ANTS — GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 127 



division of labour is practised by the ants. The result of 

 these observations was to show that during the winter- 

 time, when the ants are not active, certain individuals are 

 told off to forage for supplies, and that when any casualty 

 overtakes these individuals, others are told off to supply 

 their places. Thus, in the words of Sir John Lubbock's 

 analysis of his lengthy tables, — 



The feeders at the beginning of the experiment were those 

 known to ns as Nos. 5, 6, and 7. On the 22nd of November a 

 friend, registered as No. 8, came to the honey, and agaiQ on the 

 11th December ; but with these two exceptions the whole of 

 the supplies were carried lq by Nos. 5 and 6, with a little help 

 from No. 7. Thinking now it might be alleged that possibly these 

 were merely unusually active or greedy individuals, I im- 

 prisoned No. 6 when she came out to feed on the 5th. As will 

 be seen from the table, no other ant had been out to the honey 

 for some days ; and it could therefore hardly be accidental that 

 on that very evening another ant (then registered as No. 9) 

 came out for food. This ant, as will be seen from the table, 

 then took the place of No. 6 (No. 5 being imprisoned). On the 

 llth January No. 9 took in all the supplies, again with a little 

 help from No. 7. So matters continued until the 17th, when I 

 imprisoned No. 9, and then again, i.e. on the 19th, another ant 

 (No. 10) came out for the food, aided, on and after the 22nd, 

 by another (No. 11). This seems to me very curious. From the 1st 

 November to the 5th January, with two or three casual excep- 

 tions, the whole of the supplies were carried in by three ants, 

 one of whom, however, did comparatively little. The other two 

 are imprisoned, and then, but not till then, a fresh ant appears 

 on the scene. She carries in the food for a week, and then she 

 being imprisoned, two others undertake the task. On the 

 other hand, in nest 1, when the first foragers were not im- 

 prisoned, they continued during the whole time to carry in 

 the necessary supplies. 



The facts, therefore, certainly seem to indicate that 

 certain ants are told off as foragers, and that during 

 winter, when but little food is required, two or three such 

 foragers are sufficient to provide it. 



Although Sir John Lubbock's ants showed such meagre 

 resources of intelligent adjustment, other species of ants, 

 which we have already had occasion to consider, appear to 

 be as remarkable in this respect as they are in respect of 



