226 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



extensive embankments of earth. We further notice, that 

 the little architects observe a certain proportion between 

 the large arched ceilings and the pillars that are to support 

 them. 



" The brown ant (^Formica hrunnea), one of the smallest 

 of the ants, is particularly remarkable for the extreme 

 finish of its work. Its body is of a reddish shining brown, 

 its head a little deeper, and the antennae and feet a little 

 lighter in colour. The abdomen is of an obscure brown, 

 the scale narrow, of a square form, and slightly scolloped. 

 The body is one line and two-fifths in length."* 



" This ant, one of the most industrious of its tribe, 

 forms its nest of stories four or five lines in height. The 

 partitions are not more than half a line in thickness : and 

 the substance of which they are composed is so finely 

 grained, that the inner walls present one smooth unbroken 

 surface. These stories are not horizontal ; they follow the 

 slope of the ant-hill, and lie one upon another to the 

 ground-floor, which communicates with the subterranean 

 lodges. They are not always, however, arranged with the 

 same regularit}', for these ants do not follow an invariable 

 plan ; it appears, on the contrary, that nature has allowed 

 them a certain latitude in this respect, and that they can, 

 according to circumstances, modif}^ them to their wish ; 

 but, however fantastical their habitations may appear, we 

 always observe they have been formed by concentrical 

 stories. On examining each story separately, we observe a 

 number of cavities or halls, lodges of narrower dimensions, 

 and long galleries, which serve for general communication. 

 The arched ceilings covering the most spacious places are 

 supported either by little columns, slender walls, or by 

 regular buttresses. We also notice chambers, that have 

 but one entrance, communicating with the lower story, 

 and large open spaces, serving as a kind of cross-road 

 (carrefour), in which all the streets terminate. 



" Such is the manner in which the habitations of these 

 ants are constructed. Upon opening them, we commonly 



* A line is the twelfth part of the old French inch. See Companion 

 to the Almanac for 1830, p. 114. 



