1388 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
similar to those by which in bees this has been established. It is, however, 
rendered more than probable by the fact that, while males and workers 
have been bred by hundreds in his nests, no queen has yet been produced. 
M. Lespés has given a short but interesting account of some experiments 
made by him on the relations existing between ants and their domestic 
animals, from which it might be inferred that even within the limits of a 
single species some communities are more advanced than others. He found 
that specimens of the curious blind beetle, Claviger, which always occurs 
with ants, when transferred from a nest of Lasius niger to another which 
kept none of these domestic beetles, were invariably attacked and eaten. 
From this he infers that the intelligence necessary to keep Clavigers is not 
co-extensive with the species, but belongs only to certain communities and 
races, which, so to say, are more advanced in civilization than the rest of 
the species. Sir John Lubbock, however, removed specimens of the curious 
blind Platyarthrus from one nest to another, but they were always amicably 
received. He even transferred specimens from a nest of Lasius flavus to one 
of Formica fusca, with the same result. As regards the longevity of ants, he 
has now two queens of F’. fusca which seem quite in good health, and which 
have lived with him since 1874; they are, therefore, probably five years old. 
He has also workers of L. niger, I’. sanguinea, F’. fusca and F. cinerea, 
which he has had under observation since 1875. In his previous papers he 
has given several instances which seem to show that ants do not exhibit 
such unvarying kindness to their friends as has been usually supposed. 
He wished, however, to guard himself against being supposed to question 
the general good qualities of his favourites. In fact, ants of the same nest 
never quarrel among themselves; he had never seen any evidence of 
ill-temper in any of his nests. All is harmony. He had already in 
previous papers given various instances of tender kindness. Again, in one 
of his nests of Formica fusca was a poor ant which had come into the world 
without antenne. Never having previously met with such a case, he 
watched her with great interest, but she never appeared to leave the nest. 
At length, one day he found her wandering about in an aimless sort of 
manner, and apparently not knowing her way at all. After a while she fell 
in with some specimens of Lasius flavus, who directly attacked her. He 
then set himself to separate them; but she was evidently much wounded, 
and lay helpless on the ground. After some time another /’. fusca from 
her nest came by. She examined the poor sufferer carefully, then picked 
her up tenderly and carried her away into the nest. It would have been 
difficult, Sir John thinks, for any one who witnessed this scene to have 
denied to this ant the possession of human feelings. It is clear, from the 
experiments recorded iu the present and in Sir John’s former papers, that 
the ants recognise all their fellows in the same nest, but it is very difficult 
to understand how this can be effected. The nests vary very much in size, 
