134 ANIMAL INTELLiaENCE. 



The most formidable of all is tlie great red ant, or Dimiya. 

 It is particularly abundant in gardens and on fruit-trees ; it 

 constructs its dwellings by gluing the leaves of such species as 

 are suitable from their shape and pliancy into hollow balls, and 

 these it lines with a kind of transparent paper, like that manu- 

 factured by the wasp. I have watched them at the interesting 

 operation of forming these dwellings ; — a line of ants standing 

 on the edge of one leaf bring another into contact with it, and 

 hold both together with their mandibles till their companions 

 within attach them firmly by means of their adhesive paper, the 

 assistants outside moving along as the work proceeds. If it be 

 necessary to draw closer a leaf too distant to be laid hold of by 

 the immediate workers, they form a chain by depending one 

 from the other till the object is reached, when it is at length 

 brought into contact, and made fast by cement. 



I shall now pass on to the remarkable observation com- 

 municated to Kirby by Colonel Sykes, F.E.S., and which 

 is thus narrated by Kirby in his ' History, Habits, and 

 Instincts of Animals : ' — 



When resident at Poena, the dessert, consisting of fruits, 

 cakes, and various preserves, always remained upon a small side 

 table, in a verandah of the dining-room. To guard against 

 inroads, the legs of the table were immersed in four basins filled 

 with water ; it was removed an inch from the wall, and, to 

 keep ofi' dust from open windows, was covered with a tablecloth. 

 At first the ants did not attempt to cross the water, but as the 

 strait was very narrow, from an inch to an inch and a half, and 

 the sweets very tempting, they appear, at length, to have braved 

 all risks, to have committed themselves to the deep, to have 

 scrambled across the channel, and to have reached the objects 

 of their desires, for hundreds were found every morning revelling 

 in enjoyment : daily vengeance was executed upon them with- 

 out lessening their numbers ; at last the legs of the table were 

 painted, just above the water, with a circle of turpentine. This 

 at first seemed to prove an effectual barrier, and for some days 

 the sweets were unmolested, after which they were again at- 

 tacked by these resolute plunderers ; but how they got at 

 them seemed totally unaccountable, till Colonel Sykes, who often 

 passed the table, was surprised to see an ant drop from the wall, 

 about a foot above the table, upon the cloth that covered it ; 

 another and another succeeded. So that though the turpentine 

 and the distance from the wall appeared effectual barriers, still 



