HA R VESTIXG A XTS. 171 



represents the result of infinite labour on the part of 

 the ants, each individual granary contains but an 

 insignificant quantit}^ and the store-chambers often 

 lie at great distances apart ; it is therefore impos- 

 sible to believe that the stores alluded to in the 

 Misna can have been as small and scattered as these 

 were, and we must, on the contrarj', suppose them to 

 have been both lars^er and more accessible.^' 



The means employed bj' the ants to prevent the 

 germination of the seeds contained in their granaries 

 still remain secret, and all the experiments and inves- 

 tiirations which I have hitherto been able to make 

 have failed to give me the clue. 



The problem to be solved is the following: Griven 

 seeds, the readiness of which to germinate has been 

 proved, to place them in damp soil at depths varying 

 from half an inch to twenty inches below the surface 

 in such a manner that they shall remain there dor- 

 mant, neither germinating nor decaj'ing, for weeks 

 and even months. These very seeds must be capable 

 of germinating after the conclusion of the experiaient. 



This is what the ants do for millions of seeds, for 

 the instances in which a few seeds appear to have 

 sprouted within the nest in defiance of the ants, are 

 very rare and wholly exceptional ; and when after 

 prolonged wet v/eather germinated seeds are seen 

 outside the nest, it will usually be found that these 

 have the little root cut off, and ure eventually carried 



* Perhaps these heaps of corn may have been piled up at the entrance to the 

 nest, as is sometimes the case wlien the workers, in their eagerness to secure as 

 much as possible of a passing harvest, bring in the supplies too fast for their 

 compani'.ns within the nest to be able to find room for and accommodate. When 

 this hapi'er.s the seeds lie outside the nest until fresh chambers are prepared 

 for their reception. 



