TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE RAIN 



together everywhere on the slightest contact, and that the 

 rain, far from lessening its cohesiveness, appeared to add to 

 it, thus making the building still more secure instead of 

 causing any damage. 



The parcels of moistened earth, which are only held 

 together by contact, seem to require a fall of rain to cement 

 them more closely and to varnish over, as it were, the ceil- 

 ings they compose and the walls and galleries which are not 

 yet covered in. Then all unevenness of the masonry is 

 removed, and the upper part of the stories, composed of so 

 many separate parts brought together, presents a united 

 layer of compact earth which requires nothing but the heat 

 of the sun to make it perfectly solid. 



It is not to be supposed, however, that a too violent storm 

 will leave the apartments uninjured, especially when the 

 ceilings are almost flat ; but under these trying circumstances 

 the ants quickly restore them with wonderful patience. 



These different labours were carried on at the same time 

 all over the ant-hill we have been describing, and they 

 succeeded one another so rapidly in the various quarters that 

 a complete story was added in the course of seven or eight 

 hours. As all the vaulted ceilings stretching from wall to 

 wall were at one level, they eventually joined edge to edge 

 and formed when finished but a single roof. Scarcely had 

 the ants completed this story when they began constructing 

 another, but they had not time to finish it, as the rain ceased 

 before it was completely roofed in. They took advantage of 

 the dampness of the earth, however, and went on working for 

 a few hours longer ; but a keen north wind sprung up and 

 dried the collected fragments so quickly that they lost their 

 adhesiveness and fell into powder. Finding their efforts 

 were ineffectual, the ants at last became discouraged and left 

 off building ; and to my astonishment they then destroyed 



H 117 



