PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 345 



desirous of diverting his mind from his hopeless condition, he fixed his 

 observation upon an ant that was carrying a grain of corn (probably a 

 pupa) larger than itself up a high wall. Numbering the efforts that it 

 made to accomplish this object, he found that the grain fell sixty-nine 

 times to the ground, but the seventieth time it reached the top of the 

 wall. " This sight (said Timour) gave me courage at the moment ; and I 

 have never forgotten the lesson it conveyed." 1 



Madame Merian, in her Surinam Insects, speaking of the large-headed 

 ant (Atta cephalotes), affirms that, if they wish to emigrate, they will con- 

 struct a living bridge in this manner : one individual first fixes itself to a 

 piece of wood by means of its jaws, and remains stationary ; with this a 

 second connects itself ; a third takes hold of the second, and a fourth of 

 the third, and so on till a long connected line is formed fastened at one 

 extremity, which floats exposed to the wind, till the other end is blown 

 over so as to fix itself to the opposite side of the stream, when the rest of 

 the colony pass over upon it, as a bridge. 2 This is the process, as far as I 

 can collect it from her imperfect account. As she is not always very cor- 

 rect in her statements, I regarded this as altogether fabulous, till I met with 

 the following history of a similar proceeding in De Azara, which induces me 

 to give more credit to it. 



He tells us that in low districts in South America that are exposed to 

 inundations, conical hills of earth may be observed, about three feet high, 

 and very near to each other, which are inhabited by a little black ant. 

 When an inundation takes place, they are heaped together out of the nest 

 into a circular mass, about a foot in diameter, and four fingers in depth. 

 Thus they remain floating upon the water while the inundation continues. 

 One of the sides of the mass which they form is attached to some sprig of 

 grass, or piece of wood ; and when the waters are retired, they return to 

 their habitation. When they wish to pass from one plant to another, they 

 may often be seen formed into a bridge, of two palms' length, and of 

 the breadth of a finger, which has no other support than that of its two 

 extremities. One would suppose that their own weight would sink them ; 

 but it is certain that the masses remain floating during the inundation, 

 which lasts some days. 3 



You must now be fully satiated with this account of the constant fatigue 

 and labour to which our little pismires are doomed by the law of their 

 nature ; I shall therefore endeavour to relieve your mind by introducing 

 you to a more quiet scene, and exhibit them to you during their intervals 

 of repose and relaxation. 



Gould tells us that the hill-ant is very fond of basking in the sun, and 

 that on a fine serene morning you may see them conglomerated like bees 

 on the surface of their nest, from whence, on the least disturbance, they 

 will disappear in an instant. 4 M. Huber also observes, after their labours 

 are finished, that they stretch themselves in the sun, where they lie heaped 

 one upon another, and seem to enjoy a short interval of repose ; and in 

 the interior of an artificial nest, in which he had confined some of this 

 species, where he saw many employed in various ways, he noticed some 

 reposing which appeared to be asleep. 5 



1 Related in the Quarterly Review for August, 1816, p. 259. 



2 Insect. Surinam, p. 18. In her plate the ants are represented so connected. 

 5 Voyages dans VAmerique Merid. i. 187. 



4 Gould, 69. Huber. 73. 



