THE 



MAGA: 



No. 389.] OCTOBER 1, iSIO. [3ofVoi.42. 



-When the Monthly Magazii 

 diict n. The first wn\ 

 amujing and iustrUcti' 

 spcctinK si^me of the t 

 pO'itd by *:rht;r Periocli' 



; was fir r piaunert, t«'o leading iJeas occupied the minds of (Lose who unaertook to con- 

 Ctiat vt layiug betore ilie Public v^riuu^ object.^ of' infui mation and discussion, bolfj 

 :; the second was that of Icnoing aid to tlie propagation of those liberal piinciples re- 

 use important concerns of mankind, whuli have ncen either deserted or virulently «'p* 

 il Miscelianies ; but upmi the manly and rational support uf which the Fame and Fat* 



or Uie age must uuimately depend. -Pri/au to Montbiy iiug. foL. J, 



long as thos- who write are ambitious of making Converts, and or" giving their Opinions a Maximum oT In- 

 fluence and Celebrity, the most extensively circulitrd Miscellany wiU repay, wiih th« greatest fined, the 

 Cu'iesit/ of tbose who read, wiiether it be for Amusement ur for Instruction. JOHNiON. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



■To tlte (Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



I HAVE sent for insertion in your 

 valuable ftlagazine 1i;e loiiowiii^ 

 account of a nest of ant.s, which, [ erhaps, 

 may be interesting' to some of your nu- 

 merous readers, who are fond of the 

 srtndy of natural liistory. 



During a short stay last month at 

 ■Malvern Wells, in Worccsfershire, I 

 observed, in cliaibingoue of the hills, a 

 long bare place, whicii ran diagonally 

 across a smooth grass WAlk, wiiich had 

 been made for the aecninuiodatiou of 

 those who visited the Wells. Tliis bnre 

 place or path was entirely filled with 

 ants, whicii were running Ixickwards 

 and forwards, apparently very busy in 

 search of food. The path scctned to be 

 ■between nine and ten feet isi lengtli, and 

 about two indies in breadlli, and tenni- 

 uated at tlic lower extremity in a bed of 

 nettles and long grass; and none of llio 

 ants deviated at all from t'le palli till 

 they reached this point, when tiicy sepa- 

 rated, and went difteient ways. Those 

 wjjich returned with food in their 

 mouths deposited it in the nest, wiiich 

 w as at the other cud. I observed many 

 pf Iheni returning from the nest with 

 Romclhing in their raoutlis, which, upon 

 closer inspection, I found fo be their 

 youjig, which they were taking out, for 

 the purpose, as I eoiiclnded, ol' exposing 

 .thorn to the air and sun. When they 

 had proceeded about one-third of llie 

 Way down the palli, lliey depoKJIed tlieir 

 charge upon the grass, and returned to 

 the nest, in all probability to fetch more 

 of their young. I watched several of 

 •the aiilK one by one from t!ie nest, and 

 found that they went an immense way 

 in search of food. I kept my eye upon 

 one in particular for some lime, and at 

 length saw it take up a dead tly, with 

 yhicli it was returning (o the nest; but 

 vIipH it had proceeded about half way 

 up the i)atli il was overtaken by anoUier 

 AIo.NuiLY Mag. No. 2!iy. 



ant, which seemed also to be returning, 

 but which Lad .not been so successft:! as 

 that whose motions I. had been observ- 

 ing: a contest instantly ensued, in 

 wbich the one that had made the attack 

 succeeded in getting possession of the 

 dead fly, v,liic!i it carried triumpiiantly 

 to tJie nest, whilst the other returned iii 

 search of somelliiiig else, ashamed to 

 enter the nest without contributing to 

 the general stock. Upon exarahiing the 

 nest closer, I observed several of the 

 ants that aiipcared to be wandering be- 

 yond t!ie nest, a circumstance which I 

 liad not before noticed. I followed 

 them V, ith my eye, and found that there 

 was another path, formed by them 

 ainong.st the loose .stones and sand of tlia 

 hill ; and, upon ascending a little higiier, 

 I found it was as lunch thronged with 

 them as the path below. I traced 

 them for about 250 or .'300 yards, when, 

 to my great s;uri,rise, I discovered an 

 immense nest of about fourteen yards iii 

 circumference, in which I beheld sucU 

 myriads of these little creatures tiiat my 

 eyes were actually dazzled with looking- 

 at them. 'I'he nest was composed of 

 small bits of dry grass, bark of trees, 

 fern leaves, See. all of them cut into little 

 shreds of about one quarter of an inch i;i 

 length, 'i'lie entrances into it were in- 

 )iumerab!e, and thronged with the busy 

 tribe. \V ishing to ascertain the depth 

 of the nest, I thrust my stick into it, 

 and found thai, for about a foot and a 

 half, it was composed of these dry 

 leaves, 5,c. ; and upon ttnning this up I 

 saw all the young and food deposited 

 amongst the small loose stones of which 

 that part of the hill was composed. I 

 did not dare to remain long near the 

 nest, tor I found myself entirely covered 

 from head to foot in the space of two mi- 

 nutes, 'i'he next mfiruiiig I found the 

 breach whicii I had made (he night be- 

 fore comirtetely repaired, and vho t( 

 dead molt, which I hud llirowu into 

 t c tb« 



