ISOLATED COMBATS. 97 
Now I have often observed that some of my ants had 
the heads of others hanging on to their legs for a con- 
siderable time; and as this must certainly be very 
inconvenient, it seems remarkable that their friends 
“should not relieve them of such an awkward encum- 
branee. 
The behaviour of ants to one another differs also 
much according to circumstances; whether, for instance, 
they are alone, or supported by friends. An ant which 
would run away in the first case will defend herself 
bravely in the second. 
If an ant is fighting with one of another species, 
her friends rarely come to her assistance. They seem 
generally (unless a regular battle is taking place) to 
take no interest in the matter, and do not even stop to 
look on. Some species, indeed, in such cases never 
appear to help one another ; and even when the reverse 
is the case, as for instance in the genus Lasius, the 
truth seems to be that several of them attack the same 
enemy—their object being to destroy the foe, rather 
than to save their friend. 
On one occasion several specimens of Formica fusca 
belonging to one of my nests were feeding on some 
honey spread on a slip of glass (May 22). One of 
them had got thoroughly entangled in it. I took her 
and put her down just in front of another specimen 
belonging to the same nest, and close by I placed a drop 
of honey. The ant devoted herself to the honey and 
entirely neglected her friend, whom she left to perish. 
6 
