62 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



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 



