680 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XXIII, 



Large circular openings ran into the heart of the mass. Some of the cells 

 were one inch deep; they usually narrowed into a funnel-like cylinder. 

 Ants in great numbers, chiefly of the small castes, were found within these 

 cells. In the first large cave opened were also great numbers of larvae. 

 The material was so fragile that it crumbled under even delicate handling, 

 but a few specimens of parts of the ant's comb, with entire cells, were pre- 

 served and exhibited." Although McCook knew of Belt's opinion that 

 these masses of triturated leaves serve merely as a culture medium for the 

 growth of edible fungi, and even saw the film of hyphse, he nevertheless 

 preferred to interpret the latter as "only what might have been expected 

 under such environment," and expressed the belief "that the ants feed 

 upon the juices of leaves." He fully appreciated the extraordinary exca- 

 vating powers of ^. texana. "The ability of these emmet masons to excavate 

 vast halls and subterranean avenues is remarkable. Several holes in the 

 vicinity of Austin were visited, out of which 'beds' or nests of ants had been 

 dug by an old man who used to follow the business of ant killing. These 

 holes were nearly as large as the cellar for a small house. One such exca- 

 vation, about three miles from Austin, was 12 feet in diameter and 15 feet 

 deep. At the lowest point had been found the main cavity, quite as large 

 as a flour barrel, in which were found many winged insects, males and 

 females, and quantities of larvte. This nest was situated 669 feet from a 

 tree that stood in the front yard of a house which the ants had stripped." 

 McCook examined and reconstructed the tunnel excavated by the ants in 

 order to reach this point and found that although its course varied from 

 18 inches to 6 feet below the surface it deviated little from a direct line and 

 gave off a couple of branch tunnels to a peach orchard 120 feet distant. 



In 1880 Morris studied the habits of a small Attiine ant (Trachymyrmex 

 scptentrionalis) which he had discovered near the village of Tom's River 

 on Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. During December of the same year McCook 

 communicated this discovery to the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences and 

 during the following year (1881) Morris published his own observations in 

 the 'American Naturalist.' Both authors regarded the fungus-gardens as 

 subterranean "combs" adapted for incubating the brood. Morris saw 

 the ants carry in and incorporate into their fungus gardens the leaves of 

 seedling pines, the flowers of cow wheat (Melampyrum americanum) and 

 "the droppings of certain larvae that feed on oak-leaves." The nest is 

 described by both authors and figured by McCook as consisting of two 

 spherical chambers, one above the other and connected by a short gallery. 

 The entrance was oblique and about 2 inches in length. The upper chamber 

 was \\ inches in diameter, the lower 3 inches. The former was empty, the 

 latter contained the "combs" suspended from rootlets that had been left 



