ANTS AND ANT LIFE. 135 



bridge in every direction with their antennae, running back 

 again and coming in ever larger swarms, as though they 

 had communicated to their comrades within the cupboard 

 the fearful misfortune that had taken place. Meanwhile 

 the new comers continued to run along the straw, and not 

 finding the leg of the cupboard the greatest perplexity arose. 

 They hurried round the. edge of the pan, and soon found out 

 where the fault lay. With united forces they quickly 

 pulled and pushed at the straw, until it again came into 

 contact with the wood, and the communication was again 

 restored." 



To this we may add a very interesting observation of the 

 Franciscan father, Vincent Gredler, of Botzen, recorded as 

 follows in " Zool. Gardens," xv. p. 434. "In Herr Gredler's 

 monastery one of the monks had been accustomed for some 

 months to put food regularly on his window-sill for ants 

 coming up from the garden. In consequence of Herr 

 Gredler's communications he took it into his head to put the 

 bait for the ants, pounded sugar, into an old inkstand, and 

 hung this up by a string to the cross piece of his window 

 and left it hanging freely. A few ants were in with the bait. 

 These soon found their road out over the string with their 

 grains of sugar, and so their way back to their friends. Be- 

 fore long a procession was arranged on the new road from 

 the window-sill along the string to the spot where the sugar 

 was, and so things went on for two days, nothing fresh 

 occurring. But one day the procession stopped at the old 

 feeding-place on the window-sill, and took the food thence, 

 without going up to the pendant sugar-jar. Closer obser- 

 vation revealed that about a dozen of the rogues were in the 

 jar above, and were busily and unwearyingly carrying the 

 grains of sugar to the edge of the pot, and throwing them 

 over to their comrades down below ! " 



We here see an action exactly similar to that we found 

 among harvesting ants, some of which loosened seeds from 

 the stalks of plants and shook them down, while others below 

 gathered them up. 



K 2 



