SOCIAL INSECTS 



117 



clear idea of its internal economy, but J. G. Wood (in Insects at 

 Home) thus describes a very ingenious device by which he was 

 enabled to gain some knowledge of the kind: " I have, however, 

 succeeded in obtaining an excellent view into the interior of a 

 Wood-Ants' nest, though it was but a short one. Accompanied 

 by my friend Mr. H. J. B. Hancock, I was visiting some remark- 

 ably fine Wood -Ants' nests near Bagshot. We took with us a 

 large piece of plate-glass, placed it edgewise on the top of an ant- 

 hill, and, standing one at each side, cut the nest completely in two, 



Fig. 1097. Horse Ants (Formica rufa] collecting Food and Building Materials 



leaving the glass almost wholly buried in it. After the expiration 

 of a few weeks, during which time the Ants could repair damages, 

 we returned to the spot, and, with a spade, removed one side of 

 the nest as far as the glass, which then served as a window 

 through which we could look into the nest. It was really a 

 wonderful sight. The ant-hill was honey-combed into passages 

 and cells, in all of which the inhabitants were hurriedly running 

 about, being alarmed at the unwonted admission of light into their 

 dwellings. In some of the chambers the pupae were treasured, 

 and these chambers were continually entered by Ants, which 

 picked up the helpless pupae and carried them to other parts of 

 the nest where the unwelcome light had not shown itself. Un- 

 fortunately, this view lasted only a short time." 



