WHAT I SAW IN AN ANTS NEST. 327 



ing, or even bullying, their new neighbours, who appeared 

 from amongst the ruins and debris of the ant city, carrying 

 in their mouths certain oval bodies of a dirty-white colour, 

 and measuring each about one-third of an inch in length. 

 Each of these bodies closely resembled a grain of corn in 

 shape, size, and appearance. The spectacle of these small 

 insects carrying off these bodies in their powerful jaws im- 

 pressed one forcibly with the idea that, relatively to its size, 

 an ant is an herculean insect 



Occasionally there might be seen certain rather ludicrous 

 incidents connected with the removal of the objects in ques- 

 tion. One ant might be witnessed in the endeavour to 

 hoist the oval body it was carrying in its mouth over some 

 obstacle lying in the path, and the staggering gait of the 

 insect seemed very accurately to mimic the similar dispo- 

 sition of a human porter struggling under a burdensome 

 load. Another ant, carrying the oval body before it, would 

 arrive at a steep incline formed of loose sand, and presenting 

 a treacherous surface even to the light feet of the insect. 

 The efforts of the ant to carry the body upwards being found 

 to be fruitless, the insect might be seen to whirl about with 

 great rapidity of action, and to ascend the hill backwards, 

 pulling the body after it, instead of pushing it as before. 



Another instance might be witnessed in which an ant 

 which had literally come to grief with its burden would be 

 assisted by a kindly neighbour ; but it was no uncommon 

 sight to behold in the excessive eagerness of the insects an 

 actual means of defeating the object they had in view, since 

 two ants would in same cases seize the same burden, and 

 then came the tug of war. One pulled one way whilst the 

 other tugged in the opposite direction; and the observer could 

 almost have supposed that the burden itself might have been 

 parted in twain by the treatment to which it was subjected, 

 the incident affording a new application of the remark that 

 a surfeit of zeal is destructive of the best intentions. The 

 nature of the bodies which the ants seemed so excessively 

 anxious to preserve from injury was readily determined. 



