264 
WHAT THE AUTHOR SAW. 
placed in it the eggs, prepared the incubation, watched over the nymphs 
(or maillots), and restored to life and happiness the little people, who, 
becoming industrious in their turn, seconded the efforts of their nurse. 
Felicitous influence of genius ! A single individual had re-created the 
city. 
The observer then understood that with such a superiority of in¬ 
telligence these helots might, in reality, wear the chains of servitude 
very lightly, and perhaps govern their masters. A persevering study 
proved to him that such was, indeed, the case. The little blacks in 
many things carry a moral authority whose signs are very visible; 
they do not, for example, permit the great red ants to go out alone on 
useless expeditions, and compel them to return into the city. Nor are 
they even at liberty to go out in a body, if their wise little helots do 
not think the weather favourable, if they fear a storm, or if the day is 
far advanced. When an excursion proves unsuccessful, and they return 
without children, the little blacks are stationed at the gates of the city 
to forbid their ingress, and send them back to the combat; nay more, 
you may see them take the cowards by the collar, and force them to 
retrace their route. 
( I \ 
These are astounding facts ; but such as they are, they were seen by 
our illustrious observer. He could not trust his eyes, and summoned 
one of the greatest naturalists of Sweden—M. Jurine—to his side, to 
make new investigations, and decide whether he had been deceived. 
This witness, and others who afterwards pursued the same course of 
experiments, found that his discoveries were entirely accurate. 
Yet—shall I dare to confess it ?—after all these weighty testimonies 
I still doubted. Let me say, I hoped that the fact, without being 
absolutely false, had not been correctly observed. But on a certain 
occasion I saw it—with my own eyes saw it—in the park of Fontaine¬ 
bleau. I was accompanied by an illustrious philosopher, an excellent 
observer, and he too saw exactly what I saw. 
It was half-past four in the afternoon of a very warm day. From 
a pile of stones emerged a column of from four to five hundred red or 
reddish ants, precisely the same colour as the wing-cases of the gnat. 
They marched rapidly towards a piece of turf, kept in order by their 
