148 “Progress ” — the Alleged Distinction [February, 
decay of that which in a nation corresponds to vitality in 
the individual, — that is to say, of the so-called “ tribal 
instinCt.” When this instinCt gives place either to avowed 
selfishness or to cosmopolitanism — and the two differ really 
more in seeming than in being — the doom of the nation is 
sealed, despite alike of its resources and its virtues. 
Among those animal species which live in organised com- 
munities or nations the very same phenomenon occurs ; 
increase and rise are followed by decline and fall. Every 
ant-hill might have its Gibbon. This faCt has been fully 
established by the illustrious French chemist M. Berthelot, 
who for the last quarter of a century has devoted much of 
his leisure to a study of the manners of ants.* He noticed 
in particular a very prosperous ant-hill, which had established 
roads in all directions of more than 100 metres in length. 
After about ten years it sent out a colony which established 
itself at the root of a young oak at some little distance, and 
though feeble in the outset increased year by year, and 
passed safely through a very critical epoch, the periodical 
felling of the wood. The observations of M. Berthelot were 
temporarily interrupted by the war. On resuming his stu- 
dies he found, to his surprise, the colony in full prosperity, 
but the mother-city declining. Its population had lessened, 
and continued so to do, and the survivors negleCted their 
habitations. The former colony now takes the lead, and its 
new buildings and well-kept roads contrast strangely with 
the crumbling structures of the old formicary, which, how- 
ever, is still inhabited. 
We have ourselves observed a very similar case among 
rooks. An old and populous rookery from no apparent cause 
dwindled away, whilst a colony which it had founded in its 
early days gradually surpassed the mother-city, and became 
in turn the rook-capital of the district. Surely, then, we 
must admit that the cities and nations of brutes, like those 
of mankind, have their origin, their progress, and their 
decline. Here therefore, again, instead of contrast we find 
resemblance. 
We turn now to what is in popular literature more gene- 
rally known as “ progress ” — the real or fancied superiority 
of every generation of mankind over the foregoing. But 
this very superiority, though assumed in after-dinner 
speeches and in songs of the “ good time coming ” type, is 
a matter of most grave question. Even as regards know- 
ledge and power, the advance which some claim as a 
Correspondance Scientifique, 0 &. 1, 1878. 
