HARVESTING ANTS, 23 



ful of eartli taken from this nest, and lifted with care 

 so as to leave the seeds almost in situ. Others were 

 massed together in horizontal chambers, having a 

 concave roof and a flat and carefully prepared floor. 



The texture of the floor usually differs markedly 

 from that of the surrounding soil, and the fine grains 

 of silex and mica which are selected for its construction 

 are more or less cemented together, so that the floor 

 will sometimes part, when dry, from the soil about it, 

 as caked and dry mud separates from a gravel path 

 (see Plate III.). 



On carefully examining a quantity of the seeds, grain, 

 and minute dry fruits taken from the granaries, I found 

 that they had been gathered from the following plants : 

 fumitorj^ {Fumaria Capreolata, &c.), amaranth {Amar- 

 anihus Blitum, &c.), Setaria, and three other species of 

 grasses, honeywort {Alyssum maritimiim), Veronica^ 

 and from four unrecognised species, one of which was 

 a pea-flower. There were therefore in this nest seeds, 

 &c., which had been taken from more than twelve 

 distinct species of plants, belonging to at least seven 

 separate families. The granaries lay from an inch and 

 a half to six inches below the surface and were all 

 horizontal. They were of various sizes and shapes, the 

 average granary being about as large as a gentleman's 

 gold watch. 



I was greatly surprised to find that the seeds, 

 though quite moist, showed no trace of germination, 

 and this was the more astonishing as the self-sown 

 seeds of the same kinds as those detected here, such 

 as fumitory for instance, were then coming up abun- 

 dantly in garde as and on terraces. The seeds of 

 Odontites lutea afford a curious test of the presence of 



