The Red Ants 



Why, if they issue from the same mould, has 

 one a sense which the other has not, an ad« 

 ditional sense, constituting a much more over- 

 powering factor than the structural details? 

 I will wait until the evolutionists condescend 

 to give me a valid reason. 



To return to this memory for places whose 

 tenacity and fidelity I have just recognized: 

 to what degree does it consent to retain im- 

 pressions? Does the Amazon require re- 

 peated journeys in order to learn her geogra- 

 phy, or is a single expedition enough for 

 her? Are the line followed and the places 

 visited engraved on her memory from the 

 first? The Red Ant does not lend herself to 

 the tests that might furnish the reply: the ex- 

 perimenter is unable to decide whether the 

 path followed by the expeditionary column 

 is being covered for the first time, nor is it in 

 his power to compel the legion to adopt this 

 or that different road. When the Amazons 

 go out to plunder the Ant-hills, they take the 

 direction which they please; and we are not 

 allowed to interfere with their march. Let 

 us turn to other Hymenoptera for informa- 

 tion. 



I select the Pompili, whose habits we shall 

 151 



