ed their stores of
food in the shape of the grains of corn they had gained from the
autumnal store. There can be little doubt that some species of ants do
store food; but their praiseworthy actions in this direction have been
greatly exaggerated, and there appears, indeed, to be some danger of
idle persons being prepared with the retort to the wise man, that the
ant is by no means the model creature he thought her to be. If,
however, the supposed corn-grains turn out to be the rising generation
of ants in their chrysalis-state, it may be said that what the ants
may have lost in the way of fame in this direction has been amply
compensated for by the discovery of more wonderful traits of character
than Solomon could possibly have dreamt of.

The work of removing the developing population thus appeared in our
ant's nest to absorb the entire energies of the alarmed denizens. Pupa
after pupa was carried out from amongst the debris and taken for a
considerable distance--certainly fifteen inches--to a place of
security, beneath a small sloping stone of flat shape, which roofed
over a hollow in the ground. So far as I could observe, the scouts
must have discovered this place of refuge, and have communicated the
intelligence to their neighbors. The regularity with which the
slumbering innocents were conveyed to the same spot would appear to
point to concerted work and to a definite idea, if one may so term it,
having animated the laborers. I was careful to ascertain at an early
stage of the proceedings that the place of refuge had no
communications with the nest. It was, in point of fact, an entirely
new habitation, and, as far as human judgment might venture upon an
opinion, the new residence appeared to give promise of being a safe
and convenient domicile. Now and then an ant would emerge from the
ruins of the nest carrying a younger hopeful in the larva or
caterpillar stage. This latter was a little white grub, which
corresponds in its development to the grub or caterpillar of the
butterfly or fly; the ants thus exemplifying insects which undergo a
complete "metamorphosis." It was rather a difficult matter to
ascertain clearly if the ants were actually excavating the chrysalides
from amongst the debris. Bearing in mind what Sir John Lubbock has
told us concerning the apparent inability of ants to discover the
whereabouts of companions buried under earth, I rather lean to the
belief that my ants simply conveyed to a place of