370 HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 



"A curious and invariable feature of tlieir behaAior was 

 that wlieu such an ant, returning in fright, met another ap- 

 proaching, the two would always communicate, but each 

 would pursue its own way : the second ant continuing its 

 journey to the spot where the first had turned about, and 

 then following that example. 



"■For several days after this there were no ants visible on 

 the wall either al)ove or below the shelf. Then a few ants 

 from the lower colony began to reappear, but instead of 

 visiting the vase which had been, the scene of the disaster, 

 they avoided it altogether, and following the lower front 

 edge of the shelf to the tumbler standing near the middle, 

 made their attack upon that. I repeated the same experi- 

 ment here with precisely the same result. Killing or maim- 

 ing a few of the ants, and leaving their bodies about the 

 base of the tumbler, the others on approaching, and even 

 before arriving at the upper surface of tlie shelf where their 

 mutilated companions were visible, gave signs of intense 

 emotion, some running away immediately and others advanc- 

 ing to where they could survey the field, and then hastening 

 away precipitately. 



''Occasionally an ant would advance towards the tumbler 

 until it found itself among the dead and dying, then it 

 seemed to lose all self-possession, running hither and thither, 

 making wide circuits about the scene of the trouble, stopping 

 at times and elevating the antennoe with a movement sug- 

 gestive of wringing them in despair, and finally taking flight. 



"After this another interval of several days passed, during 

 which no ants appeared. Now, three months later, the lower 

 colony has been entirely abandoned. Occasionally however, 

 especially when fiesh and fragrant violets have been placed 

 on the shelf, a few 'prospectors' descend from the upper 

 nail hole, rarel}', almost never, approaching the vase from 

 which they were first driven away, but seeking to satisf)' 

 their desire at the tumbler. To turn back these stragglers 



18 



