ANTS II 



score or more of ants on the paper, and all eagerly- 

 devouring the sugar. In the course of the next day it 

 was entirely consumed. 



Now during the three days that the sugar had remained 

 untouched the ants had been swarming on the wall ; 

 many hundreds must have passed by the nail. They 

 were evidently, therefore, not attracted to the sugar 

 either by sight or smell. How, then, did they eventually 

 discover it ? I think it may be assumed that they were 

 directed to it by the ant that I placed on the paper. 

 Probably, when he had eaten as much sugar as he 

 desired, he ascended the twine, passed along the nail to 

 the wall, and then by some means or other informed the 

 other ants of the existence of the sugar and where it was 

 situated. 



The experiment, however, was not conclusive. In 

 another day or two the sugar might have been found 

 accidentally by some ant walking on to the nail ; also 

 the sugar may have been scentless ; and, further, the 

 ants, wandering always with their faces to the wall, 

 may not have perceived it. In order to determine 

 these points, I repeated the experiment in a different 

 form. 



I filled two empty jam-pots with earth nearly to 

 their brims. On the earth in each pot I placed a small 

 heap of powdered sugar. Near the house, a few feet 

 in front of the verandah which faced to the east, there 

 was an ants' nest. The ants were of the same species 

 as those of the nest on the terrace, only considerably 

 smaller. In the evening, after these ants had retired to 

 their nest and closed the entrances, I placed the two 



