The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-10-08

The next afternoon [ set the ants
hotel out as on the previous day, and
IN the same spot. During the first half
hour no ants approached it, though
had placed the food as before in room
No. .. DESTROYS of beginning my OBJ
servations, procured one of the brown
ants from the neighborhood of the nest
and placed him near the food The
ant seemed to eat with much pleasure,
and after remaining seven minutes,
went out by the door and walked away
In the direction of the nest. had pro-
vlded the means of marking a consider
able number OF ants, and marked this
one and named him E.
This ant was absent nearly fifteen
minutes, and then returned alone, and
Kept on carrying away food for more
than an hour, during which time no
other ant appeared at the hotel
This course of action led me to be-
lieve that whereas most ants communi-
cate good news readily and cheerfully.
there are individual ants like some
human beings who, when they discover
something that might benefit their fell
lows, keep the knowledge to them
selves in the most selfish way.
As this ant f was returning from the
nest, and had arrived at a point near
the hotel, he met another, that | will
designate as F, and they put their heads
together and touched dntenng. I'm
mediately F followed E to the table
where the food was. and they both
commenced to feed.
One thing seemed clear to me, and
that was that this ant, E, had said
nothing to any one in the nest about
the food, and probably would not have
spoken to F had not they met by ae-
cident as they did, so near the hotel.
The ant F, / conjeetured, was not
much given to the habit of keeping
things to himself. for soon after he
went to the nest, three other ants came
straight to the hotel, and after trying
several wrong doors that led into empty
rooms, they went into No, and found
the food.
The news of the finding of the food
seemed to spread rapidly, for large
number OF ants soon appeared upon the
scene, and among the number. A, B
and C.
1t is enough to say here, perhaps,
that | marked and recorded the actions
of large number of ants, and was
surprised at their intelligence and in,
dustry.
l had procured piece of glass to be
used in closing the top of room No s,
and as perceived one of the ants try,
ing to enter this room by climbing over
the wall, l attempted to close the open
ing and thus keep the ant out; but I'M
fortunately he got between the wood
and the glass and was thereby crushed,
but not killed
Wounded and struggling as he was,
| dropped him on the ground in front
of an ant who was just returning from
the nest. The wounded ant was in
spected by his companion, who i'm,
mediately started for the nest without
pausing to take any food. Soon the
ant returned with two others, who be-
gan TO carry their wounded fellow in
the direction of the nest.
Did space permit, | could explain
how the labor of the ants is divided,
and how certain individuals who form
the army, or do guard-duty, never per
form any of the labor of procuring food.
Once, accidentally, put my foot on
one of the ants and killed it, / then
took the dead ant and placed it in the
track of the living ants, in order to
notice what they would do when they
found the body of their dead COM
panion
The ant named F came along, and
finding the dead ant, seemed to grasp
it by the mouth. and holding it clear OF
the ground, started.in the direction of
the nest; but F got so often entangled
in the grass, and met with so many
obstacles to its progress, that it was
often obliged to mount small objects,
and drag the dead ant up after it. BY
this irregular way of journeying, F lost
his reckoning and made a large circle,
and came back to the hotel again, still
carrying the dead ant, but seemingly
not in the least discouraged because il
had lost its way. When my observa-
tons for the day closed, + was still
wandering with the dead ant in his
mouth.
was highly delighted with what /
had SEEM. and when l discontinued
operations for the day / was well-satis-
fed that ants are affectionate and have
some feeling for their kind. In this
respect they are wholly unlike bees,
who care nothing for the misfortunes
of those even of their own colony.
have seen half the bees of hive
killed, and the ground covered with the
dead and dying; and / have always
noticed that not single live and unin.
jured bee will 60 to the assistance OF
his unfortunate and wounded compan-
ions
When | removed the ants hotel in thu
evening, | had seen enough to convince
me that ants are very bright insects
and that some have individual peculiar
tiles as well-marked as we see them il
Che human kind; and that these little
insects have the power of communities
ting their ideas in wonderful degree;
and that, on the whole, the ways OF the
ant are well worth considering.-Dr. j.
z. PAINE, in Youths Companion.