ONE ANOTHER OVER CHASMS. 243 



in a minute. Soon after these began, other ants came 

 with them. It was a beautiful day, and all my ants 

 were unusually active. At 1 p.m. I counted 10 on the 

 sticks at once, by 1.30 over 30, and at 5 in the after- 

 noon over 60. They went on working very hard, and 

 forming a continuous stream till I went to bed at 11 ; 

 and at 4 in the morning I found them still at work ; 

 but though they were very anxious and, especially at 

 first, tried very hard to save themselves the trouble of 

 going round, they did not think of jumping down, nor 

 did they throw the larvae over the edge. 



Moreover, as I had placed some sifted mould under 

 the glass, a minute's labour would have been sufficient 

 to heap up one or two particles, and thus make a little 

 mound which would have enabled them to get up and 

 down without going round. A mound ^ inch high 

 would have been sufficient; but it did not occur to 

 them to form one. 



The following morning (October 1 8) I put out some 

 larvae again at 6 a.m. Some of the ants soon came ; 

 and the same scene continued till 11.30 a.m., when I 

 left off observing. 



Again, on October 22, I placed a few larvae in a 

 glass, which I kept continually replenished, which 

 was suspended ^ of an inch above the surface of the 

 frame containing their nest, but only connected with it 

 by tapes five feet long. I then, at 6.30, put a L. niger 

 to the larvae ; she took one and tried hard to reach 

 down, but could not do so, and would not jump ; so I 



B 2 



