SIE JOHN LUBBOCK ON THE HABITS OF AKTS. 223 



ants. At 2.30 I buried one as before under about | of an inch 

 of fine earth. A great many of her friends were passing con- 

 tinually over her head, but not one of them took any notice of 

 her till 7 p.m., when I let her out. 



(5) About a month later, on Sept. 10, 1 again tried the same ex- 

 periment, imprisoning some at 10.15 a.m. Up to 4.30 they had 

 not been released. I then let them out, and buried some more. 

 The next morning the honey was all consumed, but some of the 

 ants were still searching about. The prisoners, however, were 

 still in durance. 



But even if their friends who are in difficulty are actually in 

 sight, it by no means follows that their companions will assist 

 them. 



Of this I could give almost any number of cases. Thus on one 

 occasion several specimens of Formica fusca belonging to one of 

 my nests were feeding on some honey spread on a slip of glass 

 (May 22). One of them had got thoroughly entangled in it. I 

 took her and put her down just in front of another specimen 

 belonging to the same nest, and close by placed a drop of honey. 

 The ant devoted herself to the honey and entirely neglected her 

 friend, whom she left to perish. 



Again, some specimens of Gremastog aster scutellaris were feed- 

 ing quietly (May 22) on some honey spread on a slip of glass, 

 and one of them had got thoroughly mixed in it. I took her out 

 and put her on the glass close by. She could not disentangle 

 herself; not one of her friends took the least notice of her, and 

 eventually she died. I then chloroformed one and put her on the 

 board among her friends. Several touched her, but from 12 to 

 2.30 P.M. none took any particular notice of her *. 



I thought, however, that it would be desirable to make some 

 systematic observations on the subject. The results were as 

 follows. 



Sept. 10, at 6 p.m., a number of Lasius flavus from one of my 

 captive nests were out feeding on some honey. I chloroformed 

 four of them and also four from a nest in the park, at some dis- 

 tance from the place where the first had been originally procured, 

 and put them close to the honey. Up to 8,20 the ants had taken no 

 notice of their insensible fellow creatures. At 9.20 I found that 



* Dead ants, I may add, are always brought out of the nest, and I haye more 

 than once found a little heap on one spot, giving it almost the appearance of a 

 bui'ial-grouiid. 



