60 THE AEGENTINE ANT. 
placed on the comparatively smooth floor of an infested building, 
and when the ants were visiting it in large numbers a distance of 
6 inches was measured off on one of the principal " trails." The rate 
of travel of individuals over this 6 inches was then noted. Mr. Smith 
found that the average time required to travel the 6 inches when 
going to the food supply was 12^ seconds, or at the rate of 29 inches 
per minute. When returning from the food, presumably with their 
stomachs filled with sirup, the average time required to travel the 
6 inches was 21 seconds, or at the rate of 17 inches per minute. The 
rapidity with which the foraging ants can travel (29 inches a minute, 
or 145 feet per hour) explains their ability to keep thoroughly 
patroled all of the walls, furniture, and other contents of a building 
within their reach. It explains at the same time the reason for their 
so quickly locating food supplies left accessible to them. 
The rate of travel over horizontal polished surfaces is, however, 
much greater than that cited above. On a tiled floor or on the top 
of a glass showcase their speed is two or three times as great as that 
just given. In fact, it is almost impossible to capture the workers 
on a tiled floor, so rapidly do they move. This same degree of speed 
is not attained on vertical polished surfaces, such as window panes. 
STORAGE OF FOOD. 
Only to a very small extent do the workers of this species provision 
their nests for future emergencies. They are given to carrying let- 
tuce seed, and perhaps other seeds, into their colonies at times, but 
the bulk of these seed are used up in a short time, and in a few days all 
have disappeared. Apparently the desire to carry in a full supply of 
any desirable food is the cause for this storage, rather than any fixed 
instinct toward providing the colony with permanent stores. In like 
manner, when the ants have access to large amounts of granulated 
sugar, the granules are carried into the nest and deposited in various 
parts of the galleries, there being no place set aside, apparently, as a 
granary or storehouse. Like the seeds above mentioned, the supply 
of sugar is consumed within a few hours or a few days after its 
acquisition. Particles of meat are deposited in the galleries in simi- 
lar manner, often to be neglected until they are too dry to be of much 
service. Even when dried, however, they seem to furnish a relish or 
variation in the diet, as workers may be seen, from time to time, 
rasping off small shreds with their mandibles and then masticating 
these with apparent enjoyment. 
Liquid food, such as honeydew, sirup, etc., is not deposited any- 
where in the nest, and if any liquid food is kept in reserve at all it is 
merely that which is retained in the stomachs of the workers. Appar- 
