172 NATURE STUDY. 



were guilt}^ ; he was shocked that in nature also things 

 could be so out of joint. He finally read the book, of 

 course, as any fair-minded man would under similar cir- 

 cumstances, but still cherished the hope there might be 

 some mistake. Then — as if to illustrate the well-known 

 truth that we are most likely to see that to which our at- 

 tention has been called, even though we have passed it by 

 a hundred times — he went to take a walk and saw the very 

 thing that he had doubted. His description, in his own 

 peculiar style, is worthy of reproduction at the close of 

 this account of Pierre Huber's discovery of ants that keep 

 slaves. It will be noticed that he or his translator con- 

 founded " eggs " and " nymphs " with pupse, just as many 

 people are apt to do nowadays. Here is the great histori- 

 an's account of the episode : 



" But on a certain occasion I saw it — with my own eyes 

 saw it — in the park of Fontainebleau. I was accompanied 

 b}'- an illustrious philosopher, an excellent observer, and 

 he too saw exactly what I saw. 



" It was half-past four in the afternoon of a very warm 

 day. PVom a pile of stones emerged a column of from four 

 to five hundred red or reddish ants, precisely the same 

 colour as the wing-cases of the gnat. They marched rap- 

 idly towards a piece of turf, kept in order by their ser- 

 geants or " pivot-men," whom we saw on the flanks, and 

 who would not permit any one to straggle. (This is a cir- 

 cumstance known to everybody who has seen a file of ants 

 on the march.) But the novel and astonishing thing to 

 me was, that gradually those who were at the head drew 

 near to each other, and advanced only by turning ; they 

 passed and repassed the whirling crowd, describing con- 

 centric circles ; a manoeuvre evidently fit to produce enthu- 

 siasm, and to augment energy — each, by contact, electri- 

 fying himself with the ardour of all. 



" Suddenly the revolving mass seemed to sink and dis- 



