ingenuity to make a receptacle that would 

 safely and conveniently confine this clever ant. 



In Barrackpore Park, on the river-drive half-way between " Scan- 

 dal Point " and Tittaghur Bridge, at one of the prettiest spots in the 

 most beautiful park in Bengal, — I might almost say in India, — is a 

 fine old banyan-tree (Ficus indica), with foliage almost touching the 

 ground ; it stands on the green slope below the drive, and the breeze, 

 blowing straight up from the broad Tittaghur Reach, makes the 

 shade of this tree delightfully cool in even the heat of May or June. 

 There is in this spot a stone culvert running under the road, the 

 mouth of it opening in the deepest shade of the tree, and on the 

 stones of this culvert you can find almost all the year round, but 

 particularly in the hot weather and rains, numbers of the workers of 

 Diacamma vagans congregated together in couples, and engaged in 

 what I take to be a process of shampooing. Two ants will face each 

 other, and fence about and caress with their antennae, now advancing, 

 now retiring a little ; at last one will give a little spring on to the 

 back of the other, and gently and tenderly hold her with her man- 

 dibles ; then the caressing with the antennae is renewed, and the legs 

 are also brought into play, and used in much the same way ; and 

 lastly, the mandibles will be run gently up and down the limbs. 

 During this operation the ant under treatment will keep time with 

 her antennae, and stretch out her limbs with evident delight and 



