170 Hillside. 



to capture their herd of aphides. A second battle, however, 

 some time after, with another colony of black ants, ended 

 disastrously for the yellow warriors, as they were all killed, 

 and their herds appropriated by their black opponents. 



During these fierce battles the ants would appear to be 

 guided by certain officers, and to hear and obey certain words 

 of command ; and that they are capable of combining their 

 forces against man, the following incident, narrated by Dr. 

 Livingstone inhis Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi, 

 will show: "We tried to sleep one night in a native hut, 

 but could not because of attacks by the fighting battalions of 

 a very small species of Formica, not more than one-sixteenth 

 of an inch in length. It soon became obvious that they were 

 under regular discipline, and even attempting to carry out 

 the skilful plans and stratagem of some eminent leader. Our 

 hands and necks were the first objects of attack. Large 

 bodies of these little pests were massed in silence round the 

 point to be assaulted. We could hear the sharp, shrill word 

 of command, two or three times repeated, though, until then, 

 we had not believed in the vocal power of an ant, and the 

 instant after we felt the storming hosts over head and 

 neck." 



Another well-known naturalist, writing of Indian ants, 

 states that " the roar raised by a squadron of Lobopelta, if 

 you poke at them with a straw, does not require to be 

 listened for with your hand to your ear," and further 

 amusingly suggests that the organs by which the sounds are 

 produced are " military drums." 



Can ants talk then? you ask. Not as we understand 

 talking, perhaps, but they make certain sounds which they 

 understand, and by means of which they can communicate 



