36 
J. BADCOCK—ON MELICERTA RINGENS. 
But first of all it has to undergo another process. There are two 
jaws each with three horny arches armed with transverse teeth. 
Two of these are turned inwards and the third outwards. To the 
under arch are attached the muscles of the jaws which move the 
other two arches, and which thus enable the teeth to work against 
each other, crushing the food between their strong horny plates 
and mixing it with the digestive secretion. The oblong stomach 
and alimentary canal are close by, ready to receive and convert to 
its proper use the material so elaborately prepared. 
With regard to the selection and assortment of food and building- 
material, I have been astonished more and more the longer and more 
minute my observation has been. The process is best seen when 
colouring material is used, for then one sees what is rejected and 
what is retained for use. By far the greater part of the material 
collected is rejected as waste, and only the finest and most minute 
particles are finally accepted. So much is this the case that, when 
using carmine, I have often heen in doubt whether any particles 
are carried into the pug-mill until they have first passed the digestive 
process and given their colour to the secretion which then would 
naturally colour the bricks. But the same remarks would apply 
to the portion selected as food, for you cannot see it taken down 
the mouth; and yet it is so taken, for the stomach or intestine soon 
gets full of it. The explanation probably is that the rapidity with 
which it is done, combined with the fineness of the particles 
selected, deceives the eye in both cases. Closer examination seems 
to confirm this view, and there is this further to be said; the 
carmine is undoubtedly taken into the mastax and passed on to the 
digestive apparatus, and from its intense colour one would be 
inclined to infer that it would somewhat colour the tissues of the 
body if it were assimilated, but no such colouring is seen. The 
secretions only are coloured. Moreover, from the fact that the 
colouring matter is abundantly seen in the alimentary canal, we 
must infer that the creature has accepted it or some portions of it 
as food as well as for building-material, as otherwise it would have 
passed to the pug-mill only. But I confess I am in some doubt 
whether it does not pass on, in the first instance, to the mastax, 
and thence to the upper part of the alimentary canal, and there get 
mixed with a viscid secretion to be then passed up to the mill; 
otherwise we are driven to the conclusion that the same material is 
sometimes used both as food and for building—unless indeed there 
is any difference in the component parts of the carmine which only 
such a creature can detect and separate. And this in fact seems 
to be the only conclusion we can arrive at. If so, we have here 
another illustration of the wonderful intelligence or instinct with 
which the creature is endowed. 
It is not, however, by mere inferences that we arrive at the idea 
of intelligence. A nervous system has been observed in the 
Melicerta. This has been doubted by some and denied by others, 
but is now generally admitted. Without going deeply into this 
question, we may try what can be seen and then consider what in- 
