160 THE MOST GIFTED INSECT EACE. 



acknowledged as friends when restored to the nest whence 

 they had been taken. Had any form of language been 

 used, it would have been that of the nest where it was 

 hatched and nurtured, just as an English baby, if reared 

 by French people, would speak French and not English 

 when it grew to man's estate. 



Yet, language of some sort the ants certainly have, or 

 their leaders could not give commands or the subordinates 

 obey them. Their powers of united action are really 

 wonderful. 



I have repeatedly placed dead insects near the nest of 

 the common Wood Ant, for the sake of Avatching their 

 powers of combination. As soon as the prey is dis- 

 covered, messengers convey the tidings into the interior 

 of the nest, and in a short time the dead insect is sur- 

 rounded by the ants, which seem to come from all 

 directions at once. They immediately set to work at 

 their task, some pushing and some pulling, but all acting 

 on a concerted plan, until they contrive to drag it up the 

 steep side of their dwelling. Should it be a large insect, 

 as is represented in the illustration, they leave it at one 

 of the entrances, and do not reappear for some time. 

 What they do during this interval I do not know, but 

 fancy that they must be engaged in making arrangements 

 for its reception. Sooner or later, however, they again 

 resume the labour, push and pull the insect out of sight, 

 and then proceed to repair the entrance through which 

 it has been dragged, and which has been too much 

 enlarged by the passage of its body (page 156). From the 



