THE ANTS. 405 



bread, or any kind of fruit, has been discovered* 

 even in the highest story of a house, they range 

 themselves in a line, and follow their leader to the 

 spot. Of this the following is a remarkable in- 

 stance related by Dr. Franklin : Believing that these 

 little creatures had some means of communicating 

 their thoughts or desires to one another, he tried 

 several experiments with them, all of which tended 

 to confirm his opinion ; but one seemed more con- 

 clusive than the rest. He put a little earthen pot, 

 containing some treacle, into a closet, into which 

 a number of Ants collected, and devoured the trea- 

 cle very quietly. But, on observing this, he shook 

 them out, and tied the pot with a thin string to a 

 nail which he had fastened into the cieling ; so that 

 it hung down by the string. A single Ant, by 

 chance, remained in the pot : this Ant ate till it 

 was satisfied j but, when it wanted to get off, it 

 could not, for some time, find a way out. It ran 

 about the bottom of the pot, but in vain ; at last it 

 found, after many attempts, the Way to the cieling, 

 by going along the string. After it was come 

 there, it ran to the wall, and from thence to the 

 ground. It had scarcely been away half an hour 

 when a great swarm of Ants came out, got up to 

 the cieling, and crept along the string into the pot, 

 and began to eat again. This they continued till 

 the treacle was all eaten ; in the mean time one 

 swarm running down the string, and the other up. 



The Ants generally lay up a considerable quan- 

 tity of different kinds of grain ; but, to prevent this 

 from taking root from the moisture of their cells, 



Dd 3 



