4(5 Seme- oj Smell. 



of ants, and on the tibite of ants and other insects, which are 

 possibly auditory organs. i, . i ;i 



That insects have a very refined sense of smell is beyond 

 question. The carrion-fly quickly finds the carcass, the scaven- 

 ger the filth, and the bs^ the nectar. 



I have reared female moths in my study, and have been 

 greatly surprised, on the day of their leavin.::^ their cocoons, to 

 hnd my room swarming with males. These In-ldegrooms 

 entered an open window in the second-story of a brick build- 

 ing. How delicate must have l^ecn the sense by which they 

 were led to make the visit, and thus niatle to grace my cabinet. 

 Male moths have been known to come down chimney to reach 

 the females. Bees have been known to dasli against a shutter 

 behind which were flowers, thus showing the superiority of 

 their perception of odors, as also their poor vision. But odors 

 are carried by the air, and must reach the insect through this 

 medium. Is it not probalile that the vari(jus breathing mouths 

 of insects are also so many noses, and that their delicate lining 

 membranes abounding with nerve lihunents, are the great odor 

 sentinels? This view was maintained by both Lehman and 

 Cuvier, and explains this delicate perception of scents, as the 

 breathing mouths are large and numerous, find most so in 

 insects like bees and moths wdiich are mo^t sensitive to odors. 

 Bees quickly notice the scent of a strange liee or queen, or the 

 peculiar odor of the venom. I have kuo\\'n a bee to sting a 

 glove, and in a trice the glove would be as a pin-cushion, with 

 stings in lieu of pins. Sometimes the bees will dart for many 

 feet, guided by this odor. Yet the odor is very pungent, as I 

 have frequently smelt the poison before' I felt the sting. Sir 

 John Lubbock's experiments with ants show that with them us 

 with bees, the sense of smell is liighly developed. I have 

 tried the experiments of Huljer and Lubbock, and know that 

 such insects as bees and ants will take no note of ibod after 

 the loss of their antennaa. But we must rememl)er that this 

 is a capital operation. With loss of antennre, insects lose con- 

 trol of their motions, and in many ways show great disturb- 

 ance. Is it not probable that removing the antennas destroys 

 the desire for food, as does amputation with ourselves? Kirliy 

 believes, with Huber, that there is a scent organ. Huber's 

 experiments on which he based this opinion ara, as usual, very 

 irteresting. He presented a coarse hair dipped in oil of tur- 



