Community Life in the Animal Kingdom. 27 



goes so far as to make them carefully tend their 

 wounded and sick- companions, which is not the cast? 

 with gregarious mammals. The above-mentioned 

 observation nest of F. sanguined, on which I bestowed 

 special care and attention, allowed me to observe 

 several times, so as to leave no doubt of the fact, that, 

 without distinction of masters or slaves, sick com 

 panions, or such as were paralyzed by the formic acid 

 of hostile ants, were carefully nursed and licked for 

 whole days, until they recovered. Forel, too, considers 

 it a general rule, that ants nurse their sick or maimed 

 companions. 1 



Ants as "sick nurses" seemed so strange to me, 

 that I was unwilling to admit the fact, until I observed 

 it myself. The first time was on March 16, 1895. I 

 had replaced in the main part of the aforementioned 

 nest a sanguinea which had been paralyzed in one of 

 the narrow glass tubes by an ejection of formic acid, 

 and was scarcely able to move in spite of her con- 

 vulsive efforts. At first her companions, on approach- 

 ing, appeared to take no notice of her distress. Yet, 

 after a short time, they began to examine her with 

 their feelers, and then carried her to another part of 

 the nest where the greater number were assembled. 

 In this place the sick ant was lying for the whole day, 

 surrounded by a number of masters and slaves (fusca} 

 which, mostly in groups, busied themselves about her. 

 They licked her carefully, turned her over and licked 

 her again, examined her with their feelers and licked 

 her once more. This method of medical treatment was 

 attended with complete success. The patient had fully 



See Lubbock, "Ants, Bees and Wasps," Chap. V, p. 88 ff. 



