126 



ON THE HABITS OF ANTS. 



[lect. 



any to go home. From 12 to 5.30, only eight came. 

 They were then allowed to take the news. From 5.30 

 to 6, four came; from 6 to 6.30, four; from 6.30 to 7, 

 eight ; from 7.30 to 8, no less than fifty-one. 



Again, on September 30th, I tried the same arrange- 

 ment, again beginning at 11. Up to 3.30, seven ants 

 came. We then let them go. From 3.30 to 4.30, 

 twenty-eight came. From 4.30 to 5, fifty-one came. 

 Thus in four hours and a half only seven came ; while, 

 when they were allowed to return, no less than seventy- 

 nine came in an hour and a half. It seems obvious 

 therefore that in these cases no communication was 

 transmitted by sound. 



In order further to test how far ants are guided by 

 sight and how much by scent, I tried the following ex- 

 periment with Lasius niger. Some food was put out at 



Fig. 50. 



the point a on a board measuring 20 inches by 12 (Fig. 

 50), and so arranged that the ants in going straight to it 

 from the nest would reach the board at the point b, and 

 after passing under a paper tunnel, c, would proceed 

 between five pairs of wooden bricks, each three inches in 

 length and If in height. When they got to know their 



