THE WEB OF LIFE 327 



Another outstanding feature is the instinctive socializa- 

 tion. Put it as one may, there is no getting round the big 

 fact that these ants have to a very large extent given up 

 working for their own hand. While they satisfy their 

 own needs by the way, the bulk of their energy is expended 

 fro bono -publico, for although we may not be justified in 

 saying that they toil and moil consciously for the sake of 

 anything, it is certainly not for themselves that they are 

 so indefatigable and persevering. Noteworthy is the fact 

 that in some ant-communities it seems to be a convention 

 — an unwritten law — ^that if an ' empty ' ant applies to a 

 full one for food, he must forthwith be fed. This is carrying 

 out the idea of community of goods to its utmost limit. 



The capacity for unified action is well illustrated by 

 the battles between rival ant-hills, and by the slave-making 

 raids in which the pupse of another species are captured 

 and brought home to grow up into servitude. In some 

 cases the slave-keeping has gone so far that the economic 

 stability of the community depends solely on the enslaved 

 species, with whom the fundamental business of production 

 rests. The final result may be that the ' masters ' seem 

 to become enervated and unable to fend for themselves. 

 In the well-known instance of the Amazon ant, Polyergus 

 rufescens, the ' masters ' have to be fed by the ' slaves '. 

 Very curious also is the fact that in the raids the old slaves 

 take their share in capturing new ones. 



Co-operation in dragging a burden is a famiUar sight 

 and illustrates the sociaUzation of the ant. But there 

 are many subtler cases. Prof. Bugnion of Lausanne has 

 corroborated many of the older observations on the tailor 

 ant, (Ecophylla smaragdina, which is common in hot 

 countries. He vouches for their extraordinary habit of 



