change of their foster offspring. I
watched the very first thread of silk drawn between the larva and the
outside world, and in an incredibly short time the cocoon was outlined
in a tissue-thin, transparent aura, within which the tenant could be
seen skilfully weaving its own shroud.

When first brought from the nest, the larvae lay quite straight and
still; but almost at once they bent far over in the spinning position.
Then some officious worker would come along, and the unfortunate larva
would be snatched up, carried off, and jammed down in some neighboring
empty space, like a bolt of cloth rearranged upon a shelf. Then
another ant would approach, antennae the larva, disapprove, and again
shift its position. It was a real survival of the lucky, as to who
should avoid being exhausted by kindness and over-solicitude. I
uttered many a chuckle at the half-ensilked unfortunates being toted
about like mummies, and occasionally giving a sturdy, impatient kick
which upset their tormentors and for a moment created a little swirl
of mild excitement.

There was no order of packing. The larvae were fitted together anyway,
and meagerly covered with dust of wood and shreds of cloth. One big
tissue of wood nearly an inch square was too great a temptation to be
let alone, and during the course of my observation it covered in turn
almost every group of larvae in sight, ending by being accidentally
shunted over the edge and killing a worker near the kitchen middens.
There was only a single layer of larvae; in no case were they piled up,
and when the platform became crowded, a new column was formed and
hundreds taken outside. To the casual eye there was no difference
between these legionaries and a column bringing in booty of insects,
eggs, and pupae; yet here all was solicitude, never a bite too severe,
or a blunder of undue force.

The sights I saw in this second day's accessible nest-swarm would
warrant a season's meditation and study, but one thing impressed me
above all others. Sometimes, when I carefully pried open one section
and looked deep within, I could see large chambers with the larvae in
piles, besides being held in the mandibles of the components of the
walls and ceilings. Now and then a curious little ghost-like form
would flit across the chamber, coming to rest, gnome-like, on larva or
ant. Again and again I saw these little springtails skip through the
very scimitar mandibles of a soldier, while the workers paid n