110 ON THE HABITS OF ANTS. [LECT. 



Dr. Lincecum, who first gave an account of these insects, 

 maintained not only that the ground was carefully 

 cleared of all other plants, but that this .grass was in- 

 tentionally cultivated by the ants. Mr. McCook, by 

 whom the subject has been recently studied, fully con- 

 firms Dr. Lincecum that the disks are kept carefully 

 clean, that the ant rice alone is permitted to grow on 

 them, and that the produce of this crop is carefully 

 harvested ; but he thinks that the ant rice sows itself, 

 and is not actually planted by the ants. 



Much of what has been said as to the powers of com- 

 munication possessed by bees and ants depends on the 

 fact that if one of them in the course of her rambles 

 has discovered a supply of food, a number of others soon 

 find their way to the store. This, however, does not 

 necessarily imply any power of describing localities. If 

 the bees or ants merely follow a more fortunate 

 companion, or if they hunt her by scent, the matter is 

 comparatively simple ; if, on the contrary, the others 

 have the route described to them, the case becomes 

 very different. To determine this, therefore, I have 

 made a great number of experiments, of which, how- 

 ever, I will here only mention a few. Under ordinary 

 circumstances, if an ant discovers a stock of food, she 

 carries as much as possible away to the nest, and then 

 returns for more, accompanied generally by several 

 friends. On their return these bring others, and in this 

 way a string of ants is soon established. Unless, there- 

 fore, various precautions are taken, and this, so far as 

 I know, has never been done in any previous obser- 

 vations, the experiment really tells very little. 



The following may be taken as a type of what happens 



