SIR J. LUBBOCK ON ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. 379 



me, carried it off to the nest, returning at once for another, 

 bringing some friends with her to help. When she knew her 

 way, I gradually moved the cup across the table along the paper 

 bridge to M. After a while the ants came to know the way quite 

 well, and passed to and fro quite straight along the paper path 

 from the nest to the larvae at M. Having thus established a service 

 of ants, I tried the following experiments : — 



1. I removed the piece of paper Gr E. This disturbed them ; 

 but they very soon reestablished the chain. 



2. I turned round the central piece of the table Gr E, so that the 

 paper Gr E was reversed, Gr being where E had been, and vice versa. 

 This did not seem to disconcert the ants at all. 



3. When the ants were between I and B, I rotated the outer 

 circle of the table halfway round, which of course carried the cup 

 containing the larvae from L to B. The ants took no notice of 

 this, but went straight to L. 



4. When the ants were between I and B, I rotated the table 

 several times, bringing it finally to the original position. This 

 disturbed them a good deal ; but eventually they all continued 

 their course to L. 



5. When the ants were between I and D, I half rotated the 

 two centre parts of the table, the result of which, of course, was 

 that the ant was moving away from, instead of towards, the nest. 

 In every case the ants turned round too, so as duly to reach L. 

 So also those which were on their way from the nest to the larvae 

 turned in the same manner. 



6. When the ants were between I and D, I half rotated the 

 whole table. Again the ants turned round too, though of course 

 in this case, when they reached the place where L had been, the 

 cup with the larvae was behind them at B. 



These two experiments, though quite in accordance with those 

 previously made, puzzled me a good deal. Experiment 3, as well 

 as those recorded in previous papers, seemed to show that ants 

 were little guided in such cases by the position of surrounding 

 objects. However, I was anxious to test this. 



7. Accordingly I took a round box and placed it upside down on 

 the table, having cut two niches, one at each side, where it lay on 

 the paper path, so as to afford a passage for the ants, as in the expe- 

 riments recorded in my previous paper ; but on this occasion I left 

 the lid on. cutting, however, a hole through which I could watch 

 the result. In this case, therefore, the surrounding objects, i. e. 



