MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 877 



No. XXXV.— AN ANT GRANARY. 



During the month of June very heavy and continuous rain fell for two 

 whole days. At its termination, the weather cleared and hot sun-shine 

 was recorded. On the morning that the weather cleared, the food 

 contractor, who keeps a large store-yard in the Jail here — Hyderabad, 

 Sind — reported to me that some prisoners had stolen a large quantity of 

 grain from the godown and had maliciously thrown it about the yard. 

 On going to see into the matter myself, I found a series of twenty or more 

 heaps of grain in various parts of the yard. I at once noticed that each 

 heap was craterifornv in shape and that from the crater of each, a large 

 number of black ants were issuing. Stooping over one of these heaps, the 

 phenomenon was soon explained ; each ant was carrying in its jaws a 

 single grain of corn which it bore to the lip of the crater and hurriedly 

 depositing it there, returned to the central hole for another load. I gave 

 orders that the grain, which I observed to be made up entirely of bajri, 

 was to be gathered up and weighed and was not a little astonished to find 

 the total came to three maunds (240 lbs.). In the godown, sacks of wheat, 

 jowari and bajri are stored ; why then was only the bajri stolen ? The 

 explanation is simple. The first two grains are too large and cumbersome 

 to be taken away without excessive labour whereas the bajri grain is of a 

 size, nicely adapted to form a single load for each ant. What extra- 

 ordinary economy of labour and what industry and providence ? The 

 grain had never been missed ; no shortage had ever been noticed. The 

 theft of the grain had gone on insidiously through the long months of 

 drought ; borne by devious underground highways and bye-ways to 

 numerous chota granaries, there to afford ample food for the community of 

 the ant-kingdom. Bye and bye comes the rain and soaking down, floods 

 the granaries. The extraordinary sagacity of the ant tells him that unless 

 he can quickly dry his stores, the grains will sprout and the whole be lost. 

 Perchance the grain did begin to swell in the heated, moist ground and 

 the pressure in the granaries and underground channels threatened to 

 annihilate many of the community. Either of these two reasons prompted 

 the ant to rush his stores above ground and to lay them in the sun to dry 

 again. That this stupendous task was urgently called for, was clearly 

 proved as I noticed most of the grain was already bursting. Incidentally 

 an interesting legal question arose out of this. A new contractor had just 

 come on and claimed the grain. I pointed out that the grain must have 

 been stolen during the late contractor's regnum and was therefore really 

 his. The dispute is still undecided, meanwhile I conjecture the ant quite 

 undisturbed by the pettiness of human affairs, still stealthily "creeps in 

 and carries off another grain of corn.'' 



Hyderabad, Sind, F. C. FRASER, Capt., i.m.s. 



11th August 1910. 

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