RELATION BETWEEN ANTS. 155 
to the rest. very time they met, they 
stopped and struck each other with their 
antennz in a very remarkable manner, 
and appeared fully instructed of the route 
they should take. In this way, the 
whole of this busy group were securely 
lodged in the same place. 
If we could remove an ant at the mo- 
ment of her discovering a repository of 
confectionary, &c. none of her compa- 
nions would be able to arrive there; 
since it is not her traces that con- 
duct them to the spot, she is under 
the necessity of returning to the ant- 
hill and bringing off her compa- 
nions. * What difficulty has she not in 
* Dr. Franklin, upon discovering a number of 
ants regaling themselves with some treacle in one 
of his cupboards, put them to the rout, and then 
suspended the pot of treacle, by a string, from the 
ceiling. He imagined he had put the whole army 
to flight, but was surprised to see a single ant quit 
the pot, climb up the string, cross the ceiling, and 
regain its nest. In less than half an hour several! 
of its companions sallied forth, traversed the ceil- 
ing, and reached the depository, which they con- 
H 6 
