ANTS. 27 



cat. For it is highly improbable that an 

 Ant, which is a very cleanly insect, and throws 

 out of her nest ail the small remains of the 

 corn on which she feeds, as I have observed 

 a thousand times, would fill up her magazine, 

 and mix her corn with dirt and ordure. 



The corn, that is laid up by Ants, 

 would shoot under ground, if those insects 

 did not take care to prevent it. They bite 

 off all the buds before they lay it up ; and 

 therefore the corn that has lain in their nests 

 will produce nothing. Any one may easily 

 make this experiment, and even plainly see 

 that there is no bud in their corn. But though 

 the bud be bitten off, there remains another 

 inconvenience, that corn must naturally 

 swell and rot under ground ; and therefore 

 it could be of no use to the nourishment of 

 Ants. Those insects prevent that inconve- 

 nience by their labour and industry, and 

 contrive the matter so, that corn will keep 

 as dry in their nests, as in our granaries. 



They gather many small particles of diy 

 earth, which they bring every day out of 

 their holes, and place them round, to heat 



