Architecture in the Animal Kingdom- 85 



wanting. This difference is very important for com- 

 parative psychology. As in the social life of ants 

 the individual independence of the single workers 

 attains a higher degree than amongst bees, so in their 

 architecture the same phenomenon may be observed. 

 Instead of constant uniformity we find great variety; 

 instead of the monotonous "automatism" of innate 

 instinct, we meet with a quasi-intelligent arbitrariness 

 in the exercise of their sensitive cognition and appe- 

 tite. Scarcely anywhere else is the wonderful plas- 

 ticity of animal instinct manifested so clearly and con- 

 vincingly as in the architecture of ants. This was the 

 reason why ants seemed to furnish such numerous 

 proofs of the "individual intelligence" of animals; 

 and, in fact, in the architecture of ants, if anywhere 

 in the whole animal kingdom, we find a striking 

 resemblance to human intelligence. 



In order to give a full psychological description of 

 ant architecture, we shall first, compare the nests of 

 different species, secondly, we shall consider the differ- 

 ences in the buildings of one and the same species ; in 

 the third place, we shall examine the methods by which 

 ants of the same colony co-operate in building their 

 nest, and finally, we shall investigate the various pur- 

 poses to which ants apply their architectural talents. 

 However, it would require a volume of considerable 

 buk to treat these points exhaustively. Therefore, we 



above. The consequently elongated, prismatic form of bee-cells would 

 be merely the result of the extreme uniformity in the working of the 

 bees engaged in building the combs. Single cells are built by the same 

 bees always in a cylindrical form with hemispherical top and bottom. 

 This form is to be regarded, according to Ludv.-ig, as the proper, 

 primitive type of bee-cells, which is found with bumble-bees and other 

 allied Hymenoptera. 



