340 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
‘a Mackerel without markings,” being the second landed at Mevagissey this 
season. When first seen, Mr. Dunn observes that it had twenty-five oblique 
dark lines (very indistinct) above the lateral line. On arrival at Cheltenham 
these lines were hardly visible. The example was 14} inches in length, in 
pretty good condition, a female which had spawned, and in which no 
air-bladder existed. It is very interesting as demonstrating that not only 
may the black markings be variously altered, as in the dotted and scribbled 
forms, but even be entirely wanting, as observable in this specimen.— 
Francis Day (Pittville, Cheltenham). 
Erratum.—In my notice of the National Fisheries Exhibition lately 
held at Norwich, ‘ Zoologist’ for June last, p. 251, fourth line from the 
bottom, for “ Fakenham,” read “ Lakenham.”—T, SourHwe-t. 
Sir Jonny Lupsock on tHE Haxits or Ants.—At the meeting of the 
Linnean Society on June 2nd Sir John Lubbock read a further paper on 
this subject. He said that in one of his former essays (Linn. Soe. Journ., 
vol. xiv., p. 278) he had given a series of experiments made on Ants with 
light of different colours, in order, if possible, to determine whether Ants 
had the power of distinguishing colours. For this purpose he utilised the 
dread which Ants, when on their nest, have of light. Not unnaturally, if a 
nest is uncovered, they think they are being attacked, and hasten to carry 
their young away to a darker, and as they suppose a safer, place. He 
satisfied himself, by hundreds of experiments, that if he exposed to light 
most of a nest, but left any part of it covered over, the young would 
certainly be conveyed to the darker portion. In this manner he satisfied 
himself that the different rays of the spectrum act on them in a different 
manner from that in which they affect us; for instance, that Ants are 
specially sensitive to the violet rays. But he was anxious to go beyond 
this, and to attempt to determine how far their limits of vision agree with 
ours. We all know that if a ray of white light is passed through a prism, 
it is broken up into a beautiful band of colours—the spectrum. ‘To our 
eyes it is bounded by red at the one end and violet at the other, the edge 
being sharply marked at the red end, but less abruptly at the violet. But 
a ray of light contains, besides the rays visible to our eyes, others which are 
called, though not with absolute correctness, “ heat rays” and ‘ chemical 
rays.” These, so far from being bounded by the limits of our vision, extend 
far beyond it—the heat rays at the red, the chemical rays at the violet end. 
He wished, under these circumstances to determine, if possible, whether 
the limits of vision in the case of ants was the same as with us. This 
interesting problem he endeavoured to solve as follows :—If an Ants’ nest 
be disturbed, the Ants soon carry their grubs and chrysalises under-ground 
again to a place of safety. Sir John, availing himself of this habit, placed 
