62 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE eae 
one another, and were perfectly friendly ; 
while they at once attacked Ants from a 
different nest, although of the same species. 
It has been suggested that the Ants of each 
nest have some sign or password by which 
they recognise one another. To test this I 
made some insensible. First I tried chloro- 
form, but this was fatal to them; and as 
therefore they were practically dead, I did 
not consider the test satisfactory. I decided 
therefore to intoxicate them. This was 
less easy than I had expected. None of 
my Ants would voluntarily degrade them- 
selves by getting drunk. However, I got 
over the difficulty by putting them into 
whisky for a few moments. I took fifty 
specimens, twenty-five from one nest and 
twenty-five from another, made them dead 
drunk, marked each with a spot of paint, and - 
put them on a table close to where other Ants 
from one of the nests were feeding. The 
table was surrounded as usual with a moat of 
water to prevent them from straying. The 
Ants which were feeding soon noticed those 
which I had made drunk. They seemed quite 
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