43 
SIR PETER EADE ON “ MY CITY GARDEN.” 
dropped over its edge, and the Carrier Ant at once races back into 
the hole presumably for a fresh burden. This process is a very 
remarkable one, and the way the Ant brings his grain of earth 
in his mouth and drops it over the edge of the rising Ant-hill, 
irresistibly reminds one of a railway navvy who wheels his barrow 
full of earth and tilts it over the edge of the embankment upon 
which he is at work. The number of single grains in even a small 
Ant-heap must be very large, and must amount to many thousands, 
or perhaps to hundreds of thousands. What, then, must be the 
untiring energy of a small Ant colony, which can reproduce such 
a granular heap in less than twenty-four hours. 
It does not always seem clear what the streams of Ants from 
the parent nest are so constantly occupied in. They may be, to 
a certain extent, colonizers, but they certainly do not, with me, 
raise secondary ant-hills to any great extent at the end of their 
runs. They make holes in the ground there, and possibly they 
may be engaged in their proverbial custom of securing and storing 
up food for the winter. To the uninstructed eye these holes look 
very much like Colonial outposts. 
The activity of these Ants entirely ceases with the advent of 
autumn, and their Ant-hills in my garden entirely disappear until 
the following season. 
As wo all know, this instinct of storing up food for winter use 
has been largely denied, but from Sir John Lubbock’s account it 
certainly exists in some species, though its extent varies greatly. 
As ho says that many of the Ants live through the winter, some 
food would seem to be required. 
Speaking of Ants generically, we all doubtless accept King 
Solomon’s authority upon this point, and we shall not forget that 
the Koman poet Virgil, writing just before the Christian era, 
expressed himself to the same effect. 
“ Ac veluti ingentem formicae farris acervum 
Cum populaut, hyemis memores, teetoque reponunt.” 
Cicero’s high opinion of these creatures is well-known, and is 
thus expressed by him : 
“ In formica non modo sensus, sed etiam meus, ratio, memoria.” 
Lastly, did time and inclination permit, I might have found 
endless interest in observing the habits of the vast quantities of 
