THE SLUGGARD'S MODEL 



THE wisdom and energy of the ant have been 

 extolled since the beginning of time, and it is 

 perhaps due to the smallness of the animal itself 

 and the elusiveness of its habits that its example, 

 though pointed out with first-rate authority, has 

 had so little effect in the world of men. You must 

 humble yourself to the ground if you would find 

 out what ants are up to, and when you do it, it is 

 just possible that a contingent may tell themselves 

 off to show you how they can bite. 



I have just been observing ants of set purpose 

 for the first time. Cutting grass with a large pair 

 of garden shears, I found that I had sliced the 

 earthy top of a nest belonging to a. community of 

 the brown garden variety (Lasius niger). The 

 catastrophe must have been something like an 

 earthquake to them, and its terrible consequences 

 were visible enough to me. Hundreds of white 

 larvae were exposed known to bird fanciers as 

 ants' eggs and the adult members of the colony 

 were careering about with a mighty stir. With 

 absolute unanimity and without an instant's delay, 

 they set themselves to the work of getting their 

 young underground, and as long as I twatched them 

 they engaged in no other labour. It was a case 

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