HARVESTING ANTS. 101 



apparently undiminished quantities ; and I conclude from this 

 that they had found out their mistake, and had wisely returned 

 to theii- accustomed occupations. 



When the grain is thus taken into the nest, it is 

 stored in regular granaries, but not until it has been de- 

 nuded of its ' husks ' or * chaff.' The denuding process is 

 carried on below ground, and the chaff is brought up to 

 the surface, where it is laid in heaps to be blown away by 

 the wind. 



It is a remarkable thing, and one not yet understood, 

 why the seed, when thus stored in subterranean chambers 

 just far enough below the surface to favour germination, 

 does not germinate. Moggridge says that out of twenty- 

 one nests and among many thousands of seeds that he 

 examined, he only found twenty-seven cases of incipient 

 germination. Moreover, all these cases occurred in months 

 from November to February, while in the nests opened in 

 October, March, April, and May, no sprouted seeds were 

 discovered, though these are the months highly favourable 

 to germination. He is at a loss to suggest the treatment 

 to which the ants expose the seeds in order to prevent 

 their sprouting. ' Apparently it is not that moisture or 

 warmth or the influence of atmospheric air is denied to 

 the seeds, for we find them in damp soil in genial weather, 

 and often at but a trifling distance below the surface of 

 the ground ; ' and he has proved that the vitality of the 

 seeds is not impaired, for lie succeeded in raising crops of 

 young plants from seeds removed from the granaries. 



He also says, — 



By a fortunate chance I have been able to prove that the 

 seeds will germinate in an undisturbed granary when the ants 

 ai*e prevented from obtaining access to it : and this goes to show 

 not only that the structure and nature of the granary chamber 

 is not sufficient of itself to prevent germination, but also that the 

 presence of the ants is essential to secure the dormant condition 

 of the seeds. 



I discovered in two places portions of distinct nests of Atta 

 structor which had been isolated owing to the destruction of the 

 hollow wall behind which they lay, and then the granaries well 

 filled up and literally choked with growing seeds, though the 

 earth in which they lay completely enclosed and concealed them 



