The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-09-12
The INTELLIGENCE OF ANTS.
Interesting Experiment Made with Then
by sir John Lubbock.


Interesting Experiments Made With Then
by sir John Lubbock.
From the London Times
AT the meeting of the British Associa.
ton in Dublin, on Aug. 16, Sir John
Lubbock read a paper on " The Habits
of Ants" A great desire to hear it was
expressed, and the reading of it was
interrupted by the efforts OF a crowd OF
disappointed people TO get into the
room, which was complained of as toe
small.
Sir John Lubbock stated that he had
been for some years watching the hab-
its of ants, and had kept under observa-
ton about thirty species. Though liv-
ing IN captivity, they were in good
health, and be had in one nest queen
which had lived with him since 1874.
He could confirm the statements which
had been made with respect to the ar
chitectural skill of ants, their attention
TO their young, their remarkable organ
ization, their possession of domestic an
imals, and even the institution of slav-
cry. He had also watched several 9TH
erinsects which lived in association with
them of which NJ. Andre calculated that
there were 5S3 species. In some cases
the association was accidental, in others
it was because the nests afforded shelter
TO other insects, and there were also
some uncomfortable companions which
attached themselves to ants, and could
not not be got rid of.
The common house ant was to be
found sometimes in association with
other ants, but the cases were excep-
tional, and he had never seen an in
stance. A nearly allied species, how
ever, the sanguinea, was sometimes
found in association with others, gener-
ally the fusca. In such cases the nest
belonged to the sanguinea. The queen
and the young were of that species,
and the fuscas were slaves, though free
to come and 90, as there was no fugitive
slave law, and they seemed to be quite
reconciled to their position. They as
sisted in the household duties, and in
foraging for provisions. They kept the
aphides in corn, and derived a consid-
cradle share of their suStenance from
them. In the winter, when they were
of no use, they were still tended with
great care, until the srring, when they
became again useful, an instance of
prudence and forethought uneXampled
in the animal kingdom. There was one
species which took no part whatever in
the duties of the household, and would
even starve in the midst of plenty if the
food were not put into their mouths.
He had confirmed Huber's remarkable
experiments on this point, and had kept
nd IN 60 he Inv
allowing them slave for an hour day
to feed and clean them.
To test their intelligence he suspend
ed some honey about half an inch over
the nest, which could only be reached
by paper bridge ten feet long. He
then made a small heap of earth by
which they could reach it. They soon
swarmed over the earth and began to
eat, but when he removed some
of the earth it never occurred to
them to heap it up again, though they
tried to stretch up TO the honey, and
they went round by the bridge. He
made a similar experiment by placing
honey which could only be reached by
crossing a chasm over which he had laid
as a bridge bit of straw. He slightly
moved the bridge, and they tried in
vain to stretch over, but never thought
of putting the straw back, which they
could easily have done. Every one
knew that If an ant or bee found store
of honey others would soon collect
about it; but very little intelligence was
implied if the ants and bees only ac-
companied their friends.
The case was different if they could
describe the locality and send their
friends to it. They did not, however,
appear to be able to communicate as
much as that to their friends. If fus-
cas- nest were disturbed and one of them
found place of concealment, she was
anxious that her friends should come to
it. She went up to one OF them and
took il by the mandible. The second
ant rolled herself up into q ball, and
was carried over her shoulder to the
place. The second ant then went to a
third, and the process was repeated. He
put an ant which had been without food
for some days to honey, and saw that
after feeding she was on her way to the
nest when she met some friends, whom
she fed, and then returned alone to the
honey. On her way back she met some
other friends, whom she fed, and then
five of them went back with her TO the
honey. In due course they, no doubt,
brought others.
He believed they were able to distin-
guish between large and a small guam
tity. To test this, he put some of the
Laesius Niger species into small store,
and others into a large one, and, having
watched for fifty hours, found that the
ants with the small quantity brought 81
friends TO share it, and the ants with
the large store brought 257. To try
whether they could send their friends
to store, he put an ant (Niger) to
some honey, which he placed near her
nest. She fed, returned to the nest,
and came out with ten friends. He took
her up, however, and put her into the
honey, and her friends then wandered
about, and then returned to the nest. 1t
was hard to say whether there were diff
ferences of character in ants of the same
species, as they behaved differently I'M
der different conditions, but there were
great differences of character and hab-
its between those of different species,
putting aside the slave making species,
which he thought would find it impos-
sible to compete with the self-depend-
ent and freezer species. These commu-
mites even showed curious analogies to
the earlier stages of human progress.
There were the hunting, the pas raj,