her back quite helpless. For three months, however, she was
carefully fed and tended by the other ants. In another case an ant
in the same manner had injured her antennae. I watched her also
carefully to see what would happen. For some days she did not leave
the nest. At last one day she ventured outside, and after a while
met a stranger ant of the same species, but belonging to another
nest, by whom she was at once attacked. I tried to separate them,
but whether by her enemy, or perhaps by my well-meant but clumsy
kindness, she was evidently much hurt and lay helplessly on her
side. Several others passed her without taking any notice, but soon
one came up, examined her carefully with her antennae, and carried
her off tenderly to the nest. No one, I think, who saw it could
have denied to that ant one attribute of humanity, the quality of
kindness.

The existence of such communities as those of ants or bees implies,
no doubt, some power of communication, but the amount is still a
matter of doubt. It is well known that if one bee or ant discovers
a store of food, others soon find their way to it. This, however,
does not prove much. It makes all the difference whether they are
brought or sent. If they merely accompany on her return a companion
who has brought a store of food, it does not imply much. To test
this, therefore, I made several experiments. For instance, one cold
day my ants were almost all in their nests. One only was out
hunting and about six feet from home. I took a dead bluebottle fly,
pinned it on to a piece of cork, and put it down just in front of
her. She at once tried to carry off the fly, but to her surprise
found it immovable. She tugged and tugged, first one way and then
another for about twenty minutes, and then went straight off to the
nest. During that time not a single ant had come out; in fact she