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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1882 Excerpt: ...Bell most kindly set up for me an extremely sensitive microphone: it was attached to the underside of one of my nests; and though we could distinctly hear the ants walking about, we could not distinguish any other sound. It is, however, far from improbable that ants may produce sounds entirely beyond our range of hearing. Indeed, it is not impossible that insects may possess senses, or sensations, of which we can no more form an idea than we should have been able to conceive red or green if the human race had been blind. The human ear is sensitive to vibrations reaching at the outside to 38,000 in a second. The sensation of red is produced when 470 millions of millions of vibrations enter the eye in a similar time; but between these two numbers, vibrations produce on us only the sensation of heat; Q we have no special organs of sense adapted to them. There is, however, no reason in the nature of things why this should be the case with other animals; and the problematical organs possessed by many of the lower forms may have relation to sensations which we do not perceive. If any apparatus could be devised by which the number of vibrations produced by any given cause could be lowered so as to be brought within the range of our ears, it is probable that the result would be most interesting. Moreover, there are not wanting observations which certainly seem to indicate that ants possess some sense of hearing. I am, for instance, indebted to Mr. Francis Galton for the following quotation from Colonel Long's recent work on Central Africa.i 'I observed, ' he says, 'the manner of catching them' (the ants, for food), 'as here pictured' (he gives a figure). 'Seated round an anthole were two very pretty maidens, who with sticks beat upon an inverted gourd, bourmah,&...

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