em, unconscious, by one of the nests, near some water. Ants from
the nest came and examined and discussed these disgraced creatures, then
carried their friends home and threw the strangers overboard. Sir John
repeated the experiment a number of times. For a time the sober ants
did as they had done at first--carried their friends home and threw the
strangers overboard. But finally they lost patience, seeing that
their reformatory efforts went for nothing, and threw both friends and
strangers overboard. Come--is this instinct, or is it thoughtful
and intelligent discussion of a thing new--absolutely new--to their
experience; with a verdict arrived at, sentence passed, and judgment
executed? Is it instinct?--thought petrified by ages of habit--or
isn't it brand-new thought, inspired by the new occasion, the new
circumstances?

Y.M. I have to concede it. It was not a result of habit; it has all
the look of reflection, thought, putting this and that together, as you
phrase it. I believe it was thought.

O.M. I will give you another instance of thought. Franklin had a cup
of sugar on a table in his room. The ants got at it. He tried several
preventives; and ants rose superior to them. Finally he contrived one
which shut off access--probably set the table's legs in pans of water,
or drew a circle of tar around the cup, I don't remember. At any
rate, he watched to see what they would do. They tried various
schemes--failures, every one. The ants were badly puzzled. Finally they
held a consultation, discussed the problem, arrived at a decision--and
this time they beat that great philosopher. They formed in procession,
cross the floor, climbed the wall, marched across the ceiling to a point
just over the cup, then one by one they let go and fell down into it!
Was that instinct--thought petrified by ages of inherited habit?

Y.M. No, I don't believe it was. I believe it was a newly reasoned
scheme to meet a new emergency.

O.M. Very well. You have conceded the reasoning power in two instances.
I come now to a mental detail wherein the ant is a long way the superior
of any human being. Sir John Lubbock proved by many experiments that an
ant knows a stranger ant of her own species in a moment, even when the
stranger is disguised--with paint. Also he proved that an ant knows
every individual in her hive of five hundred thousand souls. Also, after
a year's absence one of the five hundred thousand she will straightway
recognize the