Aug. 14, 1873] 
rent side, until at length the antelopes passed over a ditch in 
which a fifth wolf lay concealed. This wolf, jumping up as the 
antelopes crossed, secured one of them, upon which his four 
companions joined him, and assisted in making a meal of the 
captured animal. 
A civilian of the N.W.P.* told me that he witnessed a very 
similar occurrence in Oudh. He saw two wolves standing to- 
gether, and shortly after noticing them was surprised to see one 
of them lie down in a ditch, and the other walk away over the 
open plain. He watched the latter, which deliberately went to 
the far side of a herd of antelopes standing in the plain, and 
drove them, as a sheep dog would a flock of sheep, to the very 
spot where his companion layin ambush, As the antelopes 
crossed the ditch, the concealed wolf jumped up, as in the 
former case, seized a doe, and was joined by his colleague. 
Here are two well-authenticated instances of an action or 
series of actions requiring the exercise of combined sagacity of a 
high degree on the part of two or more individual animals, being 
performed in exactly the same way by different members of the 
same species. Was the method employed by the wolves to se- 
cure their food, which they could not have caught single-handed, 
the result of separate experience or of inherited habit? The 
identical character of the stratagem employed in the two cases 
points to the latter, 
I have noticed some similar instances of collective action on 
the part of other animals which I believe to be as much in- 
herited as the habitual actions of individual animals. I have 
constantly seen a flock of pelicans when on the feed form a 
line across a lake, and drive the fish before them up its whole 
length, just as fishermen would with a net. The capture of the 
fish is rendered doubly easy by this method. I have witnessed 
exactly a similar plan pursued by a large number of Ganges 
crocodiles which had been lying or swimming about all day in 
front of my tent, at the mouth of a small stream which led from 
some large inland lakes to the Ganges. Towards dusk, at the 
same moment, every one of them left the bank on which they 
were lying, or the deep water in which they were swimming, 
and formed line across the stream, which was about twenty yards 
wide, They had to form a double line, as there was not room 
for all in a single line. They then swam slowly up the shallow 
stream, driving the fish before them, and I saw two or three fish 
caught before they disappeared. 
Where a large number of individuals constantly repeat in 
continuation the same action, it is possible that the younger 
members may merely copy the older members of the species, 
and so carry on the habit generation after generation. This is 
less likely where few are concerned, as in the case of the wolves. 
A pair of wolves are probably of the same age. It isa marked 
habit of some species of birds to hunt in pairs, and assist each 
other in the capture of their prey. The wokhad, or common 
eagles of the Indian plains, hunt in this way. When one of the 
pair misses in its swoop, the other descends on the victim'before 
it has time to make afresh attempt to escape. The circumstance 
that some species of birds of prey are in the habit of combining 
for the capture of their food, while others hunt singly, would 
tend to prove that the combined habit is as much inherited as 
the habits of individuals are known to be. 
Gregarious actions, which require combination of purpose on 
the part of two or more individuals, entail the exercise, if not of 
a higher degree of intelligence, at any rate of a greater number 
of intelligent qualities than the isolated actions of single indivi- 
duals. This class of actions possesses, therefore, a special in- 
terest. Those instances in which different individuals perform 
totally different acts for the attainment of the same end, as in 
the case of the wolves, are the most interesting, as requiring the 
most intelligent qualities. I should be glad to learn if any of 
your readers have ever witnessed or heard of the stratagem de- 
scribed above being employed by wolves for the capture of their 
prey. 
Allahabad, June 29 E. C, Buck 
Ants and “the Taint of the Hand” 
In NaturE, July 24,-Mr. James D. Hague, writing on the 
habits of ants, attributes their dislike to the place across which 
a finger has been drawn to ‘the taint of the hand.” 
Now, Sir, I have frequently drawn a line with a piece of 
chalk across the track of ants, and observed. in them the same 
symptoms of dislike as Mr, Hague’s ants showed to the finger- 
mark, 
* Mr, Elliott, B.C.S., now Secretary to Government, N,W.P, 
NATURE 
303 
Thave also drawn a small circle with chalk round one or 
more ants, who will seek a spot untouched by the chalk through 
which to make their escape ; but should there be no such open- 
ing, they will presently cross the circle. Tf, however, this en- 
closure be made upon a perpendicular wall, &c., they will 
frequently drop to the ground rather than walk across the line, 
Now, as I have never observed this same dislike—exhibited 
by dropping—of the ‘‘taint” when ants have been running 
over my hands, and as the chalk-line has the same effect as the 
finger-mark, may it not be something else than the “ taint of the 
hand” to which the ants object when their usual track is inter- 
fered with ? 
Stamford, Aug. § G. B.C, 
Venomous Caterpillars 
WiTH reference to a paper published by Mr. Murray in 
NATUuRE, vol. viii. p. 7, on Venomous Caterpillars, I wish, in 
corroboration, to add my testimony from personal experience, 
that a species of caterpillar has the power of inflicting a very 
painful sensation (I will not say wound, as such was not visible) 
by its sting. 
In 1868, when travelling in company with Capt. Street in the 
Burmese forests on a botanical trip, and whilst in the act of de- 
taching a specimen plant of Dendrobium farmerii, from the 
naked branch of a tree, I felt a severe and painful sting on my 
thumb. On examination I noticed I had seized hold of a large 
caterpillar lodged amongst the roots of this orchid. It was about 
two inches long, clothed with erect hairs; its colour was a 
reddish brown, the lower part of the abdomen being darker, 
with well-developed legs. : 
My thumb continued painful for three days ; it was consider- 
ably swollen, the skin having a drawn glazed appearance, 
_ The Burmese told me that this kind of caterpillar was exceed- 
ingly venomous, and one fellow was particularly consoling by 
informing me that unless the pain subsided in three days the 
sting might prove fatal, Iam inclined to think that the cater. 
pillar for self-protection has the power of detaching these hairs; 
whether any propelling force is present at the time of detachment 
it would be difficult to prove. 
I found steeping my thumb in Eau de Cologne gave me the 
greatest relief. 
Whether these hairy caterpillars have a special venom or 
otherwise I do not feel qualified to express my opinion either 
one way or the other ; but I lean towards the conclusion that 
the irritation is set up by the mechanical action of the spine 
during its penetration of the skin, and my reason for inclining 
towards this opinion is because we have a somewhat parallel case 
in the irritation caused by the hairs of the prickly pear, 
I was present when an officer was thrown off his horse into a 
prickly pear hedge ; he suffered the greatest pain, and could not 
bear the parts, where these minute spines had penetrated the 
skin, to be touched. On his being placed in a warm bath the 
relief was almost immediate, especially to those parts capable of 
total immersion, and this I attribute to the prickles or hairs 
floating and becoming removed from the skin by the oscillatory 
motion of the water, 
Madras, July R, Benson 
Abnormal Ox-eye Daisy 
In 1868 I gathered among the ruins of Pompeii a very curious 
monstrosity of the common ox-eye daisy. The flower and flower- 
stalk were confounded into a strap-shaped mass which was 
fringed with the florets. I showed it to Prof. Wyville Thomson, 
who told me it was an instance abnormal in this species, of the 
form of inflorescence which is normal in the coxcomb, 
JosEPH JOHN MurrHy 
Old Forge, Dunmurry, Aug. 1 
Canarese Snakes 
Fam. Erycide, Gen. Gongylophis? Sp.?—Captured in Man. 
galore, December 2, Gape wide ; fangs in sup. and inf, maxile 
laris. 
Body moderate, tail short, obtuse scales, smooth, ‘48 ;—- 
yentrals narrow, 197, terminating with three rows of scales 
between last ventral and anal ; latter entire, Subcaudals single, 
24, last forming conical point, 
