58 SOCIAL HABITATIONS. 
large as an ordinary football. The material of which they 
are made is cow-dung, which is spread in flakes in a manner 
that reminds the observer of the outside cover of a wasp’s 
nest. The flakes are placed upon each other like the tiles 
of a house, so that although the insects can creep into the 
nest beneath the flakes, no water canenter. Onthe summit 
of the nest is one very large flake, that acts as a general 
roof to the structure. 
Within the nest are placed a number of cells made 
of the same material as the exterior, and in them may 
be found insects in every state of development, eggs in 
one, larvee in another, and pupe in a third. No pro- 
vision seems to be laid up within the nest, so that the 
inhabitants must depend on their daily excursions for 
their food. 
When Colonel Sykes brought home the first nest he 
discovered, he hung it to the tent-pole, preparatory to exa- 
mining it in the morning. ‘In the night the men were 
awakened by repeated punctures and general irritation of 
the skin, but the darkness prevented them from discovering 
their tormentors, and they continued to toss and tumble 
in their beds for some hours in no very complacent state of 
mind. At last they got up, dressed themselves, and aban- 
doned the tent; but the evil was rather aggravated than 
abated, as parts of their persons which had previously 
escaped had now their share of suffering. At daylight they 
discovered to their consternation that they were covered 
with minute ants, which had filled their pantaloons, pene- 
trated the sleeves of their coats and every other part of 
their habiliments. On inspecting the tent, they found the 
interior teeming with multitudes of little angry beings, in 
busy progress, seeking to resent the outrage which had 
been committed on the community by the removal of 
their abode.” 
