36 ON ENTOMOLOGY. 



only sketched, for the worker did nothing but accumulate the particles 

 of wax together ; meanwhile the founder, quitting its position, dis- 

 appeared amidst its companions ; another with wax under the rings 

 succeeded it, which suspending itself to the same spot, withdrew a 

 scale by the pincers of the hind legs and passing it through its mandibles 

 prosecuted the work ; and taking care to make its deposit in a line with 

 the former, it united their extremities \ a third worker detaching itself 

 from the interior of the cluster, now came and reduced some of the 

 scales to paste, and put them near the materials accumulated by its 

 companions, but not in a straight line. Another Bee, apparently sensible 

 of the defect, removed the misplaced wax before our eyes, and carrying 

 it to the former heap, deposited it there exactly in the order and direction 

 pointed out. From all these operations was produced a block, of a 

 rugged surface hanging down from the arch without any perceptible 

 angle, or any traces of cells j it was a simple wall or ridge running in a 

 straight line, and without the least inflection, two-thirds of an inch in 

 length; about two-thirds of a cell or two lines high, and declining 

 towards the extremities. We have seen other foundation walls from an 

 inch to an inch and a half long, the form being always the same, but 

 none ever of greater height. The vacuity in the centre of the cluster 

 had permitted us to discover the first manoeuvres of the Bees, and the 

 art with which they laid the foundations of their edifices ; however, it 

 was filled up too soon for our satisfaction, for workers collecting on 

 both faces of the wall, obstructed our view of their further operations. 



All the species of Ants are social. There are some solitary, as in the 

 case with Bees and Wasps. They are all more or less skilful in archi- 

 tecture : some employing masonry, and others being carpenters, wood- 

 carvers, and miners. They consequently afford much that is interest- 

 ing to naturalists who observe their operations. The genuine history of 

 Ants has only been recently investigated ; first by Gould in 1747, and 

 subsequently by Linnaeus, De Geer, Huber, and Latreille. Previous to 

 that time their real industry and their imagined foresight were held up 

 as moral lessons without any great accuracy of observation ; and it is 

 probable that even now the mixture of truth and error, in Addison's de- 

 lightful papers in the Guardian (No. 156, 157), may be mpre generally 

 attractive than the minute relations of careful naturalists. Gould dis- 

 proved, most satisfactorily, the ancient fable of Ants storing up corn for 

 winter provision, no species of Ants ever eating grain, or feeding in win- 

 ter upon anything. It is to Huber the younger, however, that we are 

 chiefly indebted for our knowledge of the habits and economy of Ants, 

 and to Latreille for a closer distinction of the species. Some of the 

 more interesting species, whose singular economy is described by the 

 younger Huber, have not hitherto been found in this country. M. La- 

 treille discovered a species of Ants which were, so far as he could 

 ascertain, completely blind, arid of course it would be immaterial to them 



