6 2 S 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[l)ec. 21, if 



The species of ants whose pupae are thus carried off con- 

 tinue to exist, so that they are not deprived of all their 

 brood. 



Since the epoch when Descartes, by an unhappy in- 

 spiration of his genius, tried to reduce (lower) animals 

 to machines, and when his fanatical disciple Malebranche 

 carried this theme to extravagance, since the day when 

 Buffon, in contradiction with his pompous tirades on the 

 dog and the horse (the echoes of which still haunt us), 

 strove to prove that in the animal every thing is mere 

 instinct and mechanism, a considerable advance has been 

 made in this order ol questions. Just as no astronomer 

 now contests the plurality ot worlds, no naturalist 

 denies the manifestations — often very exalted — of in- 

 telligence, reasoning, and other psychic faculties, not in 

 the animal kingdom taken in the lump, but in certain 

 species, and in certain individuals of such species. Man 

 being considered — of course by himselt— as the highest 

 type of animated nature, we might be led to think that 

 those lower species which in certain respects are com- 

 parable are those which approach him nearest in their 

 structure. If this is, generally speaking, the case, we 

 find exceptions the most enigmatical. How widely does 

 our organisation differ from that of an ant, and yet in the 

 scene just described we recognise actions where instinct 

 falls into the background, actions which presuppose con- 

 secutive observations, reasoning, and communication 

 between individuals which no one would suspect 

 a priori. 



The two ant-hills which I have described — that of the 

 plunderers and that of the plundered — are remote from 

 each other, and the latter is in an enclosure. Instinct 

 might tell the large brown ants that there exist other 

 ants capable of doing work which themselves are un- 

 willing or unable to perform. But here the revelations 

 of instinct would stop. To satisfy their demand it is 

 evident that the idle or incapable ants must have scouts 

 ranging in search of a nest of industrial ants and penetrat- 

 ing boldly into it (?) to see when the pupae are fit for 

 transportation, and then returning home to inform their 

 companions that the time is come. This information 

 must be rapidly communicated to the whole society, and 

 the marching orders must be perfectly understood since 

 the head of the column advances quickly and in good 

 order. The legion must have guides quite sure of their 

 object and of the road to be taken. The ants which 

 turned back and traversed all the ranks to see if all 

 was in order, knew doubtless that in their species, just 

 as it is the case among mankind, intelligence and the 

 sense of duty are not alike in all individuals. The 

 council of war held before the attack is the proof of in- 

 telligent foresight. No empty head in command had 

 said, " Everything is ready." 



Why I have enlarged on this subject is because I had 

 never previously seen among these tiny beings a sequence 

 of varied acts all combined, leading the observer to the 

 same conclusion. To recognise in the scene which I had 

 witnessed merely mechanism and instinct, I must have 

 been myself a mere automaton. 



Pisciculture. — All attempts made to acclimatise the 

 true salmon (Salmo salar) in the rivers of Southern 

 France, Italy, and other countries of the Mediterranean 

 basin have failed, as the waters are too warm for the 

 fish at the season when they ascend the rivers in order 

 to spawn. The Society of Acclimatation of France has 



therefore undertaken to introduce the salmon of the 

 Sacramento {Salmo quinnal). No fewer than one hun- 

 dred thousand ova of this species have therefore been 

 brought over from America in the steamer La Bourgogtie, 

 and have been placed for incubation in the tanks of the 

 piscicultural laboratory of Quillan. As soon as the 

 young fish have reached. a sufficient degree of maturity, 

 they will be set at liberty in the river Aube. It is hoped 

 that the climate of the Mediterranean basin will be 

 sufficiently like that of the Sacramento to allow of their 

 multiplication. 



of papers, Hectum, etc* 



PHYSICAL SOCIETY. 

 At the meeting held on December 8th, 1888, Pro- 

 fessor Reinold, F.R.S., President, in the chair, the 

 following communications were read : Note on a 

 Modification of the Ordinary Method of Determining 

 Electro-magnetic Capacity, by Mr. J. W. W. Waghorne, 

 D.Sc. In determining capacity absolutely from the 

 throw of a galvanometer, and a steady deflection through 

 a known resistance produced by the same battery, error 

 may arise from the imperfect elasticity of the fibre (when 

 short), and the resistances required are often greater than 

 can be conveniently obtained. The latter difficulty may 

 be overcome by taking a known fraction of the potential 

 difference used for charging the condenser to produce 

 the steady deflection, and the former error may be 

 reduced by observing the first swing due to the permanent 

 current, instead of the steady deflection produced by that 

 current. By adopting this latter device, the logarithmic 

 decrement need not be determined, and the time required 

 to make a measurement is considerably reduced. 



Dr. Thompson pointed out that error frequently arises 

 from the capacity of the key being appreciable where 

 small condensers are being used, but the author stated 

 that the modification was not intended for such cases. 



Professor Ayrton remembered having used, in con- 

 junction with Professor Perry, the throw due to the 

 permanent current instead of the steady deflection, when 

 experimenting with condensers containing E. M. F.'s, and 

 believed they abandoned it on account of the difference 

 in decrement on closed and open circuits. 



Mr. Sumpner regarded galvanometers with small 

 differences in damping on closed and open circuits, as 

 unsuitable for ballistic purposes, and mentioned a case 

 in which the latter was only half the former. 



Mr. Boys considered the damping would be modified 

 by having the condenser joined to the galvanometer 

 terminals, and thought the decrement should be de- 

 cidedly different from that on pure open circuit. 



In thanking the author for his paper, the President 

 said that any improved arrangements of well-known 

 experiments or of lecture apparatus, would always be 

 gladly received, and reminded members that in bringing 

 such before the Society they would be carrying out one 

 of the chief objects for which it was founded. 



" On Some Facts connected with the Systems of 

 Scientific Units of Measurement," by Mr. T. H. 

 Blakesley, M.A. The author considers that the C. G. S., 

 and Practical (Quadrant, Volt, Second), system of units 

 do not satisfy the requirements of a perfect system in 

 which the chief ends to be kept in view are : — (i) 



