THEIR COCOON-SACKS. 7 



he can not lift it over. He lays it down 

 and pulls the end of it round ; that obsta- 

 cle is past, but another is beyond. A second 

 worker comes, and the two, by pulling at one 

 end and lifting at the other, have brought it to 

 the gate. Surely they can not get it through 

 that narrow and crooked passage. One has 

 gone below, and the sack shuts him from sight 

 The other tugs and pulls. It will not move. 

 Yes, it does ; see that end rise in the air ; now 

 it sinks in the hole ; now it is out of sight. 

 But here comes another, and another. All are 

 hurrying to the numerous stairways to the city 

 below, and in a short time all will have van- 

 ished. 



These sacks contain the young ants. Tho 

 eggs were laid by the queen, and hatched 

 by the warmth of the hot grains of sand. 

 The grubs were fed, and grew, and finally 

 shut themselves up in the sacks, as the cat- 

 erpillar spins a cocoon, or the beetle-grub 

 sheds his coat and becomes a chrysalis. Then 

 the ants take great care of these sacks. They 



