136 NATURAL HISTORY. 
a fort of glue, for fear it fhould crumble, and fall down upon thei? 
heads. ‘hey may be fometimes feen to gather feveral iwigs, which 
ferve them for rafters, which they place over the paths, to fupport thé 
covering; they lay others acrofs them, and upon them rufhes, weedsy’ 
and dried grafs, which they heap up into a double declivity, which 
~ ferves to turn off the water from their magazines, Some of thefe ferve 
to lay up their provifions in, and in others they lay their eggs. 
As for the provifions, they lay up every thing that is fit for them t@ 
eat; and you may often fee one loaded with pippin, or grain of fruits 
another with a dead Flie, and feveral together with the carcafe of 4 
May-bug, or other infeé&. If they meet with any they cannot bring 
away, they eat it upon the fpot, or at leait fo much of it, as may re“ 
duce it to a bulk {mall enongh for them to carry. ‘They do not rut 
about where they pleafe, at all adventures; for fome of them are fent 
abroad'to make difcoveries; and if they bring back news they havé 
met with a pear, or a fugar-loaf, or a pot of {weetmeats, they will rut 
from the bottom of the garden, as high as the third flory of a houles 
to come at it. They all follow each other in the fame path, without 
wandering to the right or the left; but in the fields they are more at 
their liberty, and are allowed to run about in fearch of game. There. 
is a fort of green Flie, that does a great deal of mifchief among the 
flowers, and which curl up the leaves of peach and pear-trees; an 
thefe are furrounded with a fort of glue, or honey, which the Ants 
hunt after very greedily ; for they touch neither the plant nor the Flies 
themfelves ; however this is fometimes thought to be done by the Antss 
which raifes them a great many enemies, who endeavour to deftroy 
them, though they are really innocent of the fac. 
Next to this, their greateft paflion is to lay up hoards of wheat, and 
other corn, and for fear the corn fhould fprout by the moifture of thé 
fubterraneous cells, they gnaw off the end which would produce thé 
blade. he Ants are often feen pufhing grains of wheat, or barleys 
much larger than themfelves, 
The Ants after having fpent the fummer in labour, keep clofe in thé 
winter, enjoying the provilions that they have laid up. However fomé 
think they fleep in the winter, like other infeéts, and they do not laf 
in the corn for winter provifions, but to provide a ftore that is necé* 
fary to feed their broad with. They feed them as foon as they pro 
ceed from the eggs, with inceflant care, which employs the whole com 
pany. The young ones, when they proceed from the egg, are no lat” 
ger than grains of fand. After they have been fed for fome time, they 
weave themfelves a covering of white or yellow ftuff, and then they 
leave off eating, and become Chryfalides; many people, whilé they 
are in this ftate, take them for Ant’s eggs, But they are in reality t b 
nymphs from whence the young Ants proceed. 
In Africa, and particularly in Guiney, the Ants are exceeding trou 
blefome, and do a great deal of mifchief. They make their netts twice 
as high as a man, of earth in the fields ; befides which they build large 
nefts in high trees, from which places they advance to the Europea” 
fettlements, in fuch prodigious fwarms, that they frequently oblige. the 
inhabitants to quit their beds in the night time. They will fometim® 
attack a living fheep, which in a night’s time, they will reduce C7 
perfe@ fkeleton, leaving not the leaft thing except the bones. 
comme 
