NATURAL HISTORY. 135 



" Mr. Huber says that he thought several 

 times it would fall, from the rain which was 

 dropping upon it all the time ; but he found 

 that the pieces held together, and that the 

 rain, instead of hurting it, only made it more 

 solid. All that it wants, when the ants have 

 done, is a little heat from the sun to bake it 

 hard, and then it appears like a piece of solid 

 dirt. Sometimes, if the rain be violent, the 

 apartments will be destroyed, especially if the 

 arches are not built strongly ; and when this 

 happens, the little creatures go to work very 

 patiently and rebuild them." 



" And how long, Uncle Philip, did it take 

 the ants to put another story on their house ?" 



" Between seven and eight hours ; and they 

 had hardly finished one before they began an- 

 other, but they had not time to finish it, for 

 the rain stopped before they had built much : 

 however, they kept on, taking advantage of 

 the wet earth ; but a cold drying wind soon 

 sprang up, and the earth would not stick ; so 

 they stopped : but what do you think they did 

 with the new story which they had not time 

 to finish T 



" What did they do, Uncle Philip ?" 



" Pulled every part of it to pieces, and scat- 



