ANTS — GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 
129 
It was a constant coming and going of ants, coming forth 
from tneir underground dwelling, and carrying back little 
pellets of earth for building.. In order to concentrate my 
attention I fixed my gaze on the largest of the rooms which 
were being built, wherein several ants were busy. The work 
had made considerable progress; but although a projection 
could be plainly seen along the upper edge of the wall, there 
remained an interspace of about twelve or fifteen millimetres 
to fill in. Here would have been the place, in order to support 
the earth still to be brought in, to have had recourse to those 
pillars, buttresses, or fragments of dried leaves, which many 
ants are wont to use in building. But the use of this expedient 
is not customary with the ants I was observing ( F . fusca). 
Our ants, however, were sufficient for the occasion. For 
a moment they seemed inclined to leave their work, but 
soon turned instead to a grass-plant growing near, the long 
narrow leaves of which ran close together. They chose the 
nearest, and weighted its distal end with damp earth, until its 
apex just bent down to the space to be covered. Unfortunately 
the bend was too close to the extremity, and it threatened to 
break. To prevent this misfortune, the ants gnawed at the 
base of the leaf until it bent along its whole lengtji and covered 
the space required. But as this did not seem to be quite enough, 
they heaped damp earth between the base of the plant and that 
of the leaf, until the latter was sufficiently bent. After they 
had thus attained their object, they heaped on the buttressing 
leaf the materials required for building the arched roof. 
The characteristic trait of the building of ants, says Forel, 
is the almost complete absence of an unchangeable model, 
peculiar to each species, such as is found in wasps, bees, and 
others. The ants know how to suit their indeed little perfect 
work to circumstances, and to take advantage of each situation. 
Besides, each works for itself and on a given plan, and is only 
occasionally aided by others when these understand its plan. 
Naturally many collisions occur, and some destroy that which 
others have made. This also gives the key to understanding 
the labyrinth of the dwelling. For the rest, it is always those 
workers which have discovered the most advantageous method, 
or which have shown the most patience, which win over to their 
plan the majority of their comrades and at last the whole colony, 
although not without many fights for supremacy. But if one 
succeeds in obtaining a second to follow it, and this second 
draws the others after it, the first is soon lost again in the 
crowd. 
