ANTS— GENEEAL INTELLIGENCE. 129 



It was a constant coming and going of ants, coming forth 

 dfrom their underground dwelling, and caiTying back little 

 pellets of earth for building, In order to concentrate my 

 attention I fixed my gaze on the largest of the rooms which 

 were being built, wherein several ants were busy. The work 

 had made considerable progress; but although a projection 

 could be plainly seen along the upper edge of the wall, there 

 remained an interspace of about twelve or fifteen millimetres 

 to fill in. Here would have been the place, in order to support 

 the earth still to be brought in, to have had recourse to those 

 pillars, buttresses, or fragments of dried leaves, which many 

 ants are wont to use in building. But the use of this expedient 

 is not customary with the ants I was observing {F. fusca). 

 Our ants, however, were sufficient for the occasion. For 

 a moment they seemed inclined to leave their work, but 

 soon turned instead to a grass-plant growing near, the long 

 narrow leaves of which ran close together. They chose the 

 nearest, and weighted its distal end with damp earth, until its 

 apex just bent down to the space to be covered. Unfortunately 

 the bend was too close to the extremity, and it threatened to 

 break. To prevent this misfortune, the ants gnawed at the 

 base of the leaf until it bent along its whole length and covered 

 the space required. But as this did not seem to be quite enough, 

 they heaped damp earth between the base of the plant and that 

 of the leaf, until the latter was sufficiently bent. After they 

 had thus attained their object, they heaped on the buttressing 

 leaf the materials required for building the arched roof. 



The characteristic trait of the building of ants, says Forel, 

 is the almost complete absence of an unchangeable model, 

 peculiar to each species, such as is found in wasps, bees, and 

 others. The ants know how to suit their indeed little perfect 

 work to circumstances, and to take advantage of each situation. 

 Besides, each works for itself and on a given plan, and is only 

 occasionally aided by others when these understand its plan. 

 Naturally many collisions occur, and some destroy that which 

 others have made. This also gives the key to understanding 

 the labyrinth of the dwelling. For the rest, it is always those 

 workers which have discovered the most advantageous method, 

 or which have shown the most patience, which win over to their 

 plan the majority of theii' comrades and at last the whole colony, 

 although not without many fights for supremacy. But if one 

 succeeds in obtaining a second to follow it, and this second 

 draws the others after it, the first is soon lost again in the 

 crowd. 



