14 HARVESTING ANTS. 



SL loss to conceive how tliej employ tliem, unless it 

 may be that they use them as materials for the con- 

 struction of their galleries, for they cannot eat such 

 hard substances, all their food being either liquid or 

 of the nature of juices, " gli alimenti sono sempre 

 materie liquide o materie sugose. Quanto ai corpi duri 

 e secchi che le formiche raccolgono, io non so altrimenti 

 riguardarli che come materiali di costruzione." It will 

 be understood, I think, from what Las gone before, that 

 thus far nothing has really been ascertained as to the 

 exact state of the case ; for though the Italian author 

 just quoted was aware that certain ants in the Medi- 

 terranean region do store seed, his knowledge went no 

 further. Nor am I aware that any French author has 

 published an account of this habit and its object ; and 

 in a recent abundantly illustrated volume founded on 

 a work by M. Emile Blanchard,I find, on the contrary, 

 the following very emphatic denial of its existence : — 

 " The curious idea which appears to have commenced 

 in very remote times, and to have been carried down 

 by tradition, and which was assisted by the results of 

 careless observations, concerning the habits of the 

 ants in collecting and storing up provisions, as it were 

 under the influence of a wise foresight, is evidently 

 incorrect."* There was, therefore, clearly an opening 

 here for close observation, and this I determined to do 

 my best to supply. 



When I set out again from England in October, 

 1871, on my way to Mentone, I had obtained an idea 

 of some of the leading points which needed to be 



* The Transformations of Insects : an adaptation for English readers of M. 

 Emile Blan chard's Metamorphoses, Mcjeurs, et Instincts des InsecteS; p. 196. 

 London. 1871. 



