A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 269 



many pieces as being thus used several days in succes- 

 sion. 



" Tlie doors remain open to give exit and entrance to 

 the swarnis of leaf-gatherers until morning when tliey 

 are gradually closed, the process continuing in some 

 cases until 10:30 a.m. In shutting up the house the 

 minors appear to begin by dragging the scattered refuse 

 tQward the hole. One by one they are taken in, and the 

 ingenuity shown in tliis is very great.' My field note- 

 book is full of sketches showing the progress, step by 

 step, of gate-closing, and the admirable manner in 

 which tiie workers proceed by properly adjusting the 

 longest stalks and leaves that can stretch across and 

 wedge into the moutlj of the gallery, and then laying 

 the shorter one atop of these. (Fig. 93.) 



" But I cannot dwell upon these details. As the hole 

 gradually fills up, the smaller castes of workers ap- 

 pear upon the field and take up the work to which their 

 slighter frames are adn pted. The last touches are care- 

 fully and delicately made by the ininims who, in small 

 squads, fill in the remaining interstices with minute 

 grains of sand ; and finally the last laborer steals in 

 behind some bit of leaf, and the gate is closed. It then 

 presents to the casual observer the appearance which I 

 have described, and which is shown in the cut, of a 

 small heap of dry chips accidentally accumulated upon 

 the ground." 



I was delighted to note the interest with which my 

 friends followed this description, and how eagerly they 

 liung upon my words. Several drew a deep breath and 



