CHAPTER V 

 FEEDING THE COMMUNE 



CONTINUING our studies of the emmet modes of 

 \J feeding the commune, our thoughts once more re- 

 turn to the great confederacy of mound-making ants 

 among the Alleghany Mountains. We fix our attention 

 upon a column of workers pressing along a well-worn 

 path straight from a large mound to an oak-tree that 

 stands by a boundary stone wall eight rods distant. 

 There the column leaves the ground, mounts the trunk, 

 and is lost among the branches. 



But here several interesting things are noted. There 

 is a descending as well as an ascending column. More- 

 over, there is something like the sentry service establish- 

 ed at the gates. There is a tree-trail one to three inches 

 wide, to which the ants steadily keep, and which is 

 blackened by the continuous fumes of formic acid issuing 

 from them. On either side of this are watchmen, who 

 persistently challenge passers-by. There follow swift 

 crossings of antennae and mutual recognitions how one 

 longs to know the countersign! prompt withdrawals, 

 and the pilgrims pass on and are soon distributed among 

 the principal limbs. A goodly number lead off upon 

 one of the lower boughs which overhangs the stone 

 fence. 



Mounting this, one has the key to the movements of 



the marchers on the avenue beneath. At various points 



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