The Soul of the White Ant (Original Unabridged): The First Work of Ethology, by Eugène Marais
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The Soul of the White Ant (Original Unabridged): The First Work of Ethology, by Eugène Marais
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Marais' work as a naturalist, although by no means trivial (he was one of the first scientists to practice ethology and was repeatedly acknowledged as such by Robert Ardrey and others, gained less public attention and appreciation than his contributions as a literalist. He discovered the Waterberg Cycad, which was named after him (Encephalartos eugene-maraisii). He was the first person to study the behaviour of wild primates and his observations continue to be cited in contemporary evolutionary biology. He is amongst the greatest of the Afrikaner poets and remains one of the most popular, although his output was not large. Opperman described him as the first professional Afrikaner poet; Marais believed that craft was as important as inspiration for poetry. Along with J.H.H. de Waal and G.S. Preller, he was a leading light in the Second Afrikaans (language) Movement in the period immediately after the Second Boer War, which ended in 1902. Some of his finest poems deal with the wonders of life and nature but he also wrote about inexorable Death. Marais was isolated in some of his beliefs. He was a self-confessed pantheist and claimed that the only time he entered a church was for weddings.An assessment of Marais' status as an Afrikaner hero was published by historian Sandra Swart. Although an Afrikaner patriot, Marais was sympathetic to the cultural values of the black tribal peoples of the Transvaal; this is seen in poems such as "Die Dans van die Reën" (The dance of the rain).
The Soul of the White Ant (Original Unabridged): The First Work of Ethology, by Eugène Marais- Amazon Sales Rank: #1202759 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-03-20
- Released on: 2015-03-20
- Format: Kindle eBook
Language Notes Text: English, Afrikaans (translation)
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful. Continues and finishes where Darwin left off. By A Customer Continues and finishes where Darwin left off. An absolutely fabulous book! Why this book is out of print is a mystery - it should be compulsory reading for every member of the human race interested in why we're on the planet and how we've managed to stay on it... and what to do next.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful. A Book Ahead of Its Time By Jennifer Connor "Beloved, you are going to suffer a great loss. Instead of living in this glowing sunlight, you are going to spend your days in absolute darkness. Instead of citizenship of the wide veld, instead of the freedom of the air, of mountains, trees and plains, you are going to spend your days as a prisoner in a narrow vault, in whose confines you will be unable to make the least movement...but in place of all this, you yourself will become a far more important and wonderful being (p91-92)." Eugene Marais was a writer and scientist whose theories are described as being ahead of their time. Although he is best known for his short stories and poetry, Marais would wish to be remembered for his lifetime work with termites and apes. Marais studied and practiced law until 1910 when he devoted the rest of his life to studying baboons and ants. Marais also studied medicine and his writing reflects the knowledge and application of anatomy and physiology of both mammals and insects. Despite the fact that Marais was not an entomologist, his insight on termites proves to be beneficial to the study of insects today. The Soul of the White Ant is an illustrative description of termites' life cycle. Marais takes the reader on a journey from the initial flight of the female termite to the removal of the queen from the nest. The book is divided into chapters each describing a different facet of the termite's life. The chapters content range from the language of the insect world, a description of the three different types of termites, the psyche of termites, the birth of the community, and the symbiotic relationship with fungus. Even though the chapters cover different aspects of the termite's life, each chapter builds on the concepts presented in the previous chapters. The book examines the psychological make up of termites and compares the observed behaviors in termites to behaviors in humans.The community of termites is also compared to the physical make up of humans. The queen is equivalent to the human brain. The two different type of termites found in the nest are compared to the human red and white blood cells. One is for defense and protection against invasion and the other is for repair and rebuilding. Marais talks about these two different types of termites and the queen as a composite animal. This means that alone the ant is nothing but together all the ants make up one organism. Marais also describes the queen's power as "influence-at-a-distance". This book proves a new perspective and outlook into the life and behavior of ants and also of insects in general. Marais writing style is geared toward the common man. Everyone will enjoy this book. You do not have to be a scientist to appreciate Marais insights and observations of the termites. The narrative writing style allows the reader to feel as though the book was personal written for them alone. There are also illustrations throughout the book that give a great visual reference to the life cycle of the termite, the different types of termites, the queen in her later stages of life. There are also pictures that show the material of the termitary and the fungus gardens found within the termitary. I would highly recommend this book. The Soul of the White Ant is an easy read and hard to put down. The story told is captivating and extremely informative. Marais was truly ahead of his time. The theories in the novel were presented in a way that everyone could understand. Marais also provided detailed experiments that were performed to support his various theories about behavior and other facets of the termites' community. My favorite experiment describes consists of isolating sections of the termitary with a metal plate over a long period of time. This experiment hypothesis is that once the queen is destroyed all activity will cease in the isolated regions also. This hypothesis is proven to be true. Once the queen is destroyed the all directed activity ceases. This supports the theory that the termites make up a composite animal. The queen is the brain of the operation. Without her signals, the community is dead. This book invoked my interest in learning more about insects, especially ants. I would encourage people to read this book regardless of their personal interests. I feel inspired after reading The Soul of the White Ant and I am interested in carrying out experiments to test the theories presented. This book makes you think twice about destroying an anthill because of the wonderful activity that is taking place inside. I think we as humans can learn tremendously from termites. Please go get this book. It is a perfect addition to any collection.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful. the soul of the white ant By Daisy THE SOUL OF THE WHITE ANT.Eugene Marais was born in Pretoria in 1872.He was a published poet at 12, by 16 he had matriculated. In 1890 he took his first job, as a journalist for the newspaper Land en Volk. A year later he was the editor, and by 20 owned the Afrikaans newspaper Land en Volk.In 1894 came a severe blow that undoubtedly changed his life. he married but she died only a year later after their son was born. In 1896 he traveled to London to study law and as jurist Marais distinguished himself as a brilliant character in South African history. He has been seen as "...a human community in one man. He was a poet, an advocate, a journalist, a story-teller, a drug-addict, a psychologist, a natural scientist." He never shook off the habit. (His son and others referred obliquely to his bouts with the drug as his "ailing health".)He qualified and was admitted to the bar at the Inner Temple. He studied medicine at the same time but in 1899 due to the war he stop. After not pulling a gunshot he let the barrel to produce the most exciting story of his time. (HOLM, E. & MARAIS, E. 1992. Fruit Chafers of Southern Africa. Sigma Press Ltd., Pretoria. 326 pp.)The book gives a vivid picture of how ants and termites react. It goes on to analyze how a termitary is formed and how wonderful and mysterious it could be to a human being. He relates this beginning of termitary as a kind of psyche, as telepathy or other functions of the human mind, which border on the supernatural. These white ants have a community life. Being the most destructive to the wood of all kinds, building anthills on open vent still has an important aspect to play.Their termitary begins from the moment when they fly, after the rains and usually at dusk, which allows them to escape from their worse enemies. Although they are faced with instinct they begin their thrilling fight knowing nothing about enemies. Since they have never being out of their nest. As described "paid of existence is to them a closed book, and yet nine times out ten they do not fly until the birds are safely in their nest" (Eugene Maris, pg. 22)Termites that fly are big as the ones in the nest although they each look different, in color for some take the piece of weapons of defense like class or horns, some form mouthy and digestive system; other generate organs. The winged insects are a potential king or queen. They could have no opportunity for flight, because after flight they must seek immediate shelter in the ground, and if the ground is hard and dry it will be impossible. If there is a flight, the flyers are sometimes escorted by soldiers and workers, most of the termites' turn to preserve their lives by using a grass stalk to fly or practice. They turn to have more trouble flying because it needs to protect its self from enemies. After this precious flight they all try to discard of their wings. This flight is regarded as one moment for which they enjoy at least 3 seconds, or few yards. When the termites or white ants female discard of her wings she makes a signal which allows the male to come closer. This signal tells the male the female is in position waiting. The male discard of its wings if it needs to mate by searching and doing the house dance, this will then allow him to move into a house and stay with the female. They two will then mate and stay in that area forming a new community that will last for a period of time. The mating only occurs if their winds have being shaded after fusing, no matter what interest from man it will not occur.In chapter two the unsolved secrets tells us how a termitary is built and how the termites behave. It allows us to see the comparative psychology aspects in termites. Here the queen makes continuous eggs to replace the workers and soldiers she dies. The only way she could do this, is by keeping her in a cell where can survive in a tiny space for the workers to feed the queen, and move the eggs away. She can never regain how temporally power because how nerves changes into fluid, and she moves by contract and expansion or she gains a temporary power of movement that most be discarded. The kind stays on as a hanger on in the palace. If the queen attends more than her size mass she is killed and eaten up, then another cell is built and a potential queen replaced to continue the task.Again we are introduced to the language of the insects. They mostly communicate in using three things color, scant or sound. These are done by a particular kind of termites, which allows others to react, sometimes by behavior. Termites are blind but are sensitive to indirect ray of light far below the threshold of perception of which the human eye can not perceive. Although we can perceive with the olfactory organ for example 'the white ant' of Northern Transvaal emits a foul smell to a distance of three or four yards, which has a peculiar property of causing extreme nausea in most people and also in dogs. The cause of this smell is due to the discharge of a gas, which the termite uses for other purposes of which most South Africans will know the characteristic smell of the common termite. The queen termite allows us to scent a very strong scent that affects our senses. The termite turns to use four signals, which can be communal signals, sent out by the queen, who forms the hub of the nest. This signal serves as gathering and recognition for everyone in the community, this signal cannot be perceive by our senses.2.) Also we perceive the call of the workers and soldiers as a sound.3.) Food messages are beyond our perception. These three will be examine more closely later on.4.) Lastly, the sexual signal of the queen, which is also beyond the reach of our senses, can be used through out life.In chapter four Marais uses Personification by giving human qualities to the ants. He gives reason, why the psyche is described as out of our reach and senses by relating matter. These reasons as psychological movements are definite motive. He established the idea of a motive base on what movement will occur in a certain kind of matter. This movement will originates in the organism itself. In this sense he describes the psyche world as one in which plants and other organism turn to grow. Plant use light, tropism induced by outside influences, movements which depends on natural forces outside the organism and movements which appear to originates from within the organism, for instance, the extension of tendrils towards objects by certain cripple's. He allows us to view how external forces of nature and how instincts play a role through our memories as it does for the white ants, which motivates other animals. He shows that hereditary in the white ants occurs in the same pattern as in other organisms, he also allows individual to look at themselfs` as incapable of deviation from their own experiences after a repeatable task. To this psychologist will mean or say that the instinctive psyche cannot deviate from the inherited formula of behavior, and that individuals can acquire casual memory in order words he cannot learn by his own experience as the white ant. (Eugene Marais, pg. 49 lines 8-11).While in chapter five we see the luminosity in the animal kingdom, he describes the nature of which most insects (white ants) and other animals try to use the light for signals, which are dependent for their sexual lives (e.g. pollination in the night by most insects). He also relates how the white ant uses this light for defense like the jellyfish. The light use is generated from oxidation and will disappear in the absence of oxygen.While in chapter six and seven we are faced on how insects become composite, which allows us to classify what is a psychological movement or group of souls in the termitary. We become faced with the knowledge and questions such as; why the worker continues to work? That can be related to the termite or white ants having no free will or the choice to say no due to movement. The behavior of the white ant can only be determined from an influence or without and influence from the queen's senses. Its distance lesson is influence through a fixed limit, which is somatic death. This death destroys the influence immediately to allow the fifth stage of the termitary to separate compositely due to developmental stages. While in the sixth stage the white ant posses a specialized group, which allows them to look like mammals that encompasses a high development through nature. This stage of nature allows us to look at the body of an ant as insoluble and a body that can resist power and elasticity of the whole living body after death. It shows that the ants have a lot of cells that keeps it functioning as well as blood and water following through it.In the next eight chapters we are looking at development of the termites or white ants and the aspects that make up death and why death is somatic. This allows us to see the general chemical components of the ants cell wall or organic materials are very unstable and breaks down into simple elements which allows new combination to take place; showing the organic matter has disappear and the cell can only be maintained if the ant is alive, but it falls apart when it dies. From this Marais concluded that unlike the human body, the termitary consists of structure of cells covered with a thick skin. He goes on to explain how the termites mind works and how food is in its natural process of transforming, from one cell to the other. He also allows us to look at the principle behind nature. He then continues with the development of the composite being, although the termitary lacks the power of locomotion, they have blood streams and specialized organs in developmental growth and lives in symbiosis, possess given king and queen as prototypes which developed in late development as a human race. They biological facts base on sexual aspects, which later arise to the birth of a termite, and later a community is a natural phenomenon. There is a voluntary movement of the termites during sexual reproduction, and how nature changes the mother in to an organism, which could only be determined through the head. The self-governing aspects of the queen allows us to know when there is lack of food, or illness and also the danger signals tells us when the community needs to adjust and be in safety from enemies.From all what we know about the termitary it is also easy to know about the pain and travail in nature through the behavior of the termites. We could see this in the behavior of the king and queen. The queen looks at her eggs after laying them, and feels sympathy, love by touching the eggs with her jaws and front legs and lies motionless beside them for a time. There queens lays the eggs, building of the termitary, fills it with food, and take care of the young shows the pain and travail. Unlike the males duty is done after honeymoon which give s him and opportunity to go out and fly again and search for another female. From the aspects of the female we can see the nature of how the little white ant develops into a baby and grows strong like other organisms. Also the development of a termite may encounter death and sorrow on the way if it's not well taken care off. This allows them to morn and dispose of the body like humans. They aspect of death is mostly avoided when the young is laid by the queen who tries to make them long live span.This chapter looks at the uninherited instinct which is usually base on the perception of pain in the animal world, which occurs in varying circumstances which the queen moans and groans, draws her head showing she is in pain. This aspect of pain in labor is a natural phenomenon among animals and human. All the eggs laid by the queen will inherit all instincts or hereditary environmental memory, which is needed for its own struggle of existence. The insects are born with instincts of knowing what kind of food they need, where and how to obtain it, how to defend itself against enemies, knowing how to make nest or other home, how to feed its little one and how to care for them. This knowledge is there without the termite learning it or coming in contact with others of its race. This hereditary environmental memory can be seen in the termitary where there is the queen, workers and soldiers being produce from one father and mother who are completely different from two their offspring. The soldier armed with the first hypodermic syringe made by nature, which she eventually perfected in the poison fangs of the adder has a needle like tube through which the poison is squirted. The termite knows that the poison has to be used only on enemies or sometimes strangers. The worker on the other hand possess strong well-made jaws, a glue-producing gland which he uses to construct most complicated building as he reaches adult age he makes gardens, care fore and feed the queen and king, tend the hatching eggs, carry food and partially digest it for the community. This is a hereditary environmental memory attach for this two types of termites for life.Moreover this chapter talks of the mysterious power which governs them. termites create a sense of availability for example; they dig deep bore holes to find water, which is conveyed, for general purposes. The behavior of the two kinds of termite corresponds in every respect to the functions of the blood corpuscles in higher animals. While the white corpuscles makes a cordon round the wound, which the red corpuscles begin healing, so the soldiers from a protective circle while the workers repair the breach. The programming of the soldiers body causes extreme pain to other insects and even humans if you are picked, glue together their jaws and leg and render them helpless. Termites use water as a very heavily power supply, to keep their up bring and also to safe the family from droughts. They dig deep into the soil and on both ends for water. On the other hand they became architects of their own. The termites build these fabulous designs of houses, which one could think was done by a human. They built in such a way that the queen and community is safe. Their protections of other outer layers are strong and wide. This gives full protection to the queen in the cell. The queen cannot move but will be able to secure signals and control from the cell. Since the queen cannot live the cell because she is too big it allows how to stay on one place. Her pain and sadness is felt and a new life begins which marks the end of termitary.In establishing the context Eugene Marais was a scientist far ahead of his time he is remembered for his contribution in Afrikaans literature. He used his talent about wild animals to publish his profound scientific discoveries like The Soul of the Ape in 1916, My Friends the Baboons, and The Soul of the White Ant, which was brought under the world's attention when Maurice Maeterlinck plagiarized his works. Eugene was world known for his works on insects and animals that made him to be describe as a scientist far ahead of his time. My view on his book is a perfect for the book allows you to relate personal experiences in life as to the insect kingdom. He also describes how the insect's body works in relation to higher mammals. When he says, "the two kinds of termites corresponds in respect to the functions of the blood corpuscles in the higher animals" (Eugene Marais, pg115).Base on the style the book is straightforward and very easy to understand. He uses language differences such as personification, by describing, the total aspect of human in the ant world. The punctuation and spelling is overall correct allowing the style to stimulate and accomplished his existing work. The writing was good. overall the book is interesting base on the performances that makes ants a psyche, the mysterious power governs the ants, pain and travail, somatic death,etc. My general understanding of the book portrays a perfect expectation of what the ant world will be and how insects have feelings. In my understanding is perfect, and audience will be interested after looking at the aspects that relates insects to humans. I recommen to anyone interested in learning about the insect world.In conclusion it`s easy to describe Eugene Marais as a successful scientist and to acknowledge his great work in the insect world.References:Eugène N. Marais The Soul of the White Ant Translated by Winifred de Kok 1937 First published in Afrikaans under the title Die Siel van die Mier[Acknowledgements: To Robert Ardrey for his research on Marais and for reproducing some of Marais's letters to Dr de Kok; to Dr de Kok in her Translator's Preface to the English version of The Soul of the White Ant; and to Marais's son in his Biographical Note published in the original English edition. -- K.A., Osaka, Japan, April 2002.]
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