58 TWO CHAPTERS ON ANTS. 



ground. How it is communicated I do not 

 know ; I can only see effects. A large num- 

 ber of ants feeding together will rush off in 

 the wildest confusion when a little unusual 

 noise is made upon the ground. Two colo- 

 nies one brown, the other black are lo- 

 cated near the carriage drive. Often, espe- 

 cially in the morning, the simple sound of 

 the gravel under my feet as I walk past the 

 feeding ants is sufficient to make them leave 

 their food and run quickly within the nest. 

 I suspend a leaf by means of fine thread 

 six inches from the ground; it swings clear 

 from everything ; I put honey upon it, and 

 now take a thin piece of shingle and rest 

 one end lightly against the edge of the leaf, 

 while the other end rests upon the ground. 

 Soon the ants find the honey, and crowd 

 upon the leaf. I remove the shingle, leav- 

 ing them no direct communication with the 

 ground. I pick up the ottoman upon which 

 I was sitting, and let it drop a little heavily 

 some two feet distant from the ants; they 

 rush from the leaf headlong in every direc- 

 tion. But I can raise quite a din above 

 them, even striking tin and various other 

 things, and they seem to pay no attention if 

 the noise is a foot or so above them ; and 

 sometimes when it is not more than six 



