ANTS — COMMUNICATION. 
53 
{o put this matter beyond question, Sir John Lubbock 
tried the experiment of pinning down a dead fly, so that 
the ant wdiich found it was unable, with all her tugging, 
to move it towards the nest. At length she went back 
to the nest for assistance, and returned accompanied by 
seven friends. So great was her excitement, however, 
that she outran these friends, 6 who seemed to have 
come out reluctantly, as if they had been asleep, and were 
only half awake ; 5 and they failed to find the fly, slowly 
meandering about for twenty minutes. After again tug- 
ging for a time at the fly, the first ant returned a second 
time to the nest for assistance, and in less than a minute 
came out with eight friends. They were even less energetic 
than the first party, and having lost sight of their guide in 
the same manner as happened before, they all returned to 
the nest. Meanwhile several of the first party, w T hich had 
all the while been meandering about, found the fly, and 
proceeded to dismember it, carrying the trophy to the 
nest, and calling out more friends in the ordinary way. 
This experiment was repeated several times and on differ- 
ent species, always with the same result. Now, as Sir 
John remarks, 6 the two cases (i.e. those in which the ant- 
brought out friends to her assistance even when she had 
no booty to show) surely indicate a distinct power of com- 
munication. ... It is impossible to doubt that the friends 
were brought out by the first ant ; and as she returned 
empty-handed to the nest, the others cannot have been 
induced to follow her by merely observing her proceedings. 
I conclude, therefore, that they possess the power of re- 
questing their friends to come and help them.’ 
In order to ascertain whether the signs which com- 
municating ants make to one another are made by -means 
of sound, Sir John Lubbock placed near a nest of Lashis 
flavus six small upright pillars of wood about 1^ inch high, 
and on one of these he put a drop of honey. 6 1 then put 
three ants to the honey, and when each had sufficiently 
fed, I imprisoned her, and put another ; thus always keep- 
ing three ants at the honey, but not allowing them to go 
home. If, then, they could summon their friends by 
sound, there ought soon to be many ants at the honey.’ 
