jaws. So utterly helpless are the masters, that when Huber shut up
thirty of them without a slave, but with plenty of the food which they
like best, and with their larv and pup to stimulate them to work,
they did nothing; they could not even feed themselves, and many
perished of hunger. Huber then introduced a single slave (F. fusca),
and she instantly set to work, fed and saved the survivors; made some
cells and tended the larv , and put all to rights. What can be more
extraordinary than these well-ascertained facts? If we had not known of
any other slave-making ant, it would have been hopeless to have
speculated how so wonderful an instinct could have been perfected.
Formica sanguinea was likewise first discovered by P. Huber to be a
slave-making ant. This species is found in the southern parts of
England, and its habits have been attended to by Mr. F. Smith, of the
British
Museum, to whom I am much indebted for information on this and other
subjects. Although fully trusting to the statements of Huber and Mr.
Smith, I tried to approach the subject in a sceptical frame of mind, as
any one may well be excused for doubting the truth of so extraordinary
and odious an instinct as that of making slaves. Hence I will give the
observations which I have myself made, in some little detail. I opened
fourteen nests of F. sanguinea, and found a few slaves in all. Males
and fertile females of the slave-species are found only in their own
proper communities, and have never been observed in the nests of F.
sanguinea. The slaves are black and not above half the size of their
red masters, so that the contrast in their appearance is very great.
When the nest is slightly disturbed, the slaves occasionally come out,
and like their masters are much agitated and defend the nest: when the
nest is much disturbed and the larv and pup are exposed, the slaves
work energetically with their masters in carrying them away to a place
of safety. Hence, it is clear, that the slaves feel quite at home.
During the months of June and July, on three successive years, I have
watched for many hours several nests in Surrey and Sussex, and never
saw a slave either leave or enter a nest. As, during these months, the
slaves are very few in number, I thought that they might behave
differently when more numerous; but Mr. Smith informs me that he has
watched the nests at various hours during May, June and August, both in
Surrey and Hampshire, and has never seen the slaves, though present in
large numbers in August, either leave or enter the nest. Hence he
considers them as strictly household slaves. The masters, on the other
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