SOME INSECT EXPERIMENTS 135 



tend to strengthen one's belief in the intelligence of these industrious 

 inhabitants of our world. But sooner or later, the very insect who, 

 perhaps, by its marvelous actions, has held our rapt attention, or 

 caused us to exclaim in astonishment, will display, but a moment 

 later, such a ridiculous lack of logic that we are at loss to understand, 

 and our belief in intelligence will be rudely shaken. But perhaps not 

 permanently, for it is true that among nearly every large colony of 

 these insects one will find an occasional example wherein an individ- 

 ual seems really to leave the beaten track of instinct in which its 

 forefathers have traveled unwittingly for hundreds and hundreds of 

 years. 



Let us follow, for a moment, the movements of a single member 

 of this colony of mound-builders, who is discovered laboriously 

 endeavoring to drag the remains of a cricket many times its own size 

 to the insect city, some twenty feet distant. 



In the same circumstances, a man would have soon given up the 

 task, for every twig, every leaf and every stone in the path played a 

 part in hindering the progress of the hard-working insect. But the 

 ant would not abandon such a dainty morsel of food, even had it been 

 three times as heavy, and indeed she might have soon reached her 

 destination had I not cautiously clasped the cricket by one of its 

 antennae or feelers with a pair of slender forceps. The ant was greatly 

 troubled at finding her burden immovable, but she soon commenced to 

 investigate, and finally, after some minutes, came upon the closed end 

 of my forceps. Vainly she tried to free the insect from the grip of 

 steel and finding herself unequal to the task, she soon made off in the 

 direction of the mound. Now when perhags fifteen inches away, the 

 ant suddenly turned, as if by some idea or impulse which must be 

 obeyed. Going straight to the feeler, which was still held by the 

 forceps, she chewed it free with her powerful jaws and once more 

 made off, this time in possession of her well-earned burden! 



