The Beauties of Nature, and the Wonders of the World We Live InLubbock, John, Sir
Philosophy
The Beauties of Nature, and the Wonders of the World We Live In
Lubbock, John, Sir
Astronomy; Natural history; Physical geography
It has been suggested that the Ants of each nest have some sign or
password by which they recognise one another. To test this I made some
insensible. First I tried chloroform, but this was fatal to them; and as
therefore they were practically dead, I did not consider the test
satisfactory. I decided therefore to intoxicate them. This was less easy
than I had expected. None of my Ants would voluntarily degrade
themselves by getting drunk. However, I got over the difficulty by
putting them into whisky for a few moments. I took fifty specimens,
twenty-five from one nest and twenty-five from another, made them dead
drunk, marked each with a spot of paint, and put them on a table close
to where other Ants from one of the nests were feeding. The table was
surrounded as usual with a moat of water to prevent them from straying.
The Ants which were feeding soon noticed those which I had made drunk.
They seemed quite astonished to find their comrades in such a
disgraceful condition, and as much at a loss to know what to do with
their drunkards as we are. After a while, however, to cut my story
short, they carried them all away: the strangers they took to the edge
of the moat and dropped into the water, while they bore their friends
home into the nest, where by degrees they slept off the effects of the
spirit. Thus it is evident that they know their friends even when
incapable of giving any sign or password.
This little experiment also shows that they help comrades in distress.
If a Wolf or a Rook be ill or injured, we are told that it is driven
away or even killed by its comrades. Not so with Ants. For instance, in
one of my nests an unfortunate Ant, in emerging from the chrysalis skin,
injured her legs so much that she lay on her back quite helpless. For
three months, however, she was carefully fed and tended by the other
Ants. In another case an Ant in the same manner had injured her antennae.
I watched her also carefully to see what would happen. For some days she
did not leave the nest. At last one day she ventured outside, and after
a while met a stranger Ant of the same species, but belonging to another
nest, by whom she was at once attacked. I tried to separate them, but
whether by her enemy, or perhaps by my well-meant but clumsy kindness,
she was evidently much hurt and lay helplessly on her side. Several
other Ants passed her without taking any notice, but soon one came up,
examined her carefully with her antennae, and carried her off tenderly to
the nest. No one, I think, who saw it could have denied to that Ant one
attribute of humanity, the quality of kindness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account