Note 7 — CHAP. I. THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANTS.

It may not be uninteresting after this account of the labours of the Mason-Ants, to give a sketch of the manner in which the Termites, or what have been termed by travellers, White Ants, so abundant in Africa, construct their dwelling. Compared with the Architects, their habitations are of an astonishing magnitude; they frequently exceed twelve feet in height, and are so firmly cemented as to bear the pressure of several men at the same time. It often happens that, whilst a herd of wild cattle are quietly grazing below, one of their body is stationed on them as sentinel, to give timely notice of approaching danger. The Termites begin constructing their habitations, by raising, at little distances from each other, several turrets of compact clay in the shape of sugar-loaves: upon these they erect others; those in the centre run to the greatest height: they afterwards cover in the spaces between them, and then take down the sides of all the inner turrets, leaving only the upper portion to form the cupola or dome, making use of the clay they thus procure, in the formation of the several chambers intended for magazines, nurseries, &c. The nurseries are entirely composed of wooden materials, enclosed in chambers of clay, usually half an inch in width, ranged around, and as close as possible to the royal apartment. The royal chamber, which, with the rest, are arched over, occupies as nearly as possible the centre of the building, and is on a level with the surface of the ground; it is at first only an inch in length, but increases in size with that of the Queen, until it extends to six or more inches. In this chamber the King and Queen are retained close captives; it is impossible they can ever quit it; the entrance only allowing of the passing and repassing of the Soldiers and Labourers (the Queen, in the last stage of her pregnancy, is 1000 times the weight of the King, and equal in bulk to about 20,000 Labourers, although, on her first appearance as a winged insect, she equalled only in bulk about 30 Labourers,—her abdomen increases from half an inch to three inches in length, and she lays, according to Smeathman, as many as 80,000 eggs in the course of 24 hours: hence the necessity for the numerous attendants by whom she is continually surrounded.) In an Ant-Hill of such extensive size, and where there is such an infinity of chambers to accommodate its numerous inhabitants, there must be of necessity a vast number of subterraneous and winding passages. These passages, which conduct to the upper parts of the dome, are carried in a spiral manner round the building, for the Labourers find it extremely difficult to ascend in a less circuitous direction. Very frequently, however, to shorten the distance to the upper nurseries, where they have to take the eggs, they project an arch of about ten inches in length, and half an inch in breadth, grooved or worked into steps, on its upper surface to allow of a more easy passage. When these insects quit their nest on any expedition, they construct covered galleries of clay which sometimes run to a considerable distance, and under this they continue their extensive and highly dreaded depredations.—T.