n • ON ANIMAL LIFE 65 



it does not imply much. To test this, there- 

 fore, I made several experiments. For in- 

 stance, one cold day my Ants were almost all 

 in their nests. One only was out hunting 

 and about six feet from home. I took a dead 

 bluebottle fly, pinned it on to a piece of cork, 

 and put it down just in front of her. She at 

 once tried to carry off the fly, but to her sur- 

 prise found it immovable. She tugged and 

 tugged, first one way and then another for 

 about twenty minutes, and then went straight 

 off to the nest. During that time not a single 

 Ant had come out ; in fact she was the only 

 Ant of that nest out at the time. She went 

 straight in, but in a few seconds — less than 

 half a minute, — came out again with no less 

 than twelve friends, who trooped off with her, 

 and eventually tore up the dead fly, carrying 

 it off in triumph. 



Now the first Ant took nothing home with 

 her ; she must therefore somehow have made 

 her friends understand that she had found 

 some food, and wanted them to come and help 

 her to secure it. In all such cases, however, 

 so far as my experience goes, the Ants brought 



