98 THE HUMANIZING OP THE BRUTE. 



most senseless and self-ruining actions. Is not this a 

 clear indication, that there cannot be any trace of true 

 consciousness of finality in them? Or, could we im- 

 agine an entire class of beings endowed with intellect 

 taking delight in overcoming the strongest impulse of 

 nature in spite of innumerable and most disastrous 

 losses? But this is only the first stupid action of the 

 Formica sanguinea. The second is no less flagrant, 

 and when combined with the first leaves no doubt 

 whatever as to the total absence of an intellectual faculty 

 in ants. 



The second blunder committed by the Formica san- 

 guinea in the rearing of their guests consists in this 

 that, notwithstanding their excessive tenderness to- 

 wards the I^omechusa , the Formica sanguinea are con- 

 tinually active in exterminating not only their own 

 brood, but also the brood of their guests. For, the 

 larvae of beetles require a treatment totally different 

 from that needed by the ant larvae. Scarcely have the 

 latter, toward the close of their larval stage, been em- 

 bedded in the earth, when they envelop themselves in 

 a close and firm cocoon. There is, consequently, no 

 difficulty in their being soon after extracted again 

 from the earth and carried about at will by their fel- 

 lows. But this stereotype procedure is entirely unsuit 

 able for the young L,omechusa. For these spin only 

 a thin silken cocoon, requiring exceedingly gentle 

 handling and sure to tear whilst being extracted from 

 the earth. Hence, to drag the cocoons to the surface 

 before the pupae are completely formed, is evidently 

 out of place. And yet, despite their strong affection for 

 their guests, and despite all possible experience, the For- 



