816 



A HISTORY OF 



plying them with moisture, which they can- 

 not well dispense with. The shape of the 

 ant-hill is that of a sugar-loaf, about three 

 feet high, composed of various substances; 

 leaves, bits of wood, sand, earth, bits of gum, 

 and grains of corn. These are all united 

 into a compact body, perforated with galle- 

 ries down to the bottom, and winding ways 

 within the body of the structure. From this 

 retreat, to the water, as well as to the tree, 

 in different directions, there are many paths 

 worn by constant assiduity, and along these 

 the busy insects are seen passing and repass- 

 ing continually; so that from May, or the be- 

 gi'ining of June, according to the state of the 

 season, they work continually, till the bad 

 weather comes on. 



The chief employment of the working-ants, 

 is in sustaining not only the idlers at home, 

 but also finding a sufficiency of food for them- 

 selves. They live upon various provisions, 

 as well of the vegetable as of the animal kind. 

 Small insects they will kill and devour: 

 sweets of all kinds they are particularly fond 

 of. They seldom, however, think of their 

 community, till they themselves are first 

 satiated. Having found a juicy fruit, they 

 swallow what they can, and then tearing it in 

 pieces, carry home their load. If they meet 

 with an insect above their match, several of 

 them will fall upon it at once, and having 

 mangled it, each will carry off a part of the 

 spoil. If they meet, in their excursions, any 

 thing that is too heavy for one to bear, and 

 yet which they are unable to divide, several 

 of them will endeavour to force it along, some 

 dragging, and others pushing. If any one of 

 them happens to make a lucky discovery, it 

 will immediately give advice to others, and 

 then, at once, the whole republic will put 

 themselves in motion. If in these struggles 

 one of them happens to be killed, some kind 

 survivor will carry him off to a great distance, 

 to prevent the obstructions his body might 

 give to the general spirit of industry. 



But while they are thus employed in sup- 

 porting the state in feeding abroad, and car- 

 rying in provisions to those that continue at 

 home, they are not unmindful of posterity. 

 After a few days of fine weather, the female 

 ants begin to lay their eggs, and those areas 

 assiduously watched and protected by the 



working ants, who take upon themselves to 

 supply whatever is wanting to the nascent 

 animal's convenience or necessity. They 

 are carried, as soon as laid, to the safest 

 situation, at the bottom of their hill, where 

 they are carefully defended from cold and 

 moisture. We are not to suppose, that those 

 white substances which we so plentifully find 

 in every ant-hill, are the eggs as newly laid. 

 On the contrary, the ant's egg is so very 

 small, that, though laid upon a black ground, 

 it can scarcely be discerned. The little 

 white bodies we see are the young animals 

 in their maggot state, endued with life, long 

 since freed from the egg, and often involved 

 in a cone, which it has spun round itself, like 

 the silkworm. The real egg when laid, if 

 viewed throughamicroscope,appears smooth, 

 polished, and shining, while the maggot is 

 seen composed of twelve rings, and is often 

 larger than the ant itself. It is impossible 

 to express the fond attachment which the 

 working ants show to their rising progeny. 

 In cold weather they take them in their 

 mouths, but without offering them the smallest 

 injury, to the very depths of their habitation, 

 where they are less subject to the severity of 

 the season. In a fine day they remove them 

 with the same care nearer the surface, where 

 their maturity may be assisted by the warm 

 beams of the sun. If a formidable enemy 

 should come to batter down their whole habi- 

 tation, and crush them by thousands in the 

 ruin, yet these wonderful insects, still mind- 

 ful of their parental duties, make it their first 

 care to save their offspring. They are seen 

 running wildly about, and different ways, 

 each loaded with a young one, often bigger 

 than the insect that supports it. I have kept,' 

 says Swammerdam, several of the working 

 ants in my closet, with their young in a glass 

 tilled with earth. I took pleasure in observ- 

 ing, that in proportion as the earth dried 

 on the surface, they dug deeper and deeper 

 to deposite their eggs ; and when I poured 

 water thereon, it was surprising to see with 

 what care, affection, and diligence, they la- 

 boured, to put their brood in safety, in (he 

 driest place. I have seen also, that when 

 water has been wanting for several days, and 

 when the earth was moistened after it a little, 

 they immediately carried their young ones to 



