Q28 RELATION OF ANTS 
them off to the under-ground chambers. 
I have seen the ants of two neighbouring 
nests disputing about their pucerons; 
when the ants of one nest were enabled 
to enter the habitation of their neigh- 
bours, they purloined these insects, which 
were, after a time, often recovered by 
their original possessors. The ants know 
full well the value of these little animals, 
which, it would appear, had been created 
for them;—they constitute their sole 
wealth, an ant-hill being more or less 
rich, as it is more or less provided with 
pucerons; they are in fact their cattle, 
their cows, their goats, &c. Who could 
have imagined that the ants were a pas- 
toral tribe! But a question here presents 
itself of some interest: — Dothe pucerons, 
which I have constantly found in nests 
of this species, come of their own free 
will to reside there, or are they brought 
thither by the ants? the latter appears to 
me most probable, for the ants are in the 
habit of carrying them continually from 
place to place, and are the individuals 
