Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-11-17
Scientific Discussions
by Garrett P. Serviss

have been considering the ways
of the ant. No summer passes but
that L have rendezvous with the vi
Vaclous little siX-leggers. 1t is not
that l am a naturalist, but only
that / had the good luck to be born
in the country, in a place where big,
black ants were numerous and pug
nacious, and where l sometimes saw
them lighting of their own accord,
and often, now regret to say, made
them fight by rubbing their heads
together. My observations quickly
convinced me that no ant will stand
that. The big caliper jaws engage at
the hrst contact, and they never let
go until something comes off-a
limb, an antenna, or n head.
There is no more efficient fighter
than an ant. He has eXhauStless
wind, indomitable courage, and dou-
BILE weapons, like Tartarin's double
muscles l never saw one run-eX-
cept at the enemy.
1t is fortunate for us that no
animal of our size is constructed
like an ant. Considering, too, what
he is able to do with his micro
scopic speck of a brain, it is easy
to believe that with brain of hui
man dimens ions he would invent
of, and that we haven't limbs
enough to handle if we possessed
the weapons.
l had so much confidence in my
fighting black ants. when l was a
nonpacifist boy, that l once pitted
a champion of that breed against
spider. The spider is a mean
fighter; he never fights fair and
square like an ant. He depends on
his fierce looks and is, in fact, a
terroist coward. He is a squealer,
q gutter, and won't take punish
ment. but like human beings pos
sessing the same characteristics, is
cruel to the point of devilishness.
To see him bale up a poor, help
less fly, tieing down the iridescent
wings and wrapping them round the
still living body of his victim with
the Internal, sticky ropes that he
spins out of himself. is alone sutti-
cient to make anybody hate spiders.
It is not the end proposed or at
tanned, but the cold diabolism of the
method that maddens the beholder.
In the windows of the wagon
house" were the silky traps of many
big spiders, horribly matched with
insect skeletons, and it was against
one of these monsters of the win
dow that l put my champion ant.
l threw the ant into the web, and
out of his dusty den instantly darted
the spider. In n twinkl.ng he was
upon his supposed prey, and. my
nerves were on edge. l expected to
see n terrific struggle. The spider
was to the ant as Goliath to David,
hut 7 had complete faith in my
man"
He did not fail me, but what hap
pened was not what 1 was looking
for. The recollection of it brings
back to my ears the laugh of de-
light mingled with derision with
which I made the wagon house ring.
The spider fed faster than he had
come. Zipl he had come out, zip!
he went back again. The caliper-
jaws had no chance to get hold. IL
they had closed once the ant would
have gone into the den with the
spider like a tiger on an elephants
back, and would never have come
out again unless bearing a piece of
the foe Left to himself he tore
hole in the web and dropped out,
and 1 never tried the experiment
n second time. which showed that
L was not on n true scientific trail.
Watching ants has convinced me
that insects have free will as truly
though not as fully, as men, The
ant goes where he VII, and not,
as certain biologists tell us, wher-
ever unintelligent tropism sends
him. Just while I write, under the
trees. by a sandy path, I see ant
volition at work. I see an ant run
ming as If to break his neck, al
most kicking up the dust in his
haste. and I wonder who scared him.
But n minute later 7 perceive that
he was not frightened, but merely
in q hurry.
To be sure I am unable to make
out exactly what he was after, but
! do make out that something dis