Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1883-10-30
sJx-LEGGED POLICEMEN.
THE ARREST OF A DRUNKEN ANT.
INTERESTING Facts IN NATURAL HISTORY


The reporter closed one eye, holding
il shut with one hand, and with the 9th
or eazed through powerful magniher.
He saw three ants, and one was sppar-
emily in a very maudlin condition. IL
raised its legs in the air, waved Its head
to and fro like an elephant, and evlnced
a desided desire to walk backward. In
the mean time the other two ants were
vainly endeavoriny to coax 1t along, al
first caressing il W it'll their antenne, and
finally, as il out of patience, seizing 1t
and marching i. off out Of the range OF
vision.
THAT" said the naturalist, sis q case
of drunk and disorderly; $40 or ten
days fed the ant on sweetened rum
SO that it was actually drunk; then
admitted two sober ants 10 see II they
would take care of it, and you see they
have done SO.
The idea of intoxicating ants Is orig
inal with Sir John Lubbock. be found
that ants nearly always arrested other
ants that he had made drunk. In fact
il you asked me what was the most IN
telliyent amin al next to man | should
say the ant. No, not because he will
get drunk, but for thousand reasons
"Do you suppose ants imprison their
kind for offences :" asked the reporter.
There is no doubt of it, was the re
ply, las they imprison vast numbers oil
insects for variou. reasons. In fact, the
lower animals have their prisons and
prisoners as well as we DO. OF course
they are q little different, but we must
allow for difference in tastes. Every
body knows how ants make prisoners OF
various species of sphides, and slaves oil
their own kind. One of the most re-
markAble cases Of imprisonment Is that
of the bird hornbill, 50 called from the
wonderful development Of its bill, which
| il only used in crushing fruit. The
breeding season is probably not looked
forward to with any great degree o.
pleasure by the birds, as it is period oI
close Imprisonment for the mother and OF
great labor for the father bird. As the
time approaches the female searches fol
a hollow tree. and, having formed rude
nest, takes her place within. The male
now flies away aud returns with It's bill
full of mud, which it plasters about the
opening Of the nest. Load after load j:
thus brought and laid on until the crew.
ice is completely pl stored up with the
exception Of small orifce large enough
to admi, the bill Of the prisoner. The
mud soon hardens, and the bird is firmly
enclosed. and so remains until the young
are Matched and well grown, The male
bird is not hard jailer, however, but
works to obtain food for its mate, so that
she comes out Of prison in much better
condition than her unfortunate jailer.
Trees are not the only prisons" con-
tinued the speaker. ''ln marine life
there is no end Of prisons and prisoners.
For example, here is the beautiful sponge
called Venus's Flower Basket which
grows in Eastern seas. They are un-
slightly objects when frs, taken up, the
rich sheeny silver framework that we
see being merely the skeleton of the
sponge, so to speak. So much like bas-
ket work is this skeleton that when they
were first brought to Europe they were
supposed to be the work of men, and so
brough. fabulous prices. In this one
that have you see there are two prison.
er crabs. but how did they get in =: Each
is as large as the end Of YOUR little foyer,
and the lagest hole in the skeleton is not
larger than pinhead"
Tie reporter gave it up.
The truth is" said the naturalist,
"that the chabs are prisoners for life. and
have served out life sentence. In their
younger days these crabs are called by
different names, and in one stage-the
zoea-they are extremely small, and live
a roaming sort Of life. During this time
our crabs must have crawled through the
minute window of the living sponge, and
were unable to get out. The sponge
grew, and so did the crabs. Finally the
sponge was fshed up and the animal
matter was washed away, leaving the
bright silvery prison with the two great
prisoners crawling about-as great puz