METHODS OF COLLECTING AND STi'DYIXG ANTS. 551 



other nest consisted of a wooden frame twenty inches long and ten 

 inches broad, with glass on the two sides separated by a distance of 

 ten lines. The space thus enclosed was subdivided into two equal and 

 very flat compartments by a perforated sheet of tin placed parallel 

 with the glass panes. The space between the glass and tin on each 

 side was filled with earth. An opening with a sliding door was made 

 at one end of the frame, to permit the ants to enter and leave the 

 apparatus, and there was also an opening in the top of the frame for 

 the introduction of food (honey) and water. These were simply 

 poured. upon the soil. The frame was placed vertically on the ground. 



Lubbock combined the water-moat of Swammerclam with Huber's 

 frame nest, which he placed horizontally and simplified by omitting 

 the perforated tin and bringing the two panes of glass close together. 

 A detailed description of this nest, with a figure, is given on pp. 2-4 

 of Lubbock's well-known book on " Ants, Bees and Wasps." 



\Yasmann uses a Lubbock nest, to which he attaches Florence flasks 

 and other glassware to serve as play-grounds, dumping-grounds and 

 mangers for the ants. Although he dispenses with the water-moat, 

 his nest is clumsy and not readily moved about. He has published 

 figures and descriptions of it in several of his papers, notably in the one 

 entitled: "Die psychischen Fahigkeiten der Ameisen," 1899, PI- I- 



Janet's nest (1897^) differs considerably from the types that have 

 just been described (Fig. 282). It consists of an oblong block of colored 

 plaster of Paris, containing a series of disk-like depressions in its upper 

 portion. One of these, isolated at the end of the series, is smaller than 

 the others, and is used as a water reservoir, trfe others, which are 

 inhabited by the ants, are connected with one another by short galleries 

 and are covered with glass plates and in part also with opaque covers. 

 The water diffuses from the reservoir through the porous plaster block 

 in such a manner that there is a gradation of moisture in the different 

 chambers. This permits the ants to station themselves and their brood 

 at the spot where the conditions are most favorable. Janet has also 

 constructed some large and elegant plaster nests that can be hung on 

 the walls like pictures, but these did not prove to be successful, owing 

 to the crumbling of the moist plaster. 



Viehmeyer ( 19050 has improved on the Janet nest by enclosing it 

 in a zinc box and adding metal strips across the top for the purpose 

 of preventing the glass covers from slipping. In this form the nest, 

 though rather clumsy and heavy, can be more readily transported. 



Miss Fielde has devised a very useful glass-nest, which is compact 

 and light and has many advantages over the nests of the Lubbock and 

 Janet patterns. This she first described in 1900, but more recently 



