It will be perceived that these observations were not made by Dr. Allen Thomson himself, and that there are certain inherent discrepancies in the account which he has published—such, for instance, as the reason given for trying and repeating the experiment, the method being clearly a cumbersome one to employ if the only object were that of 'disposing of' the animals. Nevertheless, as Dr. Thomson is a high authority, and as I learn from him that he is satisfied regarding the capability and veracity of his informant, I have not felt justified in suppressing his evidence. Still I think that so remarkable a fact unquestionably demands further corroboration before we should be justified in accepting it unreservedly. For if it is a fact, it stands as a unique case of an instinct detrimental alike to the individual and to the species.
CHAPTER VII.
REMAINING ARTICULATA.
The Hymenoptera being so much the most intelligent order, not merely of insects, but of Invertebrata, and the Arachnida having been now considered, very little space need be occupied with the remaining classes of the Articulata.
Coleoptera.
Sir John Lubbock, in his first paper on Bees and Wasps, quotes the following case from Kirby and Spence, with the remarks which I append:—
The first of these anecdotes refers to a beetle (Ateuchus pilularius) which, having made for the reception of its eggs a pellet of dung too heavy for it to move, repaired to an adjoining heap, and soon returned with three of his companions. 'All four now applied their united strength to the pellet, and at length succeeded in pushing it out; which being done, the three assistant beetles left the spot and returned to their own quarters.' This observation rests on the authority of an anonymous German artist; and though we are assured that he was a 'man of strict veracity,' I am not aware that any similar fact has been recorded by any other observer.
Catesby, however, says:—