322 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



round, and opening his threatening jaws with every appearance of anger, 

 goes very coolly to drinking again ; but his monitor without further 

 ceremony, rushing before him, seizes him by his jaws, and at last drags him 

 off in triumph to the formicary. 1 



The language of ants, however, is not confined merely to giving intelli- 

 gence of the approach or presence of danger : it is also coextensive with 

 all their other occasions for communicating their ideas to each other. 



Some, whose extraordinary history I shall soon relate to you, engage in 

 military expeditions, and often previously send out spies to collect informa- 

 tion. These, as soon as they return from exploring the vicinity, enter the 

 nest ; upon which, as if they had communicated their intelligence, the 

 army immediately assembles in the suburbs of their city, and begins its 

 march towards that quarter whence the spies had arrived. Upon the 

 march, communications are perpetually making between the van and the 

 rear; and when arrived at the camp of the enemy, and the battle begins, if 

 necessary, couriers are despatched to the formicary for reinforcements. 2 



If you scatter the ruins of an ants* nest in your apartment, you will be 

 furnished with another proof of their language. The ants will take a 

 thousand different parts, each going by itself, to increase the chance of 

 discovery ; they will meet and cross each other in all directions, and per- 

 haps will wander long before they can find a spot convenient for their 

 reunion. ]So sooner does any one discover a little chink in the floor, 

 through which it can pass below, than it returns to its companions, and, by 

 means of certain motions of its antennae, makes some of them comprehend 

 -what route they are to pursue to find it, sometimes even accompanying; 

 them to the spot ; these, in their turn, become the guides of others, till all 

 know which way to direct their steps. 3 



It it well known, also, that ants give each other information when they 

 have discovered any store of provision, Bradley relates a striking instance 

 of this. A nest of ants in a nobleman's garden discovered a closet, many 

 yards within the house, in which conserves were kept, which they con- 

 stantly attended till the nest was destroyed. Some in their rambles must 

 have first discovered this depot of sweets, and informed the rest of it. It 

 is remarkable that they always went to it by the same track, scarcely varying 

 an inch from it, though they had to pass through two apartments : nor 

 could the sweeping and cleaning of the rooms discomfit them, or cause 

 them to pursue a different route. 4 



Here may be related an amusing experiment of Gould's. Having de- 

 posited several colonies of ants (F. fused) in flower-pots, he placed them 

 in some earthen pans full of water, which prevented them from making 

 excursions from their nest. When they had been accustomed some days 

 to this imprisonment, be fastened small threads to the upper part of the 

 pots, and extending them over the water-pans fixed them in the ground. 

 The sagacious ants soon found out that by these bridges they could escape 

 from their moated castle. The discovery was communicated to the whole 

 society, and in a short time the threads were filled with trains of busy 

 workers passing to and fro. 5 



Ligon's account of the ants in Barbadoes affords another most convincing 



i Huber, 133. * Ibid. 167. 217. 237. 3 Ibid. 137. 



* Bradley, 134. Gould, 85. 



