The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-11

to be any real luminosity in these recontres
only a little impotence. at the most.
Ants might exercise a little more econo-
my in their work. In this respect they 10
not show as keen intelligence as one would
expect Not only do they interfere with
one another's operations IN the transpor-
tation Of food but they often toll and tug
at a morsel that could easily be carried
by a worker alone. Having laid hold upon
It,, each worker seems to be determined
to have a parcel. They actually appear
to be jealous of one another's achieve
ments. Perhaps the queens In the formi-
cary bestow some reward of approval on
the most successful caterer. When two
workers are struggling over morsel, they
do not pull together, but each tries to
wrench ii from It's rival. If they would
combine their efforts, they might bear
larger fragments to the home larder than
they do: but that does not seem to be
the modus operandi In the antdom of my
premises. They portion of food, IL too
large to be carried by one worker, must
lie broken into fragments on the spot ond
borne home piecemeal.
Laughable incidents will sometimes oc-
cur in ant circles as well as elsewhere.
However, I see no evidence that the little
creatures themselves have a sense of hui
NOR with them life seems to be serious.
When two are engaged In "A wrestling
match over the same fragment, they Will
often tumble each other about in the most
grotesque way. Sometimes one will hoist
the other from the ground and carry him
on top of his burden for quite a distance.
However, the Involuntary rider does not
relish his humliating position, but scram-
bles down as soon as he can. Not infre-
quently one Of them Is tumbled head over
heels--to use human figures Of speech
when his competitor secures an specially
good purchase on the contested tidbit.
Sometimes fragment and ants will roll
over together in a confused mass
One day an ant found a hard piece OF
meat that was as long as its own body.
The insect seized 1t by the end and tried
to carry it in an upright position. II look
ed like a soldier bearing flagstaff But
the burden was heavier than the insect it.
self and would, therefore, sometimes
bverbalance IL, so that the ant and the bit
Of beef were on top by turns. How the
ambitious worker would kick and squlrm
when its heels flew up into the airl
One would give a good deal to know
whether such ludicrous episodes create
any merrIment in The ant domain.
on another day tossed several pieces
Of rather cartilagnous beefsteak into the
grass near the promenade of a large coll
ony OF these ants. My object was to see
whether they would convert 1t into mince-
meat. They certainly made a brave ef-
fort. The pieces of meat were soon black
with wriggling insects. They chewed
and ground and pinched and pulled with
their stout little forceps for a long time,
and would have succeeded had there not
came a most unlooked-for interruption. A
tame pullet rambling that way, espied
the delicacies and naturally coveted them.
First she picked at one of the fragments,
scattering some Of the ants in all dlrec-
tions, then she picked 1t up and shook
off the rest of the ants before she swal-
lowed It, Much as she wanted the beef,
she did not relish a diet of ants. As
she picked up another piece, made some
shooing gesture with my hand which
frightened her across the lawn beyond a
tree. Here she shook off the ants still
clinging TO It, and then disposed of tic
morsel to her own satisfaction and the
discontinue of the insects. Indeed, they
, were sorely disconnected. Not only had
they been robbed of their dinner but had
been carried over an airline route far
away from home There was no blazed
or scented way back. 1t was really pa
thetic to see the tiny things wandering
about In the grass, not knowing in which
direction home lay.
Their companions that had not been car
ried away, but had likewise been robbed of
their dinner, were also greatly astonished,
scuttling around for many minutes trying