SIR JOHN LUBBOCK OK THE HABITS OF ANTS. 239 



moment. The entrance to the nest was about 8 inches off; but 

 she walked straight to it and into the nest, A second wandered 

 about for four or five minutes and then went in ; a third, on the 

 contrary, took a wrong direction, and, at any rate for th^ee quar- 

 ters of an hour, did not find the entrance. 



Very different is the behaviour of L. niger under similar cir- 

 cumstances. I tried the same experiment with them. There were 

 no communications with the antennae, there was no cleaning; but 

 every ant which the stranger approached flew at her like a little 

 tigress. I tried this experiment four times ; each stranger was 

 killed and borne off to the nest. 



Buspected Cannibalism. 

 Ants have even been suspected of cannibalism by some writers *, 

 because those which are found dead are generally more or less shri- 

 velled, and the large females even are reduced almost to an empty 

 shell. Huber's statement that their affection for their queens 

 induces them to brush and lick them for days after death, has even 

 been regarded as evidence of cannibalism rather than of affection- 

 On this point, however, further evidence is required. 



Experiments Testing the Senses. Sight. 



In order to test how far they are guided by sight, I made 

 various observations and experiments, the accompanying woodcuts 

 being reduced copies of tracings of some of the tracks made by 

 the ants during the course of the observations. I shall commence 

 with experiment No. 2. 



IJxp. 2. — Feb. On the parade-ground (see fig. 2) I placed 

 upright a common cylindrical lead-pencil j inch in diameter 

 and 7 inches long, fastened with sealing-wax to a penny-piece. 

 Close to the base of the pencil (A) I brought the end of a paper 

 bridge (B) leading to the nest, and then placed a shallow glass with 

 larvae at C, 4 inches from the base of the pencil, I then put an ant 

 to the larvae ; when she had become acquainted with the road, she 

 went very straight, as is shown in the woodcut (fig. 2). In one 

 case, at the point E, she dropped her larva and returned for ano- 

 ther. When she returned on the next journey and was on the 

 glass, I moved it 3 inches, to D, so that the end of the glass was 

 6 inches from the base of the pencil. If she were much guided 1)y 

 sight, then she would have little or no difficulty in finding her way 



* See, for instance, an interesting communication by Mr. Elwin, Sci. Gossip, 

 Nov. 1870, p. 243. 



