The Zoologist— May, 1874. 4001 



angler has beeu kuown to measure five feet in length, but the most common 

 size is about three feet."— J. S. Boiverhank; 2, East Ascent, St. Leonard's- 

 on-Sea, April 12, 1874, 



|0mMngs at MtwMt Bmlit$, 



LiNNEAN Society of London. 



March 19, 1874.— Dr. G. J. Allman, F.R.S., in the chair. 



The following papers were read, viz. : — 



1. " Observations on Bees and Wasps." By Sir John Lubbock, Bart., 

 M.P. The paper commenced by pointing out, with reference to the power 

 of communication with one another said to be possessed by Hymenoptera, 

 that the observations on record scarcely justify the conclusions which have 

 been drawn from them. In support of the opinion that ants, bees, and 

 wasps possess a true language, it is usually stated that if one bee discovers 

 a store of honey, the others are soon aware of the fact. This, however, does 

 not necessarily imply the possession of any power of describing localities, 

 or anything which could correctly be called a language. If the bees or 

 wasps merely follow their fortunate companions, the matter is simple 

 enough. If, on the contrary, the others are sent, the case will be very 

 different. To test this, Sir John kept honey in a given place for some 

 time, in order to satisfy himself that it would not readily be found by the 

 bees, and then brought a bee to the honey, marking it so that he could 

 ascertain whether it brought others or sent them, the latter, of course, 

 implying a much higher order of intelligence and power of communi- 

 cation. After trying the experiment several times with single bees and 

 obtaining only negative results. Sir John Lubbock procured one of 

 Marriott's observatory-hives, which he placed in his sitting-room. The bees 

 had free access to the open air ; but there was also a small side or postern 

 door, which could be opened at pleasure, and which led into the room. 

 This enabled him to feed and mark any particular bees ; and he recounted 

 a number of experiments, from which it appeared that comparatively few 

 bees found their own way through the postern, while of those which did so 

 the great majority flew to the window, and scarcely any found the honey 

 for themselves. Tbose, on the contrary, which were taken to the honey, 

 passed backwards and forwards between it and the hive, making, on an 

 average, five journeys in the hour. Sir John had also in a similar manner 

 watched a number of marked wasps, with very similar results. These and 

 other observations of the same tendency appear to show that, even if bees 

 and wasps have the power of informing one another when they discover a 

 store of good food, at any rate they do not habitually do so ; and this seemed 



