LANGUAGE, 95 



pieces he put only two or three larvsj, while the third glass 

 he left empty. The object of the empty glass was to see 

 whether any of the ants would come to the glass under such 

 circumstances by mere accident. He then took two ants, one 

 of which he placed in the glass with the many larvae, and the 

 other in the glass with the few. Each ant took a larva, car- 

 ried it to the nest, then returned for more, and so on. After 

 each journey he put another larva in the glass with the few 

 larvae, in order to replace the one which had been removed. 

 The result of the experiment was that during 47J hours the 

 ants which had gone to the glass containing numerous larvae 

 brought 257 friends to their assistance, while during 53 hours 

 those which had gone to the glass containing only two or three 

 larvae brought only 82 friends ; and no single ant came to the 

 glass which contained no larva. Now, as all the glasses were 

 exposed to similar conditions, and as the roads to the first 

 two must, in the first instance at all events, have been equally 

 scented by the passage of ants over them, these results 

 appear very conclusive as proving some power of definite 

 communication, not only that larvae are to be found, but even 

 where the largest store is to be met with. 



As to the means of communication, or method of sign- 

 making, there can be no doubt that this in ants, as in bees, is 

 mainly gestures made by the antennae ; but that gestures of 

 other kinds are also employed is sufficiently well proved by 

 the following observation of the Rev. Dr. M'Cook. " I have 

 seen an ant kneel down before another and thrust forward 

 the head, drooping quite under in fact, and lie there motion- 

 less, thus expressing as plainly as sign-language could, her 

 desire to be cleansed. I at once understood the gesture, and 

 so did the supplicated ant, for she at once went to work." 



So much, then, for the power of sign-making displayed by 

 the Hymenoptera. As I have not much evidence of sign- 

 making in any of the other Invertebrata,* I shall pass on at 

 once to the Vertebrata. 



* The best instances of sign-malcing among Invertebrata other than the 

 Hymenoptera which I have met with is one that I have myself observed and 



