THE DUSKY ANT. 77 



upon some intricate plan, the principle of which is not very 

 evident. The Dusky Ant {Formica fused) generally prefers 

 banks with a southern aspect, in which it forms its elaborate 

 dwelling. Like many other ants, it is somewhat of a builder 

 as well as a miner, and can raise story upon story, as well as 

 add them by excavation. This task is achieved by covering the 

 former roof witli a layer of fresh and moist clay, and converting 

 it into a floor for the next story. Dry weather has the effect of 

 retarding the ants in their labours, because they find a difficulty 

 in procuring sufficient moisture wherewith to mix the clay. 



The muscular power and the energy and endurance of the ant 

 are truly wonderful ; and if a human being, even if aided by tools, 

 could perform such a day's work as was achieved by a single ant 

 without them, he would be a wonder of the world. M. Huber 

 had the curiosity and good sense to devote the whole of a rainy 

 day to watching the proceedings of a single Dusky Ant The 

 insect began by scooping out a groove in the earth, about a 

 quarter of an inch in depth, kneading the earth, which it removed 

 into little pellets, and placing them on each side of the groove^ 

 so as to form a kind of wall. The interior of the groove was 

 beautifully smooth and regular, and when completed it looked 

 very like a railway cutting, and performed a similar office. After 

 completing this task, it looked about and found that there was 

 another opening in the nest to which a road must be made, and 

 straightway set to work upon a second sunken path of a similar 

 character, parallel to the first, and being separated from it 

 merely by a wall of a third of an inch in height. 



Compare the size of an ant with that of a man, and then 

 see how vast are the powers of so small a creature. Taking all 

 the calculations in round numbers, and very much to the dis- 

 advantage of the ant, we find that a single man, who would 

 have achieved a similar work in a single day, must have acted 

 as follows : — 



He must have excavated two parallel trenches, each of seventy- 

 two feet in length and four feet six inches in depth ; he must 

 have made bricks from the clay he dug out, and with them built 

 a wall along each side of the trenches, from two to three feet in 



