ANTS AND ANT LIFE. 139 



mouth. All the other relations of Huber were fully con- 

 firmed by Forel. He put twelve Amazons with pupje, 

 larvse, and abundant food (dead insects, larvae, meat, honey, 

 sugar) in a glass jar filled with damp earth. The Amazons 

 did not move about but sat together in a corner. When 

 Forel compelled one to go to the honey it behaved very 

 clumsily, messed its forefeet and its feelers in it, and turned 

 back again to its corner. Its whole conduct was exactly 

 the opposite of what -ants are accustomed to do under 

 similar circumstances. The other Amazons also all avoided 

 the honey, instead of touching it. On the other hand they 

 several times vainly begged to each other for food. This 

 lasted for several days, and all the food remained untouched. 

 Two of the Amazons died, the others remained in good 

 health, thanks to the damp earth. The larvae visibly fell 

 away. As soon as an Amazon came near them they turned 

 to it to ask for food, but it contented itself with gently 

 touching them with its antennas, apparently in order to explain 

 that it was unable to do as they wished. After the lapse of 

 seven days all remained in the same state ; Forel then took 

 away the meat and the dead insects, which had putrefied, 

 and this time brought a slave belonging to the F. rufibarbis 

 or cunicularia, a sub-species of F.fusca. The new comer was 

 immediately surrounded by the Amazons, begging for food. 

 At first it pushed back the crowd. But when it discovered 

 the honey it filled itself in less than ten minutes, and then 

 began to feed the Amazons, one after another. Without 

 moving, it let a clear drop, as large as the head of an 

 Amazon, run out of its mouth, and this was at once 

 swallowed by the Amazon, which caressed its friend with its 

 antennae and fore- feet. The slave eat up the store of honey 

 in this way, and divided it among its masters. It then 

 began to look to the pupae, all the larvae having perished for 

 want of nourishment. Another day Forel gave it a com- 

 panion, and the two together now built rooms for the pupae 

 and for their masters. W. M. R. (" Nature," 1879, No. 1) 

 made an exactly similar observation. He put thirty Amazons 

 with four larvae and some honey into a box, and after two 

 days found five of them dead. He then put in three slaves, 

 which at once set to work, fed the Amazons, acted as nurses 

 to deliver two larvae which were just emerging, and had 

 brought everything to order in a few hours. The observer 



