MASOX-ANTS. 231 



coming from the opposite wall. These ledges were about 

 half a line in thickness ; and the breadth of the galleries 

 was, for the most part, about a quarter of an inch . On one 

 side several vertical partitions were seen to form the 

 scaffolding of a lodge, which communicated with several 

 corridors, by apertures formed in the masonrj^ ; on another, 

 a regulary-formed hall was constructed, the vaulted ceiling 

 of which was sustained by numerous pillars ; further off, 

 again, might be recognised the rudiments of one of those 

 cross roads of which I have before spoken, and in which 

 several avenues terminate. These parts of the ant-hill 

 were the most spacious : the ants, however, did not appear 

 embarrassed in constructing the ceiling to cover them 

 iu, although they were often more than two inches in 

 breadth. 



" In the upper part of the angles formed by the different 

 walls, they laid the first foundations of this ceiling, and 

 from the top of each pillar, as from so many centres, a 

 layer of earth, horizontal and slightly convex, was carried 

 forward to meet the several portions coming from different 

 points of the large public thoroughfare. 



" I sometimes, however, laboured under an apprehension 

 that the building could not possibly resist its own weight, 

 and that such extensive ceilings, sustained only by a few 

 pillars, would fall into ruin from the rain which continually 

 dropped upon them ; but I was quickly convinced of their 

 stability, from observing that the earth brought by these 

 insects adhered at all points, on the slightest contact ; and 

 that the rain, so far from lessening the cohesion of its 

 particles, appeared even to increase it. Thus, instead of 

 injuring the building, it even contributed to render it still 

 more secure. 



" These particles of moistened earth, which are onl}- 

 held together by juxtaposition, require a fall of rain to 

 cement them more closely, and thus varnish over, as it 

 were, those places where the walls and galleries remain 

 uncovered. All inequalities in the masonry then disappear. 

 The upper part of these stories, formed of several pieces 

 brought together, presents but one single layer of compact 



