THE NAtIJRALISt.

Otago Witness, Issue 2848, 14 October 1908, Page 76

THE NAtIJRALISt.

' . -'The Slave-making Ante. ..ThereJ are eome^ interesting references to . the^lajve-making ants in Dr Auguete Foreifc'Hm^ortant book; "The Senses of Insect {Methuen and Co.) :— ""Incapable of _ tending their young, and even of eating" by themselves, these cautWtJs 'workers -have the instinct of joining together in masses in the beautiful afternoons of July, August, and September. " At a signal given by some initiators of the movement, which 6trike the others en their forehead, nearly all the amazons leavo the riest and gjo off in. fairly serried ranks in a given direct-ion, with a rapidity of about oih> metre in 40 6eoonds in the grass, and in 25 or 30 seconds on bare ground. I " Often several starts arc made without anything resulting, especially if the weather ;s; s doubtful. The phalanx, composed of about 300 to 1500 ante, advances in a fairly straight line, without licfeitatiiig. Nevertheless, the ante which are at tho head often return to the rear, as if to orient themselves or be assured that they are followed, co that the head of the army changes. But very often this bead hesitates, sea-rahes right and left, e^en etope. Then -the .whole army scatters and searches, often for, a long time, palpitating everything with the antennae. "In this case the individual signals and general movements can be observed. Several ants, or perhaps only one, hesitating no longer, at last recognise the route to follow ; they start off at a rapid pace, striking the others on the forehead- and going off in a direction which often enough makes an angle with the preceding owe. " The impulse is thus communicated, and the whole army follows it, sight aiding the topoehemical sense in these rapid movements of the whole. Rarely two 'beade' of the army are formed at one time, each going off in a different direction. Then the army is divided into two, and each party goes to pillage another anthill, unless one of the heads returns on its tracks end follows tho other, or loses heart and goes beck. "All these cases occur, and etill others. Several such "stoppages may succeed each other in the same expedition. Sometim-es they only heeitate for a moment, but sometimes also the ante cannot, in epitc of lonpr searches, succeed in finding their way, and ,re-enter their home empty -handod. "they discover a nest of Formira, fusoa or refubarbis, enter it. and leave lit an instant after, each holding a larva w v pupa in its mandibles, which they 'carry homo with all speed. I have sometimes seen tl* army pass close to the sido of Ova nest which they seek without findin^r'tt, but tiwy ritehed upon it when I had bronahfe ii to their notice by Fcattering

several pups of fusca with bits of the earth from the nest in its direction. — The Amaaon Army.— "In the return of the army there is never hesitation; the olfactory (topochemical track) and visual memory of the outward journey is sufficient to make known to each ant the exact road. "Regarding this, let us note two facts. . I have observed am Amazon- army traversing a tract of grass (which I had flooded to prevent them from passing), in spite of the Water, by hanging on- to blades of grass, ' and then crossing a route swept by the . dust of A' violent wind, all without losing its orientation. "Every head of the army wishes to be followed. If several amazom. parties in . front are not followed by a sufficient troop (I have observed one exception), they return on their tracks. " Home re-entered, the amcuzons some- i times throw « the stolen larvae to their j slaves, and set off again immediately to pillage the same nest once more, if it still contains booty, or another if it no longer, holds any. *' More often iihey themselves Bring the produce of their raid into their nest, and leave it no more that day. - In fact, then, they know if the pillaged nest still contains some pupse, or if it no longer contains any. In the -first case only they return to it, sometimes the same day, sometimes the next day, if the hour is too late, and this time without halt or -hesitation. "The fact appears to me to furnish an irrefutable proof of their memory. They must remember if the pillaged nest still contains pupse or not — that is to say, if there were many or few. Neither reflexes, nor odours, nor polarised tracks can explain the thing. —Carried Off 29,000 Slaves.— " I have watched during a single summer 44 expeditions executed in 30 afternoons by one, single-colony, and I have calculated that these ants must have carried off to their home close on 29,000/pupee of slaves in this one summer. "How do Polyergus {slave-making ants) discover nests of Formica fusca, situated often 40 or 60 metres from them and well hidden? In the spring time and on summer mornings the Polyergus workers go out individually from their nest and explore the environs to great distances, thus discovering the nests of the species which they pillage. " One pan admit with certainty that it is these explorers which become later the initiators of directions, both at the getting out and afterwards at the halts of indecision of the army. And it is thus that the fl.nteiLna.-ry topoohemical sense of smell plays its part. "At the time of a halt one of the workers which are searching finds, thanks to its topoohemical memory of places, the landmarks which orient it, and goes off, carrying the others in its train. I think, with Lubbock, that sight helps the orientation of Polyergus, but Pabre has enormously exaggerated its importance. "Insects, says I>r Forel, "possess our five senses (save, perhaps, hearing) in a well-differentiated condition, and with a specialised energy which, we may suppose analogous to ours. The quality of their sight, nevertheless, in divers respects differs widely from ours. Certam among them see the ultra-violet rays, which we do not see." — Daily Mail.

Dog Heroes. That dogs a-re .capable of, heroism as nobl^.as that of human beings, may .ba.Been, !from th'e-ojicflsipßßfd reports that ,ajpnear 'ip, jth^'"nejvspa|)ers, ' and It may have occurred ' ; it^' m%y peqple' tfiat ifiey 1 Isome'^rmjlaVrec^lgnltioiii df''lsbeir courage^ and-deVotiotr. ' ' '" - T • ' - ■ -Some'' may be 1 to know; how- ' 'ew&r; -tha^tnere. Ie qxcanine order ; of merit : already in existence— 4he<i" Brotherhood of. Hero Doge." Mrs de Coutrcy Laffan, the well-known author, founded it about -a year ago to support her contention that dogs could exhibit as high a degree of noble self-sacrifice as men. A number of stories of devotion -and fidelity have been reported to her, and from them she is making a selection for publication in book form shortly. Here are the stories of a few members of the "brotherhood": Little Nell belonged to an old blind man who sold matches for some 12 years in Trafalgar square. Bain or sunshine, the little dog led her master safely through the intricacies of London traffic, and very often she went hungry. This was the only member of the brotherhood with whom Mrs Laffan herself camo in contact, and hor sad little story partly suggested the idea. Sho noticed this wet and shivering little dog one rainy day, ajid it to touched her tha/t eh\> mad-o it the little coat and boots which those who saw it may remember. At last, however, the old Wind man fell ill, and had to go into a. hospital, and Nollio wa*> heartbroken. " Tho wife brought her I to us," said Mrs Laffan, "and wo took her ! in, but she could scarcely be persuaded to eat, and it was pathetic to ccc her always watching for her master. As soon aa he came out> of the hospital ho was brought .here, ajid tho little dog rushed to him. He fell on his kneee, and eh© jumped up at him ; it was pathetic to &e-e • their devotion. And then sho just died in his arms — died of the eudden joy." Scot wa6 a Silsden dog. A fire broke out one night when everyone was asleep, and made some way before it was discovered. Scot wa6 the first to notice it, and rushing upstairs aroused the inmates by tearing away the bedclothes. j The husband and wife and a boy, who j were sleeping in a room overhead, made their escape from the burning building, but when they looked for the dog he was nowhere to be found. When the fire was extinguished, however, hig charred body was found beside tho boy's bed, and it was realised that tho faithful dog had miescd hig little master and made his way up to his bedroom, and there had been overcome by the smoke. The beautiful collie dog Gyp saved a child from drowning. The interesting feature of his etory is that he was never befora seen to enter the water ; the most insistent coaxing was of no avail. When, however, he heard \he cry of the drowning child, he appareatly overcame his rei pugaance and brought her safely out. i Nell was a Stratford heroine. A fire j had broken out at a local inn, and &ho discovered it) in time for all the inmates . to escape. She aroused them by bursting into the landlord's room and endeavouring to pull him out' of bed. There was another eirailar case at Sumlerland, for which Jess was admitted to the order, where

the caretaker of the Baltio Chambers and 1 his wife and six children escaped. These cases are the more interesting in their beaming -upon: 'the question of the degspee in which dogs are a protection in oase of fire. ' Dash, saved the life of a young man at Ilfracombe- His master had. been caught by the tide under the Tora, ' and had managed- to find a very perilous ledge upon the cliff. -No one, however, knew what had become of him, " and ' search-parties wandered over the downs for hours. The search had been given- up as hopeless when the dog Bach came in barking and very excited, and led them to- a place on the cliffs from which they could reach his master. The dog had set out alone; and by eomc incomprehensible instinct had found him. A remarkable instance of intelligence was displayed by a fox terrier at King's Norton. A gardener .who _ had been; left in charge of an empty -.house, carelessly turned on the gas a>t tho m&ter without noticing: that the pipes had' been, disturbed" some 'alterations, and- went to^ -sleep.' Just, as he -was being overcome' b£ ihe gap he was aroused by the dog," which licked his face and tugged at the bedclothes and vigorously prevented him from- sinking back again into sleep. Each^ of the members of the brotherhood is entitled to "a" silver collar, for ■which Mrs Laffan. has made herself t responsible. The collar bears the inscription, ''Member/ of the Brotherhood of Bogs. I save- lives," the part being adapted to suit the circumstances.