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188
The Speech of Monkeys
·
R. L. Garner
153
[Sidenote:
A
COLONY
OF
ANTS]
I
have
observed
that
signs
prevail
to
a
great
extent
among
ants.
Some
years
ago
I
had
an
opportunity
of
studying
a
colony
of
ants,
and
I
watched
them
almost
daily
for
several
weeks.
I
had
seen
it
stated
that
they
found
their
way
by
the
sense
of
smell,
but
these
observations
confirmed
my
doubts
on
that
point,
and
I
feel
justified
in
saying
that
they
are
guided
almost,
if
not
entirely,
by
landmarks.
On
the
bark
of
a
tree
from
which
they
were
gathering
in
their
winter
stores,
I
observed
that
there
were
certain
little
knots
or
protuberances
by
which
they
directed
their
course
and
which
they
always
passed
in
a
certain
order.
Between
these
landmarks
they
did
not
confine
themselves
to
any
exact
path,
but
the
concourse
would
sometimes
widen
out
over
the
space
of
more
than
an
inch,
but
as
they
approached
a
landmark
every
ant
fell
into
line
and
went
in
the
exact
path
of
the
others,
which
rarely
exceeded
in
any
case
more
than
an
eighth
of
an
inch
in
width.
Whenever
an
ant
would
lose
its
way
it
would
lift
its
head
high
into
the
air,
look
around,
and
then
turn
almost
at
right
angles
from
the
course
it
was
pursuing
towards
the
path
of
the
others.
In
scores
of
cases
I
observed
that
the
outward-bound
ant,
when
it
had
been
lost
and
returned
to
the
path,
always
came
on
the
homeward
side
of
the
landmark
and
passed
out.
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