219 
1876.] Biological Controversy and its Laws . 
this case to instindt it is a mere waste of time to argue. 
Those who dispute the faCt are reminded that lions have 
been seen in a very similar manner practising a manoeuvre, 
and even conferring together on the subject.* 
The following faCt, which has never been questioned, is a 
clear case of a discovery made by inseCts, and forthwith 
turned to practical account : — Ants have been observed, 
both by Reaumur and Bonnet, to place their eggs between 
the outer wooden casing and the inner panes of a glass bee- 
hive, a situation where, without any trouble on their part, a 
regular and sufficient temperature exists. By so doing they 
are enabled to dispense with a great amount of labour in re- 
moving the eggs from one part of the nest to another, 
according to the weather. On this subject Messrs. Kirby 
and Spence remarkt — “ It is impossible to account for this 
without supposing some stray ant that had insinuated her- 
self into this tropical crevice first to have been struck with 
the thought of what a prodigious saving of labour and anxiety 
would accrue to her compatriots by establishing their society 
here ; that she had communicated her views to them, and 
that they had resolved upon an emigration to this newly- 
discovered country, whose genial climate presented advan- 
tages which no other situation could offer. Neither instinCt 
nor any conceivable modification of instinCt could have 
taught the ants to avail themselves of a good fortune which, 
but for the invention of glass hives, would never have offered 
itself to these inserts. The conclusion seems irresistible 
that reason must have been their guide, inducing a departure 
from their ordinary habits.” We may here ask — If observa- 
tion and subsequent reflection can induce an animal to depart 
from its ordinary habits, are not those habits themselves 
under the direction of reason ? 
One case more, typical of a very important class, must be 
brought forward. Number, it will be conceded, is an ab- 
stract idea. A work was written but a little while ago; to 
prove the inability of animals to comprehend even the sim- 
plest numerical relations. There is, however, an instance 
on record of a Scotch collie, who, when assisting at the 
operation of sheep-washing, showed himself equal to count 
quite as well as many savages. There was close to the 
stream a small pen, capable of holding, if we remember 
rightly, eleven sheep at a time. The dog, without any 
assistance, always started off to the flock and drove up the 
* R. Moffat, Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa. 
f Kirby and Spence, Entomology, ii., p. 416. 
I See Quarterly Journal of Science, v., 361. 
