I JO NATURE .STUDY. 



carrying off in its jaws a baby black ant wrapped up in its 

 silk blanket. 



Pierre Huber was greatly excited, as well he might be, 

 for no one had ever before seen such doings in the in- 

 sect world. He left the black ants to mourn their loss 

 and repair the damage as best they might, and followed 

 the robbers to their own castle. Here he was still more 

 surprised, for at the entrance a small population of black 

 ants came forward to receive and take charge of the plun- 

 der, evidently delighted with the accession of these chil- 

 dren of their own race. 



Young Huber at once entered on a series of careful ob- 

 servations of this new feature of ant life, and soon found 

 that the black ants were slaves and did the work of the 

 colony. They not only built and excavated galleries and 

 chambers, but they brought up the young red ants and 

 the captives of their own species. They also administered 

 the affairs of the community, provided the supplies of food, 

 waited upon their red masters, and even fed them. 



Huber tried an experiment. He was desirous of observ- 

 ing what would be the result if the big red ants found 

 themselves without servants, and whether they would 

 know how to supply their own wants. He put a few into 

 a glass case, and with them some cocoons. At first they 

 began instinctively to move these about and to cradle them 

 in something of the fashion that other ants do ; but they 

 soon tired of the work, apparentl)' found the cocoons too 

 heavy, and coolly abandoned them. In fact, they also 

 abandoned themselves. Huber put some honey for them 

 in a corner, so that they had nothing to do but take it. 

 They did not touch it ; they seemed to know nothing ; they 

 and their ancestors had been attended, cared for and even 

 fed so long that they did not even know how to feed them- 

 selves. Some of them died from starvation with food be- 

 fore them. 



