PROVISIONS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS. II 3 



another, if there is need to emigrate, ahhough they 

 themselves are much smaller. The masters, by force 

 of losing interest in work, lose also their votes when 

 it is a question of taking a resolution concerning the 

 whole colony. The servants act on their own initiative 

 and their own responsibility, direct constructions 

 according to their own ideas, and even in grave 

 concerns, such as emigration, the idle masters do not 

 seem to be consulted. The workers deliberate among 

 themselves, and having come to a decision, proceed 

 to execute it. They transport the household gods, 

 the eggs, the future of the city, and the Amazons 

 who have become its parasites. It is a most curious 

 fact that the slaves should submit to this precarious 

 fate when their masters are absolutely dependent on 

 them. It is just to add that the robust mandibles of 

 the latter may contribute to preserve the position they 

 enjoy.i 



' Lubbock has a brief discussion on the relations of Ants to their 

 domestic animals and to their slaves, Ants, Bees, and IVasfs, chap. iv. 



