108 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



The following facts with regard to ' modes of mining * 

 are worth quoting from MacCook : — 



In sinking the galleries the difficulty of carrying is not 

 great in a moist or tough soil, which permits the ant to obtain 

 goodly-sized pellets for portage. But when the soil is light and 

 dry, so that it crumbles into dust as it is bitten off, the diffi- 

 culty is greatly increased. It would be a very tedious task 

 indeed to take out the diggings grain by grain. This difficulty 

 the worker overcomes by balling the small particles against the 

 surface of the gallery, the under side of the head, or within and 

 against the mandibles. The fore-feet are used for this purpose, 

 being pressed against the side face, turned under, and pushed 

 upward with a motion similar to that of a man putting his 

 hand upon his mouth. The abdomen is then swung underneath 

 the body and the apex pressed against the little heap of grains 

 of dirt massed against the under side of the mandibles, or be- 

 tween that and the smooth under surface of the head. Thus the 

 dust is compressed into a ball which is of sufficient size to justify 

 deportation. 



The same operation is observed in the side-galleries, where 

 the ants work very frequently upon their sides or backs, pre- 

 cisely as I have seen colliers do in Pennsylvania coal-mines. 



The following is likewise worth quoting from the same 

 author : — 



Seeds are evidently not the only food of our agriculturals. 

 When the ants at disk No. 2 had broken through the sUght 

 mud-sediment that sealed up their gate, as described above, 

 they exhibited a peculiar behaviour. Instead of heading for 

 the roads and pressing along them, they distributed themselves 

 at once over the entire disk, radiating from the gate to all 

 points in the circumference, from which they penetrated the 

 jungle of grass beyond. In a moment a large number were 

 returning across the roads, out of the grass, over the pavement 

 toward the entrance. They bore in their mandibles objects 

 which I presently found to be the males and females of white 

 ants {Termes Jlavipes), which were filling the air, during and 

 after the rain, in marriage flight. They had probably swarmed 

 just before the shower. The agriculturals were under great 

 excitement, and hurried forth and back at the top of their 

 speed. The number of ants bearing termites was soon so great 

 that the vestibule became choked, and a mass of struggling 

 anthood was piled up around the gate. A stream of eager 

 insects continually poured out of the door, pushing their way 



