iec. 21, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



627 



Natural ^tetorg* 



ON THE MANNERS OF ANTS. 

 M. G. A. Hirn, the well-known physicist, gives in La 

 Nature an account of a slave-hunt among ants, which 

 will, perhaps, not be thought less interesting from the 

 absence of certain technicalities which a biological 

 specialist would have introduced. He writes : — 



On Saturday, July 14th, 1888, in very bright sunshine, 

 I was walking along a road passing from south to north, 

 running, at the place where I was, along the walls of a 

 garden. I soon observed at my left hand, by the wall, 

 a legion of brown ants, of a large size, marching rapidly 

 and in good order all in one direction. The column, 

 rather more than an inch in breadth, was more than five 



holding a council ot war, and concerting measures to be 

 taken. Soon the circle opened, and the ants began to 

 pass under the gate, no longer in a serried column, but 

 spread out over a large space, and marching more slowly 

 and with circumspection. I saw them moving towards 

 a plot of grass, where they were lost to view. 



That day I felt unwell, and I walked on sadly, thinking 

 of what I had just seen. Here was, I thought, an unfor- 

 tunate nation, exiled from its homes, and in search of a 

 more propitious abode. This was all a mistake. What 

 I had just witnessed was an expedition for the purpose 

 of plunder. On returning by the same road about halt 

 an hour later, I saw the brown ants coming home in 

 triumph, each grasping in its jaws the pupa (commonly, 

 but erroneously, called eggs) of some other species. 

 They no longer marched in order. Each ran on inde . 



yards in length. It set out from a plot of ground rather 

 higher than the road, covered with grass and weeds. It 

 descended by a bare path having an incline of more than 

 45 degrees. At the end of this track it turned abruptly 

 at right angles to follow the main road. I quickened my 

 steps, and reached the head of the column, which was 

 distinctly limited, and I followed attentively to see what 

 might be the object of this expedition, which was clearly 

 the execution of some well-conceived plan. 



I had already noticed that during the march of this 

 army several ants, seeming to have changed their minds, 

 returned towards the rear, traversing all the ranks. 

 But I saw that after communicating with some one of 

 their comrades whom they seemed to be seeking, they 

 resumed their onward journey. On arriving at the gate 

 of the garden the head of the column halted, and all the 

 rest, as they came up, arranged themselves in a circle of 

 considerable diameter. It was evident that they were 



pendentty, keeping a firm hold of its prey, as it may be 

 seen in the figure. 



Was this merely a prey which they were with a barbar- 

 ous refinement of taste seeking for their diet? Or 

 were not rather the pupas intended to be reared so as 

 to become slaves ? Was this an odious act of rapine 

 which I had just witnessed, or do the ants thus deprived 

 of their freedom submit willingly to their lot, as to a 

 predestinate career ? In any case the defence, if defence 

 there had been, cannot have been energetic ; no one 

 pursued the victors, and none of them appeared to be 

 wounded. 



The first part of the drama had saddened me, though I 

 had misinterpreted the facts. The end was still more 

 painful. Yet I consoled myself with the reflection that 

 slave-holding ants, if they are no more righteous than 

 their human imitators, understood better their own true 

 interests. They do not maltreat their victims too much. 



