.^^ MR, MACLEOD YEARSLEY ON THE [Feb. 7, 



in favour of an auditory function ; but a perusal of tlieir in- 

 vestigations does not convince. A more favourable verdict can 

 be accorded to the conclusions of Perris (11), Hausa (12), Forel 

 (13), and Plateau (14) in support of an olfactory function. 



Lowne (15), in discussing the whole matter, thought it im- 

 probable that the antenna? contain organs of audition in insects, 

 and remai-ks : " I think it more probably a balancing organ than 

 an auditory organ in the strict sense of the word." 



Lord Avebury (16) describes an individual ant {Myrmica 

 ruginodis) which had lost the terminal portion of both her 

 antennfe : " She seemed to have lost her wits. I put her into 

 a nest, but the others took no notice of her ; after wandering 

 about a little, she retired into a solitary place, where she remained 

 from 3 P.M. to 8 p.m. without moving. The following morning I 

 looked for her at 5.30, and found her still at the same spot. 

 She remained there till 9, when she came out. She remained 

 out all day ; and the following morning I found her dead." 



Latreille (17), quoted by Lord Avebury, says: " Le sens de 

 I'odorat se manifestant d'une maniere aussi sensible, je voulois 

 profiter de cette remarque pour eu decouvrir le si^ge. On a 

 soup9onn6 depuis longtemps qu'il rdsidoit dans les antennes. 

 Je les arrachai a plusieurs fourmis fauves ouvriferes, aupr^s du 

 nid desquelles je me trouvois. Je vis aussitot ces petits animaux 

 que j'avois ainsi mutiles tomber dans un ^tat d'ivresse ou una 

 esp^ce de folie. lis erroient qi et la, et ne reconnoissoient plus 

 leur chemin. lis m'occupoient ; mais je n'etais pas le seul. 

 Quelques autres fourmis s'approchk'ent de ces pauvres affligees, 

 porterent leur langue sur les blessures, et y laisserent tomber une 

 goutte de liqueur. Get acte de sensibilit6 se renouvela phisieurs 

 fois ; je I'observai avec une loupe." 



The " condition of intoxication or species of madness " exhibited 

 by Latreille's ants, bereft of their antennee, is at least suggestive 

 of support to Lowne's surmise ; moreover, the results of" experi- 

 ments carried out by Yves Delage (18) upon Cephalopoda and 

 Crustacea and by Clemens (19) upon Samia cecropia support it 

 yet more strongly. 



■ With a view of obtaining further evidence upon the matter, 

 I recently (1904) made a series of experiments upon "Wasps. 

 I captured at different times a number of specimens (30 in all) 

 of Vespa vulgaris, and subjected them to removal of their antenna?. 

 My method was to confine each wasp under a small inverted 

 wineglass, beneath which was placed a little powdered sugar. 

 By cautiously introducing a pair of fine angular scissors under 

 the_ tilted edge of the glass, I was able to snip off each antenna 

 at its base. The insect thus mutilated was then carried into the 

 garden and its movements carefully watched. 



Experiments^ thus made on 30 wasps gave uniform results. 

 On first losing its antennae, each wasp kept passing its front legs 

 between its jaws and then rapidly drawing them over the tiny 

 wounds left by the scissors. Each wasp continued this manfeuvre 



