ii8 FIELD AND HEDGEROU', 



incapable of running in a straight line. At first their, 

 motions searching about suggested the action of a packj 

 of hounds making a cast ; hounds, however, would have| 

 very soon gone forward and so picked up the trail. 



If I may make a guess at the cause of this singular 

 confusion, I think I should attribute it to some peculiarity 

 in the brain of the ant, or else to some consideration of 

 which we are ignorant, but which weighs with ants, and 

 not to any absence of the physical senses. Because they 

 do not do as we should do under similar circumstances 

 is no proof that they do not possess the power to hear 

 and see. Experiments, for instance, have been made 

 with bees to find out if they have any sense of hearing, 

 by shouting close to a bee, drawing discordant notes on 

 the violin, striking pieces of metal together, and so on, 

 to all of which the bee remained indifferent. What else 

 could she do ? Neither of these sounds hurt if she heard 

 them, nor seemed to threaten danger ; they simply con- 

 veyed no impression at all to her mind. Observe your 

 favourite pussy curled up in the arm-chair at such time 

 as she knows the dishes have been cleared away, and 

 there is no more chance of wheedling a titbit from you. 

 You may play the piano, or the violin, or knock with a 

 hammer, or shout your loudest, she will take no notice, 

 no more than if she actually had no ears at all. Are 

 you, therefore, to conclude she does not hear you ? As 

 well conclude that people do not hear the thunder 

 because they do not shout in answer to it. Such noises 

 simply do not concern her, and she takes no notice. 

 Now, though her eyes be closed, let a strange dog run 

 in, and at the light pad pad of his feet, scarcely audible 

 on the carpet, she is up in a moment, blazing with wrath. 

 That is a sound that interests her. So, too, perhaps, 

 it may be with ants and bees, who may hear and see, 



