San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-10-19
THE INHEL4IGENCE OF ANTS.


by Sir John Lubbock.
FFrunI the london Times ~ o.
At the meeting Of the British Associa-
ton in Dublin, on Aug. 16, Sir John
Lubbock read a'paper on 1.-THE Habits
OF Ants" Agreat desiifa to hsarj Was
expressed, anfIt&e Kidding pfit &as
interrupted by the efforts of crowd of
disappointed people. Atoil get into the
room, which yy was c'omplaRinqedSof as too
small. .-r.r,,.r-rgy .
Sir John Ilbbuck. stated that he had
been for some years Watching the, hab-
its of ants, and hadikept under observa-
ton about thirty Species Though liv-
ing in captivity, they were in good
health, and he had in one nest a queen
which hadliYed 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
er insects 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
no, not be gotrid OF. isR :"
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 sapguinea,. 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 fuscasiwere slaves, though free
to come and 60, 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 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
beca ne again useful, an instance OF
pruo1nce 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
Mt nH
some alive and in health for months by
allowing them 4 slave for an hour day
to feed and clean them. '.' a..
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 q 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. lie
made similar experiment by placing
honey which could only be reached by
crossing 4 chaSm over which he had laid
rs bridge q bit Of straw. He slightly
moved iEe, 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 IL: 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 20 it. They did not, hoEeyer,
appear % be able 10 communicate as
much as that 10 their friends. Ii fIlS-
cas- mes; were disturbed and one OF them
found 4 place Of eoncoalmeni, she was
anNiol> TIA. her friends should come 70
IL. She went up 10 one of them snd
took i BY The inandible. The second