70 CUmOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



hear, he is deaf ; if he can not feel, he is insensible ; 

 if he can not smell — what is he ? There is no word 

 that describes the lack of the sense of smell, because 

 the sense itself is so much duller and weaker than any 

 other in mankind that its loss is not important enough 

 to have a word all to itself. The same thing, in a de- 

 gree, may be said of taste, though this is more developed 

 than smell. With a number of animals the sense of 

 smell is of even more consequence than those of sight 

 or hearing, and this is particularly the case with ants. 



Baby ants have been taken away frona the ant 

 family when they were born and brought up by them- 

 selves, and after a long time set free close to the ant- 

 hill from which they were taken. As soon as any of 

 the ants from this hill met them they knew at once 

 that the visitor belonged to the family, and the new 

 comers also knew their relatives, and went with them 

 into the hill and lived there the rest of their lives. 

 "When, however, ants from another hill were intro- 

 duced the poor creatures were attacked and killed or 

 driven away. 



Unless ants have a sense of which we know noth- 

 ing, they must recognize each other by the sense of 

 smell, as dogs know the footsteps of their masters. 

 Indeed, unless their sense of smell is so well devel- 

 oped as to answer for that of sight, it is. hard to under- 

 stand how they can build and keep clean and in order 

 their underground homes, and carry on all their do- 

 mestic affairs — for they are notable housekeepers — 

 when their habitations are kept in utter darkness. 



