SCIENCE-GOSS/r 



39 



(Irups of a uhilish li(|iiul fiuiii :i( ihf cxlrcmilies of 

 ihu appendices, a phiMininciMn liearini; a striking 

 imalijgy in the niilk siiuirniinu from the mammae of a 

 cow. The am is simply iiiilkinj; the plant louse, con- 

 suming the liipiiiJ with keen appreciation. Kach 

 ant goes through the same performance with several 

 more aphides, then it gorges itself with an ample 

 supply, and carries son\e off to share with the young 



The ants go further : they sometimes drive a herd 

 of plant lice to their quarters, so as to have them 

 handy for future use. This requires the ants to 

 construct a sort of staUc for their convenience, and to 

 provide them with suitable food. They behave 

 towards their " cows " exactly as a good farmer does 

 towards his cattle, and for the same reason, that by 

 proper care and attention they may increase the value 

 of their stock. When the stable is constructed the 

 ants sally forth in a body, and having sighted their 

 prey, each ant approaches an aphis, probes it softly 

 imtil it abiindons the leaf from which it is sucking the 

 juice, then seizing it gently by the middle of the body 

 the am carries off the aphis in triumph, though it may 

 be man> times its own size. Should a plant louse 

 ofler any resistance, which they do sometimes, the ant 

 sliglul)- stupefies it by subculaneously injecting an 

 acrid fluid, known to chemists as formic acid. Under 

 its influence the aphis loosens its gi.isp, and is carried 

 off. Having reached their quarters, the ants omit 

 nothing that will tend to the comfort of their captives. 

 .After a little time the aphides gel used to their new- 

 conditions, and settle down to their lot with perfect 

 content. By-and-by, as they grow old and useless 

 they are replaced by others, but on the whole the ants 

 appear to be no less tender in their treatment of 

 the aphides than of their own young. 



Casual obser\'ers might see some evidence of 

 intelligence in the ant's behaviour towards the aphis. 

 We must, however, admit that their sagacity, though 

 exemplary, is too uniform. Their affection is alw.-ivs 

 the same, their tenderness ever patient, their kind- 

 ness never decreasing, their devotion never re- 

 laxing. So many virtues without a single vice are 

 not met with among other creatures. We must find 

 the cause elsewhere than in a hypothetical will, and 

 for the present we fall back on instinct. 



All ants are not pastoral, peaceful, laborious, and 

 economical in their habits. There is a warrior race 

 of ants. They attack other ants to possess them- 

 selves of their young — of which they make slaves. 

 The warrior ants seem to have all the vices of man. 

 In their infancy and youth they are perfect nindels of 

 goodness, but as soon as they reach the adult state 

 they wantonly abandon themselves to their ferocious 

 instincts. The warrior ants have well trained armies, 

 and they go to war with other ants of their species, not 

 :is a tumultuous mob, but in perfect order under the 

 control of a leader. Their ranks may straggle on 

 occasion, but they are never confused. .\s soon a.s 

 they reach the enemies" camp, the attack commences, 

 and the process of war is that of other battlefields 

 The struggle is deadly and savage, and the ma.s.sacre 

 fearfully complete. Iijis a veritable battle, with all 



its horror and rcpulsivcncs.s. There arc dead, dying, 

 and wounded scattered over the miniature theatre of 

 war. It is n<jt possible to witness the affray without 

 feelings of compuncti<m, and the query forces itself 

 upon us, is this war the normal condition of terrestrial 

 creatures .' The battle over, the warrior ants rush 

 through every opening into the city. They put to 

 death ihe guards, take jjossession of the larvae and 

 carry them ofl'. These baby captives are ilestined by- 

 and-by, to be the slaves of their coiKpierors. 



The captive larvae having reached the adult state, 

 attend to the wants of their masters, and take care of 

 them as if they were children ; so well indeed, that 

 the conquerors are virtually the slaves, Ijecause they 

 •are incapable of administering to their own wants, and 

 would die of starvation but for their faithful little 

 slaves. Strangely enough, these slaves make no effort 

 to secure their freedom, which they could easily attain. 

 They seem to feel them.selves, as it were, members of 

 the community. The condition of these little slaves, 

 one must say, is ameliorating, and we never find 

 among them as among men, des[Xitism on one side, and 

 subjection on the other, their association being mutual 

 and free. I have even seen, during a migration, the 

 masters carrying their slaves. We see instinct here, 

 in the fact that warrior ants never become slaves. 

 Their occupation is war only, no other species has the 

 same habit. The warrior ant is a soldier Ixjrn, but he 

 cannot instruct his captives in the art of war. Men 

 alone piuss through the alternatives of war and peace, 

 and are s(jmetimes conquerors, and sometimes captives. 

 With men alone, is war an art, of which the tactics 

 and engines var\- with his knowledge. War has its 

 laws which all ought to know to soine extent. Man 

 triumphs through his intelligence ; by the intellect, he 

 conceives, and according to those conceptions, he plan.s 

 war and fa.shions his implements. The warrior ant 

 always conquers by the same means, and with the 

 same end in view. It does not fight for a principle, 

 and knows no glory. It perfonns a function to which 

 it is condemned by the fatality of its organisation and 

 instinct. 



( To he conlimted. ) 



"Tandem Butterfi.ies." — The modem scramble 

 among newspaper writers for the sensational, has 

 landed at least a couple of London Newspapers, into 

 a lamentable exhibition of ignorance, each of these 

 papers has recently illustrated a " tandem butterfly."' 

 Not satisfied with perpetuating in all seriousness a 

 ridiculous joke, they show that there is not a single 

 person on the literarv staft' of these newspapers, who 

 knows the difference between a butterfly and a moth. 

 The figure, evidently drawn by one uninitiated in the 

 natural history of insects, depicts a bombycoid moth 

 with a long interval of body between the front and 

 hind wings. This by no means makes a " tandem "" 

 butterfly. It reminds one of the anecdote of the 

 late Professor Westwood, who, on being invited to 

 name an insect beautifully built up of pieces from 

 various orders, at once identified it as a bug — a 

 '* humbug."" 



