NATURAL HISTORY STUDIES 



manence, and with the survival of the mothers after 

 their offspring grow up, i.e. with the possibility of 

 social tradition. 



It is impossible to think of storing without a 

 vision of Solomon's ant " which, having no guide, 

 overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, 

 and gathereth her food in the harvest." And, as 

 among bees, we find all grades among ants from those 

 that do not store at all to those that make a fine art 

 of it. According to recent studies of the common 

 Mediterranean harvesting ant, the seeds which are 

 collected are kept for a time dry and are eventually 

 put out in the rain so that they begin to germinate. 

 This has the advantage of bursting the hard seed- 

 coats, and in some cases of starting processes of 

 fermentation. At a certain stage, however, the 

 ants kill the embryo-plant by biting at it, and the 

 seeds are dried again in the sun. The dried seeds, 

 of some clover -like plants for instance, are then 

 taken back into the nest and chewed into dough. 

 This is dried once again in the sun in the form of 

 little biscuits, which are eventually put into the 

 cupboard. It is likely that different kinds of seeds 

 receive different treatment, and in some cases it 

 seems that the stored material is not eaten after all, 

 but is used as a culture for moulds of which the ants 

 are very fond. It is a very interesting fact that the 

 use of moulds reminding us of man's mushroom 

 beds is practised by a number of quite unrelated 

 animals namely, by certain ants, termites, beetles, 

 and mites. 



Among backboned animals it is difficult to find 

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