Ants. 57 



It is of course possible, if not probable, that ants, 

 even if deaf to sounds which we hear, may hear 

 others to which we are deaf. 



13. Having failed, therefore, in hearing them or 

 making them hear me, I endeavoured to ascertain 

 whether they could hear one another, but I was 

 not able to do so. 



It is, however, far from improbable that ants 

 may produce sounds entirely beyond our range of 

 hearing. Indeed, it is not impossible that insects 

 may possess senses, or sensations, of which we can 

 no more form an idea than we should have been 

 able to conceive red or green if the human race 

 had been blind. The human ear is sensitive to 

 vibration, reaching at the outside to 38,000 in a 

 second. The sensation of red is produced when 

 470 millions of millions of vibrations enter the eye 

 in a similar time ; but between these two numbers 

 vibrations produce on us only the sensation of heat 

 we have no special organs of sense adapted to 

 them. There is, however, no reason in the nature 

 of things why this should be the case with other 

 animals ; and the problematical organs possessed 

 by many of the lower forms may have relation to 

 sensations which we do not perceive. If any appa- 

 ratus could be devised by which the number of 

 vibrations produced by any given cause could be 

 lowered so as to be brought within the range of 

 our ears, it is probable that the result would be 

 most interesting. 



