156 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. VIIL 



by numberless others of different shapes and dimen- 

 sions, all of them arched either ovally or circularly ; 

 these communicate with one another by means of 

 passages, and are the waiting-rooms for the attend- 

 ants employed in removing the eggs of the queen ; 

 they also lodge the soldiers engaged in the defence 

 of the colony. 



Next to these are the magazines, in which are 

 deposited the inspissated exudations and juices of 

 trees, of various colours and consistency. Inter- 

 mixed with the magazines are the nurseries, differ- 

 ing totally in construction from any other part of 

 the building, being composed of raspings of wood 

 cemented with gum. They are compact, and di 

 vided into many very irregular-shaped chambers, 



not one of which is half an inch wide. The nur- 

 series are enclosed in chambers of clay ; they are 

 placed at first near the royal cell, but as the queen 

 enlarges, they are removed to a distance, in order 

 that room may be made for her increasing wants 

 In the early state of the hill, these nursery-cham- 

 bers are not bigger than a hazelnut ; but as it ad- 

 vances, they become enlarged to the size of a child's 

 head. 

 The intervention of these various cavities is well 



