TO FRIENDS AND STRANGERS. 105 
were neglected. On the other hand, some of the ants 
were always watching over the bottle containing the 
strangers, and biting at the muslin which protected 
them. The next morning at 6 a.m. I found five ants 
thus occupied. One had caught hold of the leg of one 
of the strangers, which had unwarily been allowed to 
protrude through the meshes of the muslin. They 
worked and watched, though not, as far as I could see, 
with any system, till 7.30 in the evening, when they 
effected an entrance, and immediately attacked the 
strangers. 
September 24.—I repeated the same experiment 
with the same nest. Again the ants came and sat over 
the bottle containing the strangers, while no notice was 
taken of the friends. 
The next morning again, when I got up, I found 
five ants round the bottle containing the strangers, 
none near the friends. As in the former case, one of 
the ants had seized a stranger by the leg, and was trying 
to drag her through the muslin. All day the ants 
clustered round the bottle, and bit perseveringly, 
though not systematically, at the muslin. The same 
thing happened all the following day. 
These observations seemed to me sufficiently to test 
the behaviour of the ants belonging to this nest under 
these circumstances. I thought it desirable, however, 
to try also other communities. I selected, therefore, 
two other nests. One was a community of Polyergus 
rufescens with numerous slaves. Close to where the 
