INGENUITY OF CARPENTER-ANTS. 
247 
might equally well bestow this appellation on the ants, if we considered 
only the havoc they commit among the labours and cultivation of man. 
In a few hours they strip a large orangery, denuding it of every leaf. 
In a single night they devastate a field of cotton, manioc, or sugar-cane. 
Behold their crimes! Their virtues ? they destroy to a still greater 
extent all things that might prove hurtful to man, and but for them 
certain countries would be uninhabitable. 
As for our European species, I cannot see that they do the slightest 
harm, either to man, or to the plants he cultivates. Far from it, they 
deliver him from an infinity of little insects. I have frequently seen 
long files of them, with each carrying in his mouth a very small grub 
as a contribution to the food stores of the republic. Such a picture 
should ensure them the benedictions of every honourable agriculturist. 
The mason-ants, which work in and entirely under the earth, are 
difficult to observe. But the “ carpenters ” may be easily followed, at 
least in the upper part of their constructions. The cupola of their 
edifice being subject to dilapidation, they are constantly under a 
necessity of repairing and re-excavating it. With the small amount of 
soil which they make use of, they mix the leaves and spines of the fir, 
and the catkins of the pine. If they meet with a bent, twisted, and 
knotty twig, it is a treasure; they employ it as an arcade, or, better 
still, as an ogive; for the pointed arch is the most solid. The numerous 
avenues which lead to the surface spread out in radii like a fan; they 
start from a concentric point, and extend to the circumference. The 
mass of the edifice is divided into low but spacious apartments. The 
largest is in the centre and under the dome; it is also the most 
elevated, and destined, apparently, for public communications. There, 
at all hours, you will find a knot of busy citizens, who, by the rapid 
contact of their antennae (a kind of electric telegraph) seem to relate 
to one another the news, and exchange opinions or mutual directions. 
It is a kind of forum. 
There is nothing more curious than to observe the various occupa¬ 
tions and movements of this great people. While some, as purveyors, 
go in search of grubs, hunt insects, or collect materials, others, seden- 
