ANTS— COMMUNICATION. 
55 
continued to ascend until reaching the lower bevelled edge of 
the shelf, at which point the more timid individuals, although 
unable to see the vase, somehow became aware of trouble, and 
turned about without further investigation, while the more 
daring advanced hesitatingly just to the upper edge of the 
shelf, when, extending their antennae and stretching their necks, 
they seemed to peep cautiously over the edge until beholding 
their suffering companions, when they too turned and followed 
the others, expressing by their behaviour great excitement and 
terror. An hour or two later, the path or trail leading from 
the lower colony to the vase was almost entirely free from ants. 
I killed one or two ants on their path, striking them with 
my finger, but leaving no visible trace. The effect of this was 
that as soon as an ant ascending towards the shelf reached the 
spot where one had been killed, it gave signs immediately of 
great disturbance, and returned directly at the highest possible 
speed. 
A curious and invariable feature of their behaviour was 
that when such an ant, returning in fright, met another ap- 
proaching, the two would always communicate, but each would 
pursue its own way, the second ant continuing its journey to 
the spot where the first had turned about, and then following 
that example. 
For some days after this there were no ants visible on the 
wall, either above or below the shelf. 
Then a few ants from the lower colony began to reappear, 
but instead of visiting the vase which had been the scene of the 
disaster, they avoided it altogether, and following the lower 
front edge of the shelf to the tumbler standing near the middle, 
made their attack upon that. I repeated the same experiment 
here with precisely the same result. Killing or maiming a few 
of the ants and leaving their bodies about the base of the tum- 
bler, the others on approaching, and even before arriving at the 
upper surface of the shelf where their mutilated companions 
were visi ble, gave signs of intense emotion, some running away 
immediately, and others advancing to where they could survey 
the field and then hastening away precipitately. 
Occasionally an ant would advance towards the tumbler 
until it found itself among the dead and dying ; then it seemed 
to lose all self-possession, running hither and thither, making 
wide circuits about the scene of the trouble, stopping at times 
and elevating the antennae with a movement suggestive of 
wringing them in despair, and finally taking flight. After this 
another interval of several days passed, during which no ants 
