The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1893-12-14
INDUSTRY IN ANIMALS
Curioua Analogy Between tho Instincts OF
lnanrfa and OF SaVnRc9.

Carioue Analogy k3etWcen e"o '''''
insects and OF SavaRcs-
A recent and interesting contriou'
ton 70 the sum of popular knowledge
of animal instinct is NJ. Frederic Hous-
SAYS work on "The Industries OF Ant
mails" published in the contemporary
Science" series by Walter Scott 1t Is
an ingenious attempt TO bring man and
animals to line on the common ground
of their provision by industry OF the
necessities Of life. The arts Of collect
ing provisions, storing and preserving
food. demonstrating and managing
hocks and capturing slaves nre quite as
we'll understood by animals and in
scots as by man in the earlier stages OF
civilization and show curious analogy
in their development in the case OF the
moro backward among human COM
munitics.
Ants Of the same species both have
and have not learned TO keep cattle
Lespes found tribe of black ants
which had a flock Of COWS" which they
MIXED daily. Rut he also discovered
nest of the same species which had no
focks. These he presented with some
of the nphides use by their COW keep
ing relations The ants instantly at
tackled. k lied and ate them, behaving
in exactly the same improvident man
ner as i tribe of Australian black
fellows" when presented with hocN
OF sheep. 4 littlc-known and striking
instanc. of foresight and industry
exhibited by bird is that OF the Cull-
fornian woolpeckcr. Like others OF
it's kin.l. this bird is an in ect-eater.
Yet in view OF the approach OF winter,
it prepares store of food OF n wholly
different character. and arrangcs this
with as mach care as an ep:cnrc might
devote to the storage Of his wine in a
cellar In the sulnEcr the woodpecNer
lives on ants. Fox the winter he stores
ND &C rms TO hold each acorn it hOl-
lows small hole in Il tree, into which
the acorn is exactly fitted, anal is ready
To be split by the strong beak OF the
climbing woodpecHer, though too
tightly held to be stolen by squirrels
or other birds. A relation OF this
woodpcckcr inhabits the drycst parts
Mexico where, during the droughts. it
must die of starvation unless it made
store TO prevent this it selects the
hollow stem Of r species OF aloe. the
bore of which is just large enough to
hold nut. The wooilpcckcr drills
holes at intervals in the stem and fills
it from bottom to top with the nuts,
the sep rat. holes being apparently
made for convenience of access to the
column Of nuts w thin The intclli-
gencc which not only constructs
special store house. but TEACHES the
woodpccker to lay by only the nuts
which will keep, and not the insects
which would decay. is perhaps the
highest form of Understanding which
has yet been observed.
The common ants Of Italy il not SO
strangely ingenious as the gardener
ants of the tropics, which prepare
particular soil ON which to grow with
In their nests the fungus on which
alone they feed, exhibit what IS prob
ably the most complex form OF in
stinctivc industry shown by any Euro
pean animal. They store up oats and
various kinds OF grain, making hun
drcds OF little ROOMS As granarics, OF
about the size Of watch ;ut grains
lying in the ground naturally GERM.
mates. How the ants prevent this il
not known Probably Ivy ventilation,
as bees ventilate their hives by arti-
fetal drauSht. All that is certain il
that il the ants are removed the grain
sprouts. When the ants wish to uso
the store they allow the grains tn
terminate, until the chemical change
takes place in the material which
makes It's fermcnting juice fool suit
able for their digestion. They then
arrest the process Of change by dc.
btroying the sprout. and use the stock
of glutinous sugar and starch so left as
their main food in winter. Nj. Houssay
might have drawn his parallel between
human and animal industries still
closer, If he had referred to the curiOu:
partnership which modern observation
has made possible between men and
bees. by giving the bees foundation
of wax stamped with the shape OF the
cells, the ee-keepcr saves the hive the
time and trouble spent in this non-pro
ductive labor, and the purpose OF arti
fetal aid SO given is at once comprc
hended and turned to use by the other
wise stercotypcd intelligence of the
bee.-SpcctatOr.