RELATION BETWEEN ANTS. 143 
riority of rank, and the part each indi- 
vidual is called upon to perform in the 
society of which it is a member. ‘These 
several links denote a bond of union be- 
tween the different members, that could 
not be preserved withoutthe intervention 
of language. Under this term I include, 
whatever means they possess of express- 
ing their desires, their wants, and even 
their ideas, if we may be allowed to give 
this term to the impulse of instinct. It 
would be difficult to explain in any other 
manner, that centering of all wills to one 
purpose, or that species of harmony 
which so universally reigns in their insti- 
tutions. 
We have already made known several 
facts, proving the sociability of ants, 
whilst speaking of the education they 
give to the little ones of another mother; 
of their conduct towards the males and 
females; and of the labours they undertake 
in common in the construction of their 
abode. But these are only to be regarded 
as isolated facts, which do not show in 
