ARCHITECTURE OF ANTS. 95 
nounced halls, lodges, and passages, 
which the ants proposed establishing ; in 
one word, it was the ebauche of a new 
story. 
I watched with a considerable degree 
of interest, the most trifling movements of 
my Masons, and found they did not work, 
after the manner of wasps and hum- 
' ble-bees, when occupied in construct- 
ing a covering to their nest. The latter 
sit as it were a-stride (se mettent pour ainsi 
dire a cheval) the border or margin of this 
covering, and take it between their teeth 
to model and attenuate it according to 
their wish. The wax of which it is com- 
posed, and the papier which the wasp em- 
ploys, moistened by some kind of glue, 
are admirably adapted for this purpose ; 
but.the earth (often possessing but little 
tenacity) of which the ants make use, 
must be worked up after some other 
manner. 
Each ant, then, carried between its 
teeth the pellet of earth it had formed, by 
scraping with the end of its mandibles, 
c 
