ANTS AND CORN 



might have developed some sort of civilization like that 

 imagined by Mr. Wells in his story of the moon. We are 

 only concerned with the relations of these ants to plants. 

 Those who are interested in their conquests and civilization 

 must consult the excellent account by Mr. Selous in his 

 Romance of the Insect World, 



The most interesting points about them are as follows. 

 They gather a harvest and store it up for the winter. This 

 habit of the ant was well known to the ancients, and is 

 mentioned by Solomon. At the time of the French Ency- 

 clopaedists, when the fashion of the times was all for destruc- 

 tion and disbelief, the fact that ants do so was ridiculed 

 and flatly contradicted, and especially by the great naturalist 

 BufFon. They pointed out that ants hibernated during 

 the cold weather, and therefore required no food for the 

 winter, so that Solomon's story was absolutely ridiculous. 



For nearly a hundred years people forgot that Palestine 

 and those other countries where the habits of ants had been 

 reverently observed possessed a climate much too warm and 

 mild to make the ants hibernate. 



After careful study it has been discovered that the ants 

 thoroughly understand the first stages of brewing ! 



The corn which they gather is not eaten by them in its 

 hard winter c^ondition. When taken into the winter nest of 

 the ants this corn would very soon germinate and grow into 

 a plant, but the ants manage to prevent this by some 

 method which is not yet understood. If such a nest is left 

 alone by the ants, the corn immediately begins to grow, but 

 it is not allowed to do so till it is required for food. Should 

 the store of corn get damp by heavy rain, or mould appear 

 upon it, then the careful ants bring up their store into the 

 sunlight and dry it there. 



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