196 The Use of the Antenne in Insects. [ April, 
blindly fly against objects, being apparently aware of their prox- 
imity. Here the faculty of sight is only an adjunct to the sense 
which resides in the antenne. 
In insects subjected to the first experiment, though having the 
power of sight, flight is deficient, the antennal sense is wanting 
to help the sight, and when the eyes and antennz are rendered 
useless the insect is totally unable to direct its flight or to find 
its food. The compound eyes of insects do not seem to enable 
the insect to see objects at a distance, so vision is aided by an- 
other sense which has the antennz as its organ. 
In the sixth experiment the male Promethea had his sight ; he 
could see near him another insect like himself, but his eyes alone 
could not tell him whether the insect was of the same species and 
of another sex, so he died near the object he would have desired 
with so much ardor if the sense organs which would have enabled 
him to detect the presence of the object had not been removed. 
So it was in the seventh experiment ; the ant could see the oth- 
ers going on their way so intelligently, but with its eyes alone it 
could not recognize its friends ; all were mute to him, and in the 
midst of friends he seemed to be in a desert. 
Were I to draw any conclusion from these experiments I 
would say that the sense localized in the antennae cannot be re- 
garded only as that of touch, hearing, or taste, nor can it be re- 
garded as uniting their complex functions. In no case have I 
observed insects using the antenne as feelers; it is true they 
move them very rapidly when they want to recognize an object, 
but very seldom do the antennz come in contact with the object ; 
if they are feelers, they feel at a distance. With more reason 
they should be regarded as organs of smell, but if their functions 
have some analogy with the sense of smell, I think they must be 
very different from the sense of smell in the human species, and 
I would venture to say that it might have some analogy with the 
sense so little known though so common among animals, — wit 
the horse, for instance, — which enables it if removed not to 
retrace, but find a straight line to its home, from a considerable 
distance, and with as much accuracy as if it could see ite Som 
my opinion this sense, being different from the senses common to 
the human species, needs a new name so as to be distinguished 
from and not confounded with the sense of smell, It is a kind 
of feeling or smelling at a great distance, by some process pow 
totally unknown. 
re 
