Mar. 26, 1S74J 



NATURE 



409 



Thus Messrs. Kirby and Spence say that ants have a 

 language " not confined merely to giving intelligence of 

 the approach or absence of danger, but co-extensive with 

 all their other occasions for communicating their ideas 

 to each other." The observ.ilions, however, on which 

 this statement is based, scarcely seemed to him to be 

 conclusive. The two Rubers, indeed, had clearly shown 

 that ants and bees could make one another cognizant of 

 their state of feehng, could communicate anger, danger, 

 &.C., but that was very different from the possession of a 

 true language. 



In support of the opinion that Ants and Bees pos- 

 sess a true language, it is usually stated that if one 

 bee discovers a store of honey, the others are soon aware 

 of the fact. Thus Ruber says, "Wasps are also ac- 

 quainted with the mode of imparting information to their 

 companions. When a single wasp discovers a stronghold 

 of sugar, honey, or other article of food, it returns to its 

 nest, and brings off, in a short time, a hundred other 

 wasps ; but we are yet ignorant, if it be by visible or pal- 

 pable signs, they are mutually informed of this discovery."* 



This, however, does not necessarily imply the posses- 

 sion 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 would be very different. In order to 

 test this, Sir John proposed to keep 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 after 

 bringing a bee to the honey, to watch whether it brought 

 others or sent them, — the latter, of course, implying a 

 much higher order of intelligence and power of commu- 

 nication. 



In the first place, then, he kept some honey for some 

 days at an open window in his sitting-room, and no bees 

 came to it. He then brought a bee up from his hives in 

 the garden in his hand, choosing one which was in the 

 act of leaving the hive. Re found it frightened the bees 

 less to be brought in the hand than in a bottle, probably 

 on account of the darkness. The bee thus brought up 

 was then fed with honey, which it sucked with evident 

 enjoyment for a few minutes, and then flew quietly away. 

 But though it had given no symptom of alarm or annoy- 

 ance, it did not return, nor did any other bee come to the 

 honey. This experiment he repeated eight times, with a 

 like result. He therefore procured one of Marriott's ob- 

 servatory 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. 



Those, 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. In 

 these cases it is obvious that the bees which had found 

 the honey did not communicate their discovery to the 

 others ; and the postern being small and on one side, few 

 of the bees found it out for themselves. If the honey 

 had been in an open place, no doubt the sight of their 

 companions feasting would have attracted other bees, but 

 in this case the honey was rather out of sight, being 

 behind the hive entrance ; and was, moreover, only acces- 

 sible by the narrow and winding exit through the little 

 postern door. 



Sir John had, also, in a similar manner, watched a 

 number of marked wasps with very similar results. 



No doubt when one wasp has discovered and is visiting 



• Huber, " N.it. Hist, of .Arils." p. 374 



a supply of syrup, others are apt to come too, but he believed 

 that they merely follow one another. He argued that if 

 they communicated the fact, considerable numbers would 

 at once make their appearance, but he has never found 

 this to be the case. The frequent and regular visits which 

 his wasps paid to the honey put out for them proves that 

 it was very much to their taste. Yet they did not bring 

 their companions with them. For instance, on September 

 19, when a marked wasp paid more than forty visits to 

 some honey, only one other specimen came to the honey 

 during the whole day. Both these wasps returned on the 

 20th, but not one other. The 21st was a hot day, and 

 there were many wasps about the house ; his honey was 

 regularly visited by the marked wasps, but during the 

 whole day only five others came to it. 



From these and other observations of the same tendency 

 he concludes 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 to him a strong reason for concluding that 

 they are not in the habit of communicating facts. If they 

 do not, he argues, discuss among themselves the incidents 

 of the day, their adventures in search of food, their 

 success and fortunes in hunting, is it not a fair inference 

 that they have no power of doing so ? 



Without in any way regarding the facts now recorded 

 as sufficient or conclusive, he thought they indicated that 

 their communications were confined to the feelings, and 

 that there was no power of transmitting information as to 

 matters of fact. 



When once wasps had made themselves thoroughly 

 acquainted with their way, their movements were most 

 regular. They spent three minutes supplying themselves 

 with honey, and then flew straight to the nest, returning 

 after an interval of about ten minutes, and thus making, like 

 the bees, about five journeys an hour. During September 

 they began in the morning at about 6 o'clock, and later when 

 the mornings began to get cold, and continued to work 

 without intermissron till dusk. They made therefore rather 

 more than 50 journeys in the day. In fact they were just 

 as industrious as bees, and kept longer hours, as they 

 began earlier in the morning. He believed that the 

 wasps which seemed to be idling in our rooms had 

 simply lost their way. He gave also a number of obser- 

 vations tending to show the difficulty which bees have in 

 finding their way. For instance, he put a bee into a bell 

 glass 18 inches long with a mouth 6h inches in diameter, 

 turning the closed end to the window. The bee buzzed 

 about for an hour, when, as there seemed no chance of 

 her getting out, he I'eleased her. 



Although, as everyone knows, wasps are easily startled 

 and very much on the alert, still they are very courageous. 



On one occasion one of his marked wasps had smeared 

 herself with honey and could not fly. When this hap- 

 pened to a bee it was only necessary to carry her to the 

 alighting-board, when she was soon cleaned by her com- 

 rades. But he did not know where this wasp's nest was, 

 and could not, therefore, pursue a similar course with her. 

 At first he was afraid she was doomed. He thought, 

 however-, that he could wash her, fully expecting, indeed, 

 to terrify her so much that she would not return again. 

 He therefore caught her, put her in a botde half full of 

 water-, and shook her up and down well till the honey was 

 washed off. He then transferred her to a dry bottle ana 

 put her in the sun. When she was dry he let her out, and 

 she at once flew to her nest. To his surprise, in thirteen 

 minutes she returned as if nothing had happened and con- 

 tinued her visits to the honey all the afternoon. The next 

 morning she was the first to arrive. 



He also had made some experiments on the behaviour 

 of bees introduced into strange hives, which seemed to 

 contradict the ordinary statement that strange bees are 

 always recognised and attacked. 



Another point as to which very different opinions have 



