NATURAL HISTORY. 



ANTS AND THEIR PARASITES. 



C. C. HASKINS. 



M. Charles Janet, a naturalist of the 

 Lubbock school, has studied ants in a rather 

 original way, paying special attention to 

 the parasites which infest their domiciles 

 and their bodies. 



Of course to cut into one of these in- 

 habited caverns with its myriads of occu- 

 pants would create confusion so dire as to 

 prevent all chance of gaining the knowl- 

 edge sought. It was necessary for M. Janet 

 to find means by which, without disturbing 

 the industrious community, he could take 

 out samples, so to speak, of the inhabitants, 



their eggs, larvae and young, and their 

 parasites. 



To accomplish this he procured a stake 

 having a number of holes bored into it 

 laterally. Upon these he nailed a strip, 

 with an aperture over each hole or cell suf- 

 ficiently large to admit an ant. This stake 

 he made attractive to the ants by smearing 

 it with a little honey, and drove it down- 

 ward through the hill. 



Once the disturbance created by its in- 

 trusion subsided the little oeople examined 

 it, decided that the apartments provided 

 were habitable, and proceeded to occupy 

 them for the various purposes incident to 



v A -L; : 'XftiiiiftiL 



STEALING A DINNER. 

 384 



