iv SOCIAL HOMES 129 



of its finished workmanship. The nest consists of 

 series of stories, sometimes not fewer than forty, 

 twenty below the level of the soil and as many above, 

 which last are not horizontal, they follow the slope of 

 the ant-hill, and lie one upon the other to the ground 

 floor, presenting the appearance exteriorly of an 

 elevated dome-shaped mound. Each story, separately 

 considered, is composed of cavities, narrow chambers, 

 and long galleries which preserve communication 

 between both. All are smoothed as though with a 

 plasterer's trowel, and are about the fifth of an inch 

 high. While some of the more spacious rooms have 

 only one entrance from above, or in addition a second 

 leading to the story lower, some are large open spaces, 

 being in fact the points where meet several of the 

 main galleries, a kind of cross roads, and are connect- 

 ed with subterranean passages frequently carried to a 

 distance of several feet from the hill. The arched 

 roofs of the chambers, which are often more than 

 two inches across, are supported by excessively slen- 

 der partition walls, or by small pillars and true but- 

 tresses. The building material consists of soft clay 

 excavated from the bottom in mining, and is often 

 moist enough, since the sun cannot penetrate to the 

 lower depths. Were the supply taken from the 

 surface, business would be practically at a standstill 

 during dry weather. 



To enable him to watch these ants, Huber had a 

 carefully arranged contrivance constructed, a sort of 

 vivarium, where the insects were furnished with the 

 conveniences to prosecute their ordinary work. While 

 some might have been seen busily engaged upon the 



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