In the first part of this work the Author shows that certain 
South-European Ants do employ grain and seeds as food, and are 
possessed of the provident habits attributed to them by the Ancients 
but denied by some of the most able naturalists of modern times. 
The manner in which these ants cut, carry, and store their 
harvest, and treat sprouted seeds, as also the structure of their 
granaries and passages, sometimes excavated in the solid sand- 
stone rock, with many other details, will be found illustrated and 
described here. 
The second part contains an account of what is known of the 
habits and economy of the Trap-door Spiders, the explanations 
being accompanied by plates and woodcuts. 
Those who have, up to the present time, described the dwel- 
lings of these spiders, speak only of a single, cylindrical burrow, 
lined with silk and closed at the mouth by a hinged door which 
lies level with, and is made to resemble, the surface of the earth. 
‘Two new types of nest, found in the Riviera, are now added, 
and in these, besides the surface door, a second subterranean 
door is present, placed a short way down the tube, and this the 
spider closes in the face of any intruder who may have entered 
the nest. One of these double-door nests is branched, the other 
unbranched. 
It is hoped that the present publication may serve to show 
that the field of observation afforded by the habits of living 
creatures is one which lies invitingly open to all true lovers of 
nature, and may still be explored with good hopes of making new 
and interesting discoveries, 
LONDON ; 
L. REEVE & CO., 5, HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN, W.C. 
tt 
