THE INTELLIGENCE OF " THE LOWER ANIMALS " . 97 



mica sanguinea year after year fall into the same sense- 

 less "error" and can neither see nor learn , that their 

 guests require a different breeding from that of their 

 own offspring. True, after having torn the cocoons 

 of their darlings, they carefully replace them in the 

 earth. But is it perhaps to grant them now the neces- 

 sary rest for transformation? On the contrary! The 

 same process is repeated, until the larvae wither and 

 die. But if through the carelessness of their hosts 

 some larvae succeed in reaching their pupal stage, 

 even then they are often brought to the surface, to be 

 eaten up by their anxious nurses in an excess of affec- 

 tion! 



In the first place, then, the Formica sanguinea 

 are so foolish as to lavish their care upon the I/ome- 

 chusa with the result that their own brood is dis- 

 troyed and their species degenerated. Secondly , they 

 refuse to give to their darlings the necessary time and 

 rest for their development, exterminate them by an 

 inappropriate treatment and finally devour them in 

 their pupal stage. 



But these two facts present many and insoluble diffi- 

 culties in the way of ascribing to the ants the faculty 

 of recognizing the appropriateness or inappropriate- 

 ness of their actions. For, no matter from what point 

 of view we consider the case, we cannot help but find 

 an unfailing and evident contradiction. If one should 

 say that the Formica sanguinea lavish such tender- 

 ness upon their guests, because the latter afford them 

 some sense-gratification, we ask: If this be the case, 

 why do they exterminate and devour the young Lome- 

 ohusae and thus frustrate the accomplishment of such 



