SOCIAL INSECTS 117 
clear idea of its internal economy, but J. G. Wood (in Susects at 
Home) thus describes a very ingenious device by which he was 
enabled to gain some knowledge of the kind:—“I have, however, 
succeeded in obtaining an excellent view into the interior of a 
Wood-Ants’ nest, though it was but a short one. Accompanied 
by my friend Mr. H. J. B. Hancock, I was visiting some remark- 
ably fine Wood-Ants’ nests near Bagshot. We took with us a 
large piece of plate-glass, placed it edgewise on the top of an ant- 
hill, and, standing one at each side, cut the nest completely in two, 
i oe me 
leaving the glass almost wholly buried in it. After the expiration 
of a few weeks, during which time the Ants could repair damages, 
we returned to the spot, and, with a spade, removed one side of 
the nest as far as the glass, which then served as a window 
through which we could look into the nest. It was really a 
wonderful sight. The ant-hill was honey-combed into passages 
and cells, in all of which the inhabitants were hurriedly running 
about, being alarmed at the unwonted admission of light into their 
dwellings. In some of the chambers the pupe were treasured, 
and these chambers were continually entered by Ants, which 
picked up the helpless pupz and carried them to other parts of 
the nest where the unwelcome light had not shown itself. Un- 
fortunately, this view lasted only a short time.” 
