124 TREATMENT OF STRANGERS. 



did not drag nor apparently guide her ; but she went 

 with the rest freely. This I repeated several times 

 with the same result. 



I then took four ants, two from a nest about 500 

 yards from the first in one direction, the other from an 

 equal distance in another. In all cases the result was 

 the same. I then got a few from a colony about half a 

 mile off. These also were most amicably received, and 

 in every case the stranger went of her own accord to 

 the nest. One of the strangers was, indeed, dragged 

 about half way to the entrance of the nest, but was 

 then left free and might have run away if she had 

 liked. She, however, after wandering about for half a 

 minute, voluntarily entered the nest. In one or two 

 cases the stranger ran as quickly and straight to the 

 nest as if she had been there over and over again. 

 This, I suppose, can only have been by scent ; and cer- 

 tainly no hounds in full cry could have pursued their 

 game more directly or with less hesitation. In other 

 cases, however, they were much longer before they went 

 in. To satisfy myself that these facts were not owing 

 to the nest having been taken from that of colonies or 

 allies, I subsequently experimented with some ants of 

 the same species from a nest in Hertfordshire ; and they 

 also behaved in a similar manner. In one or two cases 

 they seemed to be attacked, though so feebly that I could 

 not feel sure about it; but in no case were the ants killed. 



The following fact surprised me still more. I put 

 an ant (Aug. 13) at 9 A.M. on a spot where a number of 



