Note 6 — CHAP. I. THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANTS.

I was in the habit of visiting, almost daily, for a month, an extensive nest of Red Ants, of which a large flat stone formed the roof.—During my visits for the first three weeks, scarcely a drop of rain had fallen, and the nest seemed to be considerably injured by the continual falling in of loose earth, which these little creatures with amazing industry removed, whenever it happened any of the avenues were blocked up. No attempt was ever made towards reparation; but what was my surprise on visiting my little friends, after a two days’ heavy rain, to find, that the repairs were already completed, and that the upper surface of their habitation presented as smooth a surface as if a trowel had been passed over it; yet all their work they had industriously effected by kneading with the rain-water, the loose earth into a sort of paste. From the nest being situated in the midst of an extensive heath, where there could be no supply of water, and from its remaining unrepaired during the dry weather, it amounts to a full conviction, that Ants employ no other cement than water, in the construction of their varied habitations.—T.