VAULTED CHAMBERS 



the same way as wasps and humble bees when occupied in 

 constructing a covering to their nest. The latter sit astride, 

 as it were, upon the border or margin of the covering and 

 take it between their teeth to shape and thin it as they 

 wish. The wax of which it is composed, and the " paper " 

 which the wasps employ, moistened with a sort of glue, lend 

 themselves to this kind of work ; but the earth of which the 

 ants make use has often but little tenacity, and must be 

 wrought in a different manner. 



Each ant, then, carried between its jaws the pellet of earth 

 it had formed by scraping the bottom of its dwelling with 

 the end of its mandibles. This little mass of earth being 

 made of particles only just collected together could readily 

 be moulded just as the ants wished, and when they had put 

 it into the position it was intended for, they divided it and 

 pressed upon it with their jaws so as to fill up the smallest 

 crannies of their wall. Their antennae followed every move- 

 ment, touching each pellet of earth; and as soon as a 

 particle had been placed in position, the whole mass was made 

 more compact by being lightly pressed by the fore feet. 

 This work went on very quickly. 



After tracing out the plan of their masonry by laying 

 here and there foundations for the pillars and the partitions 

 they wished to erect, the insects raised them higher by add- 

 ing fresh materials. It often happened that two little walls, 

 which were to form a gallery, were raised opposite one 

 another, a little distance apart. When they had reached 

 a height of rather less than half an inch, the ants busied 

 themselves in covering in the space left between them by a 

 vaulted ceiling. 



After a while they ceased to work upwards, as if they 

 considered the walls high enough; they then placed particles 

 of moistened earth against the interior and upper part of 



"5 



