ENGINEERING METHODS 



contents of the great pyramid as reckoned at seventy- 

 six million cubic feet. We shall have the following 

 formula of comparison: 



Man's bulk to his building is as 1 to 121 millions; 



The ant's bulk to her building is as 1 to 5800 millions. 



A simple calculation will show how greatly this ex- 

 hibits the comparative superiority of the insect in the 

 mere quantitative re- 

 sults. It should also 

 be considered that in 

 these and all other 

 such works the ants 

 have no mechanical ap- 

 pliances such as mul- 

 tiply the effect and 

 ease the fatigue of hu- 

 man labors. Her sole 

 tools are her jaws and 

 feet (Figs. 32, 33), 

 the bodily appendages 

 with which nature has 

 provided her, although 

 it must be admitted 

 that these are highly Fig. 32 ANIS DIGGING OUT GALLERIES 



effective. (Drawn from an artificial formicary) 



There is another c Claws, d Particles of dirt, 

 comparison --in sooth p Point being dug out. 



it is a contrast - 



which needs here to be drawn. Such knowledge as 

 has come to us of the building methods obtaining in 

 ancient Egypt shows that the laborers were driven to 

 their hard tasks by overseers who urged on gangs of 

 workmen with the lash. Theirs was unwilling service, 



53 



