ANTS— COMMUNICATION. 55 



continued to ascend until reaching the lower bevelled edge of 

 the shelf, at which point the more timid individuals, although 

 unable to see the vase, somehow became aware of trouble, and 

 turned about without further investigation, while the more 

 daring advanced hesitatingly just to the upper edge of the 

 ^helf, when, extending their antennae and stretching their necks, 

 they seemed to peep cautiously over the edge until beholding 

 their suflfering companions, when they too turned and followed 

 the others, expressing by their behaviour great excitement and 

 terror. An hour or two later, the path or trail leading from 

 the lower colony to the vase was almost entirely free from ants. 



I killed one or two ants on their path, striking them with 

 my finger, but leaving no visible trace. The efiect of this was 

 that as soon as an ant ascending towards the shelf reached the 

 spot where one had been killed, it gave signs immediately of 

 great disturbance, and returned directly at the highest possible 

 .«peed. 



A curious and invariable feature of their behaviour was 

 that when such an ant, returning in fright, met another ap- 

 proaching, the two would always communicate, but each would 

 pursue its own way, the second ant continuing its journey to 

 the spot where the first had turned about, and then following 

 that example. 



For some days after this there were no ants visible on the 

 wall, either above or below the shelf. 



Then a few ants from the lower colony began to reappear, 

 but instead of visiting the vase which had been the scene of the 

 disaster, they avoided it altogether, and following the lower 

 front edge of the shelf to the tumbler standing near the middle, 

 made their attack upon that. I repeated the same experiment 

 here with precisely the same result. Killing or maiming a few 

 of the ants and leaving their bodies about the base of the tum- 

 bler, the others on approaching, and even before arriving at the 

 upper surface of the shelf where their mutilated companions 

 were visible, gave signs of intense emotion, some running away 

 immediately, and others advancing to where they could survey 

 the field and then hastening away precipitately. 



Occasionally an ant would advance towards the tumbler 

 until it found itself among the dead and dying ; then it seemed 

 to lose all self-possession, running hither and thither, making 

 wide circuits about the scene of the trouble, stopping at times 

 and elevating the antennae with a movement suggestive of 

 wringing them in despair, and finally taking flight. After this 

 another interval of several days passed, during which no ants 



