At another time he found a few of the same ants passing along at intervals. He buried one beneath a lump of clay, leaving only the head protruding. A companion soon discovered her and tried to release her. Finding this to be impossible, she hurried away. Belt thought that she had abandoned the unfortunate prisoner, but she had only gone for assistance, and soon returned accompanied by a dozen companions, which made directly for the imprisoned ant and soon set her free. "I do not see how," says Belt in conclusion, "this action could be instinctive. It was sympathetic help, such as man only among the higher mammalia shows. The excitement and ardor with which they carried on their unflagging exertions for the rescue of their comrade could not have been greater if they had been human beings."[53] I have buried _Lasius flavus_ beneath sand, and in every instance, sooner or later, they have been dug out by their companions.
[53] Belt, _The Naturalist in Nicaragua_, p. 26; quoted also by Romanes, _Animal Intelligence_, p. 48.
Rev. Mr. White has noticed the same sympathetic help among _F. sanguinea_.[54] Lubbock noticed in one of his nests of _F. fusca_, Jan. 23, 1881, an ant lying on her back and unable to move. She was unable even to feed herself. Several times he uncovered the part of the nest where she was. The other ants at once carried her to the covered part. "On March 4," says he, "the ants were all out of the nest, probably for fresh air, and had collected together in a corner of the box; they had not, however, forgotten her, but had carried her with them. I took off the glass lid of the box, and after a while they returned as usual to the nest, taking her in again. On March 5th she was still alive, but on the 15th, notwithstanding all their care, she was dead."[55]
[54] White, _Leisure Hour_, p. 390, 1880.
[55] Lubbock, _loc. cit. ante_, p. 107 _et seq._
Dr. Stimson Lambert of Owensboro, Kentucky, a careful and accurate observer, informs me that he has frequently observed the large red ants (_F. rufa_) helping their mutilated or crippled companions.
Ants exhibit another emotion that shows the high development of their psychical or emotional nature. In the tender watchfulness and care of their young they are surpassed by no living creature. As soon as the young ant bursts its pupa case, it is carefully assisted into the world by its foster-mothers. These foster-mothers clean it with their tongues, gently going over the entire surface of its body, and then feed it. The young ant is conducted by them throughout the whole nest, and shown all the devious passageways and corridors. When it makes its first visit into the outside world, it is always accompanied by several chaperons. This parental love, if I may use the expression, is even extended to the unhatched eggs. If an ants' nest is disturbed by a stroke of a spade or hoe, the little inhabitants will at once begin to remove eggs, pupæ, and young to a place of safety.