284 Insect Architecture.' 



polish and extreme delicacy of finish in their structures lead, 

 naturally, to such ' a conclusion. M. P. Huber, in order to 

 resolve this question, at first thought of subjecting the 

 materials of the walls to chemical analysis, but wisely (as we 

 think) abandoned it for the surer method of observation. 

 The details which he has given, as the result of his re- 

 searches, are exceedingly curious and instructive. He began 

 by observing an ant-hill till he could perceive some change 

 in its form. 



" The inhabitants," says he, " of that which I selected, kept 

 within during the day, or only went out by subterranean 

 galleries which opened at some feet distance in the meadow. 

 There were, however, two or three small openings on the 

 surface of the nest ; but I saw none of the labourers pass out 

 this way, on account of their being too "much exposed to the 

 sun, which these insects greatly dread. This ant-hill, 

 which had a round form, rose in the grass, at the border of 

 a path, and had sustained no injury. I soon perceived that 

 the freshness of the air and the dew invited the ants to walk 

 over the surface of their nest; they began making new 

 apertures ; several ants might be seen arriving at the same 

 time, thrusting their heads from the entrances, moving about 

 their antennas, and at length adventuring forth to visit the 

 environs. 



" This brought to my recollection a singular opinion of 

 the ancients. They believed that ants were occupied in their 

 architectural labours during the night, when the moon was 

 at its full."* 



M. Latreille discovered a species of ants which were, so 

 far as he could ascertain, completely blind,! and of course it 

 would be immaterial to them whether they worked by night 

 or during the day. All observers indeed agree that ants 

 labour in the night, and a French naturalist is therefore of 

 opinion that they never sleep a circumstance which is well 

 ascertained with respect to other animals, such as the shark, 



* M. P. Huber on Ants, p. 23. 



f Latreille, Hist. Nat. des Fourmis. 



