SUPPLYING THE COMMUNAL RATIONS 



like cylinder. Ants in great number, chiefly of the 

 small castes, were found in these cells. In the first large 

 cave opened there were also great numbers of larvae. 

 Large circular openings ran into the heart of the mass. 

 The material was so fragile that it crumbled under even 

 dainty handling, but some specimens were preserved 

 and exhibited in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Sciences. Thus the query was answered in part, at 

 least : What do the ants do with the leaf-cuttings carried 

 into their nests? 



But the most remarkable part of this history remains 

 to be told. 



While pursuing these investigations, the author knew 

 that the suggestion had been made by Belt that the 

 leaf-paper masses of Atta's nest were used as a sort of 

 mushroom garden for cultivating a minute fungus which 

 the ants used as food. Examination with a lens showed 

 him the presence of these growths. But as this was 

 only what might be expected in such underground con- 

 ditions, and notwithstanding all that he knew of the 

 ingenuity of ants in providing for the natural wants of 

 their communes, he put aside the theory as improbable, 

 and failed to push experiments which he might have 

 made. His incredulity thus lost him the opportunity to 

 anticipate in part, at least some of the brilliant dis- 

 coveries of such later investigators as M oiler, Von 

 Ihering, Doctor Goeldi, and Jakob Huber. Briefly 

 summarized, these discoveries are as follows: 



In the case of Atta sexdens (the Brazilian cutting ant), 

 after her marriage flight the fertilized female begins to 

 dig in some open space a burrow about three-fourths of 

 an inch in diameter. It is at first so small relatively 



that she cannot turn around in it, but has to back out 



95 



