VOLUNTARY ACTION 229 



387. " In order to confirm this observation Lespes placed 

 a piece of sugar near a nest of slave-makers. It was soon 

 found by one of the slaves, which gorged itself and returned 

 to the nest. Other slaves then came out and did likewise. 

 Then some of the masters came out, and, by pulling the legs 

 of the feeding slaves, reminded them that they were neglect- 

 ing their duty. The slaves immediately began to serve their 

 masters with the sugar." l 



388. The slaves are neuter individuals and have no offspring, 

 the supply being maintained by fresh captures. Consequently 

 they can have had no ancestors that performed servile duties. 

 It follows that the slaves must learn their work, and, there- 

 fore, that the performance of it is not instinctive but 

 intelligent and " rational." It is evident, therefore, since ants 

 are able to adapt themselves to an environment and to duties 

 so entirely novel, that at least some species of them are 

 capable of making great mental acquirements. It is a fair 

 inference that many of the other so-called instincts of ants 

 for example, the habit of keeping plant-bugs as beasts of 

 burden to carry leaves, of keeping pets, of rearing aphides for 

 the sake of their sweet secretions, of cultivating plants and 

 storing the seeds, of nipping the rootlets of the seeds to 

 prevent germination, and so forth are really acquired 

 habits, bits of knowledge and ways of thinking and acting 

 which are handed down from one generation to the next, not 

 by actual inheritance, but traditionally and educationally, 

 just as our children acquire from us language, or religion, or 

 a trade. There is indeed considerable reason to believe that 

 the power of making mental acquirements has evolved to a 

 greater degree in the favourable environment of the ant-nest 

 than among any other species of animal except man. 



389. Traditional knowledge is common enough among the 

 higher animals, and forms no inconsiderable part of their 

 mental equipment. For instance, birds and mammals in- 

 habiting desert islands appear to have no instinctive fear of 

 man. Darwin relates how in the Galapagos group he pushed 

 a hawk from its perch with the muzzle of his gun. Seals and 

 birds in the Antarctic show only indifference or anger at the 

 presence of human visitors. A short acquaintance with man, 

 however, instils a dread which soon becomes traditional. 

 Doubtless animals which have escaped attempted destruction 

 at his hands, or who have witnessed the actual destruction or 

 capture of their kind, become alarmed and by their demeanour 

 communicate the alarm to their fellows. No increase of alarm 



1 Romanes, Animal Intelligence, p. 656. 



