442 Rev. H. C. McCook on the Architecture and 
XLVIII.— On the Architecture and Habits of the Cutting Ant 
of Texas (Atta fervens). By the Rev. H. C. Mc.Cook*. 
The observations of which the following is an abstract were 
made during an encampment, for purposes of study, south of 
Austin, Texas. 
1. Exterior Architecture .—Two forms were noted. The 
first, seen at a point distinguished as Camp Wright, was that 
of a mound, 21 feet long and about 4 feet high, which had 
been accumulated around the trunk of a double live-oak tree 
(Quercus virens ) which stood on the side of a road. The 
second form was located at a point distinguished as Camp 
Jeanes. It was on a high, flat, upland prairie, and was a bed 
of denuded earth, in the midst of the grassy open, 8 feet 
9 inches long, and 7 feet, more or less, across. Over this 
denuded surface were scattered between twenty and thirty 
circular, semicircular, and S-shaped elevations of fresh earth 
pellets. The circular moundlets had the appearance of an 
American spittoon, the resemblance being stronger by reason 
of a round open entrance or gallery-door in the centre. x\ll 
had apparently been naturally formed by the gradual accumu¬ 
lation of the pellets of sandy soil, as they were brought out 
and dumped upon the circumference of the heap. The mound- 
lets were massed at the base, and gradually sloped off towards 
the top. They were from 3 to 4 inches high. This “bed ” 
(as the natives call it) was quite free from grass, as was also 
the mound at Camp Wright. Another nest of the same 
character was found at Camp Jeanes; this was situated in a 
grove, but was fully exposed to the sun. A fourth nest was 
found about a mile distant from this spot, of the same charac¬ 
ter. This is, therefore, probably the normal form of the 
external architecture of the formicary, the mound at Camp 
Wright being probably formed by accumulations around the 
tree, caused by the bordering road, which restricted the limits 
of the gates, and so threw the separate moundlets back upon 
each other. 
2. Gates or Doors .—His first view of the mound at Camp 
Wri ght led Mr. McCook to fear that he had made a mistake, 
and pitched his camp near an abandoned nest. There was not 
a sign of life. The mound was covered over with earthern 
knobs or warts of various sizes; but the action of a recent 
shower upon the black soil gave the hill the appearance of an 
old one. Here and there were scattered over the surface small 
* From the ‘ Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia/ Feb. 11, 1879. 
