Year: 1876

Some men amuse themselves witk horses,
others with dogs, and occasionally an eccen-
trio naturalist affects he society Of snakes.
Sir John Lubbock. however, cares for none Of
these animaE. The ant monopolizes Ill his
affections and apparently all his time. His
private ant t-stables are large and commodious,


and they are stocked with thoroughbred ants
of unusual beauty and intelligence. If we
NAV place confidence in his Published state
ments, Sir John goes to the ant to greater
extent than any sluggard Of whom We have
any knowledge He rises early In the morn
ing, and spends his entire day in the acquisi-


ton OF wisdom by observing the habits Of the
ants.


From time to time he announces to the
world new proofs of the astonishing attain.
ments which ants have made in civilization
and culture Not long since, he confidently


assured us that in addition to their profound
knowledge of agriculture, mechanics, and
politics, the ants possessed . religion the out
ward manifestation of which consisted in the
worship of blind beetle. Doubtless, before
yery long hs will tell us Of painful conflicts


between Erastian ants, who hold that the ant
hill should feed the beetle out Of the public
granaries, and the non-conformist ants, who


demand that every ant should choose its own


beetle and feed him by voluntary subscription.
In fact We need not be surprised at anything


that Sir John may discover in point Of ants.


and that the ants have, if anything. surpassed
| men in the arts, sciences, and useful indus


tries.


The most recent ant bulletin put forth by
Sir John Lubbock differs somewhat in tone
from those which have proceeded it. The in


dustrious investigator has discovered fresh
resemblances between ant nature and human


nature, but those, unfortanately, do not re-
feet credit upon the ant. It appears that
when an ant finds an accessible sugar-bowl,


or pot of eligible jam, he is far too astute


to inform his acquaintances Of the fact A


short time since Sir John took two favorite


ants by the forelegs and showed them the


way to quantity Of excellent jelly. On every
subseq uent day these two ants slipped quietly
out of their ant-hill, and, Fastening to the
Jelly, spent hours in reducing themselves
morally below the level Of the largest beasts
by gorging themselves with jelly.


They did not share their secret with Q single


friend, and when on their way home from the


scene of their revels, they were careful to re-


move every trace OF jelly from their persons.


No Wall street broker with private informs'
ton of the certain rise of New York Central
could have observed Q more discreet silence,


and no railway speculator owning an absolute


monopoly of all the railways within Q limited


Districts, for example, Long lsland-could


have displayed more complete indifference


to the comfort of the public, and firmer de-
termination to take care of his own interests.
Sir John also announces that he has tried


an experiment to determine the extent to


which ants were Influenced by sympathy fol
the unfortunate. He found that if he wound
ed an ant loaded with valuable property,
other ants would Immediately show great
solicitude for the unfortunate one, and would
promptly relieve him of his burden. On the
other hand, he found that wounded ant who
carried no articles OF value on his person,
might lie for hours in the middle of q crowd
cd thoroughfare without attracting the slight
est attention from his fellows. Good Samari-


tans are not very abundant among men, but


among ants they appear to be totally un-
known.


Sir John has been forced to this painful con.
clusion in spite of his ardent admiration Of
ants, and though perhaps it furnishes an ad-
ditional evidence of the resemblance between
ants and men, it certainly gives Us no reason
to admire the moral status of the heartless in
sec.s.


Now that it is established that selishness,


greed, and want of sympathy for the suffer.
ing are among the characteristics of ants,


doubts will begin to be entertained whether


an anthill is the best possible school to


which to send q persistent sluggard. It il


true that he may learn from the ants to get up
at preposterous hours in the morning, and to
carry grains Of sand all over the neighborhood,
but he may also learn to make corners in
jelly, and to aid people in distress only when
he derives some personal benefit thereby.


Certainly Sir John Lubbock, and other sci
entific partisans of the ant, can not hereafter


hold up that exasperatingly industrious in.


sect as model of all possible virtues. In


deed, Sir John ought, in the light of his re.
cent discoveries. to inquire whether there ia
not something radically defective in the ami
religion as it now exists. May it not be true
that the cult of the blind beetle has become
overlaid with corruptions, and is at the present
time as dangerous to morals as is the worship
Of fortune among men? At ell events the


theory of the immaculate character of the


ant has received severe blow, and until Sil


John informs us that there has been reforma
ton in the religion and morals of ants. We


shall not be reminded quite so frequently as
We have been of our enormous interiorisy to
them.-N r Times.


Tools for Iunneling the Channel.
In anticipation OF the important engineer.
ing work Of piercing the chalk formations
nnder the channel the ingenuity of the Eng.