89 
portion of the nest. and one may sometimes see a worker carrying a 
cocoon outside the nest as if to give it an airing. 
One usually associates ants with dry weather and sunshine, but 
these ants come out only at night. A thick fog drifts in from the ocean 
spangling the seanty grass blades with glittering drops. The landscape 
is shrouded in darkness; but the little circle, illuminated by the lantern, 
is a seene of bustling activity. A constant stream of amber-colored 
ants pours out of the entrance hole, each carrying a small pellet of 
sand-grains in her mandibles. Some leave their burden just outside, 
others laboriously plod as far as three or four feet before they drop 
their load and hurry back for another. The underground workings are 
being extended almost every day in the year. I have seen the ants at 
work at 9 p.m. in the pouring rain and at a temperature as low as 
44° Fahr. They do not leave their holes until about half an hour after 
sunset. Thus they escape the birds and the lizards, their only enemies 
being the night-prowling toads, and ant lions.* If we smear a little 
honey on a piece of glass, it is quickly surrounded by 40 to 50 ants, who 
climb upon each other’s backs to reach the tempting fluid. In two or 
three minutes they are loaded to the limit of their capacity, and then 
they stagger off towards home. They are perfectly ready to regurei- 
tate, when appealed to on their way by a hungry comrade. The ant’s 
antennae, in which the ‘‘contact-odor’’ sense resides, are cons.antly be- 
ing cleaned to free them from dust, which must dull their sensibility. 
The eges and larvae are continually being licked over, probably as a 
sanitary precaution to prevent the growth of moulds, to which they are 
very subject in the damp recesses of the nest. 
As evidence of individuality in character I give the following 
anecdotes. 
An ant had fallen into the moat surrounding my artificial nest 
and was rescued in a moribund condition, and laid upon the surface 
of the island. Two of the workers came up, inspected the sufferer and 
passed by without the slightest effort to help. Presently a minor 
worker arrived and showed the liveliest concern. 
For many minutes she vigorously kneaded the patient’s gaster, and 
worked the stiff legs until at last the half-drowned ant revived. 
On another occasion, after a team of six workers had deposited a 
nodule outside the nest opening, one major stayed behind and by 
strenuous exertion dragged the load one-third of an inch further away. 
Its exact location was a matter of absolute unimportance; but the 
major’s notions of exactitude had to be satisfied. 
*Since writing, my nest was raided by driver ants (Eciton sumichrasti) on June 
12th, rgrr. The invaders poured into the nest and emerged carrying larvae. They 
were repulsed by spraying them with kerosene oil. ‘The ant’s most dangerous enemies 
are other ants, just as man’s most dangerous enemies are other men.”—Forel. 
