Mason-Ants. 287 



several vertical partitions were seen to form the scaffolding 

 of a lodge, which communicated with several corridors 

 by apertures formed in the masonry; on another, a regu- 

 larly-formed hall was constructed, the vaulted ceiling of 

 which was sustained by numerous pillars ; further off, again, 

 might be recognised the rudiments of one of those cross 

 roads of which I have before spoken, and in which several 

 avenues terminate. These parts of the ant-hill were the 

 most spacious ; the ants, however, did not appear embarrassed 

 in constructing the ceiling to cover them in, although they 

 were often more than two inches in breadth. 



" In the upper part of the angles formed by the different 

 walls, they laid the first foundations of this ceiling, and from 

 the top of each pillar, as from so many centres, a layer of 

 earth, horizontal and slightly convex, was carried forward to 

 meet the several portions coming from different points of the 

 large public thoroughfare. 



" I sometimes, however, laboured under an apprehension 

 that the building could not possibly resist its own weight, 

 and that such extensive ceilings, sustained only by a few 

 pillars, would fall into ruin from the rain which continually 

 dropped upon them ; but I was quickly convinced of their 

 stability, from observing that the earth brought by these 

 insects adhered at all points, on the slightest contact ; and 

 that the rain, so far from lessening the cohesion of its par- 

 ticles, appeared even to increase it. Thus, instead of in- 

 juring the building, it even contributed to render it still more 

 secure. 



" These particles of moistened earth, which are only held 

 together by juxtaposition, require a fall of rain to cement 

 them more closely, and thus varnish over, as it were, those 

 places where the walls and galleries remain uncovered. All 

 inequalities in the masonry then disappear. The upper part 

 of these stories, formed of several pieces brought together, 

 presents but one single layer of compact earth. They re- 

 quire for their complete consolidation nothing but the heat of 

 the sun. It sometimes, however, happens that a violent rain 

 will destroy the apartments, especially should they be but 



