Chap. VI. Affinities and Genealogy. 147 



and the Vegetable, thus giving to man a separate kingdom. 2 

 Spiritual powers cannot be compared or classed by the natu- 

 ralist: but he may endeavour to shew, as I have done, that the 

 mental faculties of man and the lower animals do not differ in 

 kind, although immensely in degree. A difference in degree, 

 however great, does not justify us in placing man in a distinct 

 kingdom, as will perhaps be best illustrated by comparing the 

 mental powers of two insects, namely, a coccus or scale-insect 

 and an ant, which undoubtedly belong to the same class. The 

 difference is here greater than, though of a somewhat different kind 

 from, that between man and the highest mammal. The female 

 coccus, whilst young, attaches itself by its proboscis to a plant ; 

 sucks the sap, but never moves again; is fertilised and lays eggs; 

 and this is its whole history. On the other hand, to describe the 

 habits and mental powers of worker-ants, would require, as 

 Pierre Huber has shewn, a large volume ; I may, however, briefly 

 specify a few points. Ants certainly communicate information to 

 each other, and several unite for the same work, or for games of 

 play. They recognise their fellow-ants after months of absence, 

 and feel sympathy for each other. They build great edifices, 

 keep them clean, close the doors in the evening, and post 

 sentries. They make roads as well as tunnels under rivers, and 

 temporary bridges over them, by cringing together. They 

 collect food for the community, and when an object, too large for 

 entrance, is brought to the nest, they enlarge the door, and 

 afterwards build it up again. They store up seeds, of which 

 they prevent the germination, and which, if damp, are brought 

 up to the surface to dry. They keep aphides and other insects as 

 milch-cows. They go out to battle in regular bands, and freely 

 sacrifice their lives for the common weal. They emigrate ac- 

 cording to a preconcerted plan. They capture slaves. They move 

 the eggs of their aphides, as well as their own eggs and cocoons, 

 into warm parts of the nest, in order that they may be quickly 

 hatched ; and endless similar facts could be given. 2 On the 

 whole, the difference in mental power between an ant and a 

 coccus is immense ; yet no one has ever dreamed of placing these 

 insects in distinct classes, much less in distinct kingdoms. No 



1 Isidore GeofFroy St.-Hilaire gives of ants are given by Mr. Belt, in 

 a detailed account of the position in his 'Naturalist in Nicaragua,' 

 assigned to man by various natural- 1874. See also Mr. Moggridge's 

 ists in their classifications: 'Hist, admirable work, 'Harvesting Ants,' 

 Nat. Gen.' torn. ii. 1859, pp. l'.O- &c, 1873, also ' L'Instinct chez les 

 189. Insectes,' by M. George Pouchet, 



2 Some of the most interesting ' Revue des Deux Mondes/ Feb, 

 facts ever published on the habits 1870 p. 682. 



