Ants. 43 



watching for some time I provided the ant with 

 a paper bridge, up which she immediately went, 

 dropped her victim on the far side, and returned 

 home. Could this have been a case in which an 

 aged or invalid ant was being expelled from the 

 nest ? 



3. In order to test the affection of ants belonging 

 to the same nest for one another, I tried the follow- 

 ing experiments. I took six ants from one of my 

 nests, imprisoned them in a small bottle, one end 

 of which was covered with a layer of muslin. I 

 then put the muslin close to the door of the nest. 

 The muslin was of open texture, the meshes, how- 

 ever, being sufficiently small to prevent the ants 

 from escaping. They could, however, not only see 

 one another, but communicate freely with their 

 antennae. We now watched to see whether the 

 prisoners would be tended or fed by their friends. 

 We could not, however, observe that the least notice 

 was taken of them. The experiment, nevertheless, 

 was less conclusive than could be wished, because 

 they might have been fed at night or at some time 

 when we were not looking. It struck me, there- 

 fore, that it would be interesting to treat some 

 strangers also in the same manner. 



4. On September 2, therefore, I put two ants from 

 one of my nests into a bottle, the end of which was 

 tied up with muslin as described, and laid it down 

 close to the nest. In a second bottle I put two 

 ants from another nest of the same species. The 



