Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 2, Slice 2 Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3.--Ant, _Tetramorium cespitum_ (Linn.), a, Female; b, female after loss of wings; c, male; d, worker; e, larva; g, pupa; f, head of larva more highly magnified. After Marlatt, _Bull_. 4 (n.s.) _Div. Ent. U.S. Dept. Agriculture_]

_Senses and Intelligence of Ants._--That ants possess highly developed senses and the power of communicating with one another has long been known to students of their habits; the researches of P. Huber and Sir J.

Lubbock (Lord Avebury) on these subjects are familiar to all naturalists. The insects are guided by light, being very sensitive to ultra-violet rays, and also by scent and hearing. Recent experiments by A.M. Fielde show that an ant follows her own old track by a scent exercised by the tenth segment of the feeler, recognizes other inmates of her nest by a sense of smell resident in the eleventh segment, is guided to the eggs, maggots and pupae, which she has to tend, by sensation through the eighth and ninth segments, and appreciates the general smell of the nest itself by means of organs in the twelfth segment. Lubbock's experiments of inducing ants to seek objects that had been removed show that they are guided by scent rather than by sight, and that any disturbance of their surroundings often causes great uncertainty in their actions. Ants invite one another to work, or ask for food from one another, by means of pats with the feelers; and they respond to the solicitations of their guest--beetles or mites, who ask for food by patting the ants with their feet. In all probability the actions of ants are for the most part instinctive or reflex, and some observers, such as A. Bethe, deny them all claim to psychical qualities.

But it seems impossible to doubt that in many cases ants behave in a manner that must be considered intelligent, that they can learn by experience and that they possess memory. Lubbock goes so far as to conclude the account of his experiments with the remark that "It is difficult altogether to deny them the gift of reason ... their mental powers differ from those of men, not so much in kind as in degree."

Wasmann considers that ants are neither miniature human beings nor mere reflex automata, and most students of their habits will probably accept this intermediate position as the most satisfactory. C.L. Morgan sums up a discussion on Lubbock's experiments in which the ants failed to utilize particles of earth for bridge-making, with the suggestive remark that "What these valuable experiments seem to show is that the ant, probably the most intelligent of all insects, has no claim to be regarded as a rational being." Nevertheless, ants can teach "rational beings" many valuable lessons.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The literature on ants is so vast that it is only possible to refer the reader to a few of the most important works on the family. Pierre Huber's _Traite des moeurs des fourmis indigenes_ (Geneve, 1810) is the most famous of the older memoirs. H.W. Bates, _A Naturalist on the Amazons_; T. Belt, _A Naturalist in Nicaragua_; H.C.

McCook, _Agricultural Ant of Texas_ (Philadelphia, 1880); and A.

Moller's paper in _Botan. Mitt, aus den Tropen_, (1893), contain cla.s.sical observations on American species. Sir J. Lubbock's (Lord Avebury) _Ants, Bees and Wasps_ (London 1882), dealing with British and European species, has been followed by numerous important papers by A. Forel and C. Emery in various Swiss and German periodicals, and especially by C. Janet in his _etudes sur les fourmis, les guepes et les abeilles_ (Paris, &c., 1893-1904). Forel (_Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg._ xlvii., 1893, _Journ. Bomnay N.H. Soc._ 1900-1903, and _Biologia Cent.

Americana_) and Emery (_Zool. Jahrb. Syst._ viii., 1896) have written on the cla.s.sification of the _Formicidae_. Among recent American writers on habit may be mentioned W.M. Wheeler (_American Naturalist_, 1900-1902) and A.M. Fielde (_Proc. Acad. Sci. Philadelphia_, 1901); E.

Wasmann (_Kritisches Verzeichniss der myrmecophilen und termitophilen Arthropoden_, Berlin, 1894, and _3^me Congres Intern. Zool._ 1895) is the great authority on ant-guests and a.s.sociates. D. Sharp's general account of ants in the _Cambridge Nat. Hist_. (vol. vi., 1898) is excellent. For discussions on intelligence see A. Bethe, _Journ. f. d.

ges. Physiol._ lxx. (1898); Wasmann, _Die psychischen Fahigkeiten der Ameisen_ (Stuttgart, 1899); C. Ll. Morgan, _Animal Behaviour_ (London, 1900.) (G. H. C.)

ANTAE (a Lat. plural word, possibly from _ante_, before), an architectural term given to slightly projecting pilaster strips which terminate the winged walls of the naos of a Greek temple. They owe their origin to the vertical posts of timber employed in the primitive palaces or temples of Greece, as at Tiryns and in the Heraeum at Olympia, to carry the roof timbers, as no reliance could be placed on the walls built with unburnt brick or in rubble masonry with clay mortar. When between these winged walls there are columns to carry the architrave, so as to form a porch, the latter is said to be in-antis. (See TEMPLE.)

ANTAEUS, in Greek mythology, a giant of Libya, the son of Poseidon and Gaea. He compelled all strangers pa.s.sing through the country to wrestle with him, and as, when thrown, he derived fresh strength from each successive contact with his mother earth, he proved invincible. With the skulls of those whom he had slain he built a temple to his father.

Heracles, in combat with him, discovered the source of his strength, and lifting him up from the earth crushed him to death (Apollodorus ii. 5; Hyginus, _Fab_. 31). The struggle between Antaeus and Heracles is a favourite subject in ancient sculpture.

ANTALCIDAS, Spartan soldier and diplomatist. In 393 (or 392 B.C.) he was sent to Tiribazus, satrap of Sardis, to undermine the friendly relations then existing between Athens and Persia by offering to recognize Persian claims to the whole of Asia Minor. The Athenians sent an emba.s.sy under Conon to counteract his efforts. Tiribazus, who was favourable to Sparta, threw Conon into prison, but Artaxerxes II. (Mnemon) disapproved and recalled his satrap. In 388 Antalcidas, then commander of the Spartan fleet, accompanied Tiribazus to the Persian court, and secured the active a.s.sistance of Persia against Athens. The success of his naval operations in the neighbourhood of the h.e.l.lespont was such that Athens was glad to accept terms of peace (the "Peace of Antalcidas"), by which (1) the whole of Asia Minor, with the islands of Clazomenae and Cyprus, was recognized as subject to Persia, (2) all other Greek cities--so far as they were not under Persian rule--were to be independent, except Lemnos, Imbros and Scyros, which were to belong, as formerly, to the Athenians. The terms were announced to the Greek envoys at Sardis in the winter 387-386, and were finally accepted by Sparta in 386. Antalcidas continued in favour with Artaxerxes, until the annihilation of Spartan supremacy at Leuctra diminished his influence. A final mission to Persia, probably in 367, was a failure, and Antalcidas, deeply chagrined and fearful of the consequences, is said to have starved himself to death. (See SPARTA.)

ANTANaNARVO, i.e. "town of a thousand" (Fr. spelling _Tananarive_), the capital of Madagascar, situated centrally as regards the length of the island, but only about 90 m. distant from the eastern coast, in 18 55'

S., 47 30' E. It is 135 m. W.S.W. of Tamatave, the princ.i.p.al seaport of the island, with which it is connected by railway, and for about 60 m.

along the coast lagoons, a service of small steamers. The city occupies a commanding position, being chiefly built on the summit and slopes of a long and narrow rocky ridge, which extends north and south for about 2 m., dividing to the north in a Y-shape, and rising at its highest point to 690 ft. above the extensive rice plain to the west, which is itself 4060 ft. above sea-level. For long only the princ.i.p.al village of the Hova chiefs, Antananarivo advanced in importance as those chiefs made themselves sovereigns of the greater part of Madagascar, until it became a town of some 80,000 inhabitants. Until 1869 all buildings within the city proper were of wood or rush, but even then it possessed several timber palaces of considerable size, the largest being 120 ft. high.

These crown the summit of the central portion of the ridge; and the largest palace, with its lofty roof and towers, is the most conspicuous object from every point of view. Since the introduction of stone and brick, the whole city has been rebuilt and now contains numerous structures of some architectural pretension, the royal palaces, the houses formerly belonging to the prime minister and n.o.bles, the French residency, the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, several stone churches, as well as others of brick, colleges, schools, hospitals, courts of justice and other government buildings, and hundreds of good dwelling-houses. Since the French conquest in 1895 good roads have been constructed throughout the city, broad flights of steps connect places too steep for the formation of carriage roads, and the central s.p.a.ce, called Andohalo, has become a handsome _place_, with walks and terraces, flower-beds and trees. A small park has been laid out near the residency, and the planting of trees and the formation of gardens in various parts of the city give it a bright and attractive appearance.

Water is obtained from springs at the foot of the hill, but it is proposed to bring an abundant supply from the river Ikopa, which skirts the capital to the south and west. The population, including that of the suburbs, is 69,000 (1907). The city is guarded by two forts built on hills to the east and south-west respectively. Including an Anglican and a Roman Catholic cathedral, there are about fifty churches in the city and its suburbs, as well as a Mahommedan mosque. (J. Si.*)

'ANTARA IBN SHADDAD, Arabian poet and warrior of the 6th century, was famous both for his poetry and his adventurous life. His chief poem is contained in the _Mo'allakat_. The account of his life forms the basis of a long and extravagant romance. His father Shaddad was a soldier, his mother Zabuba a negro slave. Neglected at first, he soon claimed attention and respect for himself, and by his remarkable personal qualities and courage in battle he gained his freedom and the acknowledgment of his father. He took part in the great war between the related tribes of Abs and Dhubyan, which began over a contest of horses and was named after them the war of Dahis and Ghabra. He died in a fight against the tribe of Tai. His poems, which are chiefly concerned with fighting or with his love for Abla, are published in W. Ahlwardt's _The Diwans of the six ancient Arabic Poets_ (London, 1870); they have also been published separately at Beirut (1888). As regards their genuineness, cf. W. Ahlwardt's _Bemerkungen uber die Aechtheit der alten arabichen Gedichte_ (Greifswald, 1872), pp. 50 ff. _The Romance of 'Antar_ (Sirat 'Antar ibn Shaddad) is a work which was long handed down by oral tradition only, has grown to immense proportions and has been published in 32 vols. at Cairo, 1307 (A.D. 1889), and in 10 vols. at Beirut, 1871. It was partly translated by Terrick Hamilton under the t.i.tle _'Antar, a Bedoueen Romance_ (4 vols., London, 1820).

For an account of the poet and his works see H. Thorbeckes, _Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter_ (Leipzig, 1867), and cf. the _Book of Songs_ (see ABULFARAJ), vol. vii. pp. 148-153. (G. W. T.)

ANTARCTIC (Gr. [Greek: anti], opposite, and [Greek: arktos], the Bear, the northern constellation of _Ursa Major_), the epithet applied to the region (including both the ocean and the lands) round the South Pole.

The Antarctic circle is drawn at 66 30' S., but polar conditions of climate, &c., extend considerably north of the area thus enclosed. (See POLAR REGIONS.)

ANTEATER, a term applied to several mammals, but (zoologically at any rate) specially indicating the tropical American anteaters of the family _Myrmecophagidae_ (see EDENTATA). The typical and largest representative of the group is the great anteater or ant-bear (_Myrmecophaga jubata_), an animal measuring 4 ft. in length without the tail, and 2 ft. in height at the shoulder. Its prevailing colour is grey, with a broad black band, bordered with white, commencing on the chest, and pa.s.sing obliquely over the shoulder, diminishing gradually in breadth as it approaches the loins, where it ends in a point. It is extensively distributed in the tropical parts of South and Central America, frequenting low swampy savannas, along the banks of rivers, and the depths of the humid forests, but is nowhere abundant. Its food consists mainly of termites, to obtain which it opens their nests with its powerful sharp anterior claws, and as the insects swarm to the damaged part of their dwelling, it draws them into its mouth by means of its long, flexible, rapidly moving tongue covered with glutinous saliva. The great anteater is terrestrial in habits, not burrowing underground like armadillos. Though generally an inoffensive animal, when attacked it can defend itself vigorously and effectively with its sabre-like anterior claws. The female produces a single young at a birth. The tamandua anteaters, as typified by _Tamandua_ (or _Uroleptes_) _tetradactyla_, are much smaller than the great anteater, and differ essentially from it in their habits, being mainly arboreal. They inhabit the dense primeval forests of South and Central America. The usual colour is yellowish-white, with a broad black lateral band, covering nearly the whole of the side of the body.

The little or two-toed anteater (_Cyclopes_ or _Cycloturus didactylus_) is a native of the hottest parts of South and Central America, and about the size of a rat, of a general yellowish colour, and exclusively arboreal in its habits. The name scaly anteater is applied to the pangolin (q.v.); the banded anteater (_Myrmecobius fasciatus_) is a marsupial, and the spiny anteater (_Echidna_) is one of the monotremes (see MARSUPIALIA and MONOTREMATA).

ANTE-CHAPEL, the term given to that portion of a chapel which lies on the western side of the choir screen. In some of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge the ante-chapel is carried north and south across the west end of the chapel, const.i.tuting a western transept or narthex. This model, based on Merton College chapel (13th century), of which only chancel and transept were built though a nave was projected, was followed at Wadham, New and Magdalen Colleges, Oxford, in the new chapel of St John's College, Cambridge, and in Eton College. In Jesus College, Cambridge, the transept and a short nave const.i.tute the ante-chapel; in Clare College an octagonal vestibule serves the same purpose; and in Christ's, Trinity and King's Colleges, Cambridge, the ante-chapel is a portion of the main chapel, divided off from the chancel by the choir screen.

ANTE-CHOIR, the term given to the s.p.a.ce enclosed in a church between the outer gate or railing of the rood screen and the door of the screen; sometimes there is only one rail, gate or door, but in Westminster Abbey it is equal in depth to one bay of the nave. The ante-choir is also called the "fore choir."

ANTE-FIXAE (from Lat. _antefigere_, to fasten before), the vertical blocks which terminate the covering tiles of the roof of a Greek temple; as s.p.a.ced they take the place of the cymatium and form a cresting along the sides of the temple. The face of the ante-fixae was richly carved with the anthemion (q.v.) ornament.

ANTELOPE, a zoological name which, so far as can be determined, appears to trace its origin, through the Latin, to _Pantholops_, the old Coptic, and _Antholops_, the late Greek name of the fabled unicorn. Its adoption by the languages of Europe cannot apparently be traced farther back than the 4th century of our era, at which date it was employed to designate an imaginary animal living on the banks of the Euphrates. By the earlier English naturalists, and afterwards by Buffon, it was, however, applied to the Indian blackbuck, which is thus ent.i.tled to rank as _the_ antelope. It follows that the subfamily typified by this species, in which are included the gazelles, is the one to which alone the term antelopes should be applied if it were employed in a restricted and definable sense.

Although most people have a general vague idea of what const.i.tutes an "antelope," yet the group of animals thus designated is one that does not admit of accurate limitations or definition. Some, for instance, may consider that the chamois and the so-called white goat of the Rocky Mountains are ent.i.tled to be included in the group; but this is not the view held by the authors of the _Book of Antelopes_ referred to below; and, as a matter of fact, the term is only a vague designation for a number of more or less distinct groups of hollow-horned ruminants which do not come under the designation of cattle, sheep or goats; and in reality there ought to be a distinct English group-name for each subfamily into which "antelopes" are subdivided.

The great majority of antelopes, exclusive of the doubtful chamois group (which, however, will be included in the present article), are African, although the gazelles are to a considerable extent an Asiatic group.

They include ruminants varying in size from a hare to an ox; and comprise about 150 species, although this number is subject to considerable variation according to personal views as to the limitations of species and races. No true antelopes are American, the p.r.o.ngbuck (_Antilocapra_), which is commonly called "antelope" in the United States, representing a distinct group; while, as already mentioned, the Rocky Mountain or white goat stands on the borderland between antelopes and goats.

The first group, or _Tragelaphinae_, is represented by the African elands (_Taurotragus_), bongo (_Boocercus_), kudus (_Strepsiceros_) and bushbucks or harnessed antelopes (_Tragelaphus_), and the Indian nilgai (_Boselaphus_). Except in the bongo and elands, horns are present only in the males, and these are angulated and generally spirally twisted, and without rings. The muzzle is naked, small glands are present on the face below the eyes, and the tail is comparatively long. The colours are often brilliant; white spots and stripes being prevalent. The harnessed antelopes, or bushbucks, are closely allied to the kudus, from which they chiefly differ by the spiral formed by the horns generally having fewer turns. They include some of the most brilliantly coloured of all antelopes; the ornamentation taking the form of vertical white lines and rows of spots. Usually the s.e.xes differ in colour. Whereas most of the species have hoofs of normal shape, in some, such as the nakong, or situtunga (_Tragelaphus spekei_), these are greatly elongated, in order to be suited for walking in soft mud, and these have accordingly been separated as _Limnotragus_. The last-named species spends most of its time in water, where it may be observed not infrequently among the reeds with all but its head and horns submerged. The true or smaller bushbucks, represented by the widely spread _Tragelaphus scriptus_, with several local races (fig. 1) are sometimes separated as _Sylvicapra_, leaving the genus _Tragelaphus_ to be represented by the larger _T.

angasi_ and its relatives. The genus _Strepsiceros_ is represented by the true or great kudu (_S. capensis_ or _S. strepsiceros_), fig. 2, ranging from the Cape to Somaliland, and the smaller _S. imberbis_ of North-East Africa, which has no throat-fringe. The large and brightly coloured bongo (_Boocercus euryceros_) of the equatorial forest-districts serves in some respects to connect the bushbucks with the elands, having horns in both s.e.xes, and a tufted tail, but a brilliant orange coat with vertical white stripes. Still larger are the elands, of which the typical _Taurotragus oryx_ of the Cape is uniformly sandy-coloured, although stripes appear in the more northern _T. o.

livingstonei_, while the black-necked eland (_T. derbia.n.u.s_) of Senegambia and the Bahr-el-Ghazal district is a larger and more brilliantly coloured animal. The small horns and bluish-grey colour of the adult bulls serve to distinguish the Indian nilgai (q.v.), _Boselaphus tragocamdus_, from the other members of the subfamily.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1.--Female Bushbuck (_Tragelaphus scriptus_).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2.--Male Kudu (_Strepsicero capensis_).]

The second group, which is mainly African, but also represented in Syria, is that of the _Hippotraginae_, typified by the sable antelope (_Hippotragus niger_) and roan antelope (_H. equinus_), but also including the oryxes (_Oryx_) and addax. These are for the most part large antelopes, with long cylindrical horns, which are present in both s.e.xes, hairy muzzles, no face-glands, long tufted tails and tall thick molars of the ox-type. In _Hippotragus_ the stout and thickly ringed horns rise vertically from a ridge above the eyes at an obtuse angle to the plane of the lower part of the face, and then sweep backwards in a bold curve; while there are tufts of long white hairs near the eyes. The sable antelope is a southern species in which both s.e.xes are black or blackish when adult, while the lighter-coloured and larger roan antelope has a much wider distribution. The South African blauwbok (_H.

leucophaeus_) is extinct. In the addax (_Addax nasomaculatus_), which is a distinct species common to North Africa and Syria, the ringed horns form an open spiral ascending in the plane of the face, and there is long, s.h.a.ggy, dark hair on the fore-quarters in winter. The various species of oryx differ from _Hippotragus_ by the absence of the white eye-tufts, and by the horns sloping backwards in the plane of the face.

In the South African gemsbuck (_Oryx gazella_), fig. 3, the East African beisa or true oryx (_O. beisa_), and the white Arabian (_O. beatrix_) the horns are straight, but in the North African white oryx or algazel (_O. leucoryx_ or _O. algazal_) they are scimitar-shaped, the colour of this species being white and pale chestnut (see ADDAX, ORYX, and SABLE ANTELOPE).

The third subfamily is the _Antilopinae_, the members of which have a much wider geographical range than either of the foregoing groups. The subfamily is characterized by the narrow crowns of the molars, which are similar to those of sheep, and the hairy muzzle. Generally there are face-glands below the eyes; and the tail is moderate or short. Pits are present in the forehead of the skull, and the horns are ringed for part of their length, with a compressed base, their form being often lyrate, but sometimes spiral. Lateral hoofs are generally present.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3.--Gemsbuck, or Cape Oryx (_Oryx gazella_).]