Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-05-10
An Ant. arnnarr.

Itsomeumes happens that an ant has
manifestly made a bad selection, and is
told on its return that what it has
brought home with much pains is no
better than rubbish, and is hustled out
of the nest, and is forced to throw its
burden away. In order to try whether
these creatures were not fallible like
other mortals, 1 one day took with me
little packet of gray and white porcelain
beads, and scattered these in the path
of the harvesting train. They had
scarcely lain a minute on the earth be-
fore one of the largest workers seized
upon bead, and with some difficulty
| clipped it with its mandibles and trot-
ted back at a great rate to the nest. 1
waited for little while, my attention
being divided between the other ants,
who were vainly endeavoring to remove
the beads, and the entrance down which
the worker had disappeared, and then
left the spot. On my return in an
hours time, I found the ants passing
unconcemedly by and over the beads,
which lay where l had strewn them, in
apparently undiminished quantities
and l conclude from this that they had
found out the mistake, and had wisely
returned to their accustomed occupa-
! tons" He adds: 81 have often amused
myself by strewing hemp and canary
seed OF oats, all of which form heavy
burdens for the ants, near their nests
and it is a curious sight to watch the
eagerness and determination with which
they will drag them away. 1t is inter
esting also to note how on the following
day the husks of these seeds will APP
pear on the rubbish-heap, outside the
entrance to the nest. i. I'LL.
With this amount of discrimination,
the ants fight tremendous battles,
colony against colony, in the endeavor
to phlnder each others granaries. At
times, these combats last for DAYS. and
terrible mutilations are the result. Two
ants may be noticed csntending for a
seed, one of them. holding on with the
tenacity of bulldog, even although he
has lost his abdomen in the struggle,
"Then," says Mr.. Moggridge, the
victor will be seen dragging away his
prize, while his adversary, though now
little more than head and legs, offers
a vigorous, though, of course, inef-
fectual resistance" On one occasion, a
battle was seen to last thirty-one days.
At the termination of such desperate
engagements, the field is strewn with
the slain, which are carried away and
eaten as part of the spoil. ..,
To expeditions which end in these
murderous conflicts, are added thievish
raids on seed-stores which happen to be
in the neighborhood. The ant com
munities are not in the least particular
as to whence they can steal grain, hemp.
seed, canary-seed, or any suitablessnutri
riment; and they have an extraordinary
cleverness in discovering where food is
to be got for the taking. They know
where there are shops in Mentone. fol
the sale of grain. A fourishing colony
, of the Alta StructOr ingeniously planted
itself at the door of corn chandler
and "were ever on the lookout for stray
grains of oats and wheat, which nigh
| chance to fall from the sacks. Anothe
nest, in a different part of the town, go
it's principal substance from the grains
of canary-seed, which were scattered b,
the birds occupying a cage hanging
: outside shop-window
t The dimensions of an ants granar,
r are described as about the size of
I gentleman's watch. There all sorts o
plundered seeds are stored for white
use-or, more correctly, for the season
G when no seeds are growing for there i
D as we know by that term. In the mat
ter of storing, however, we have to NEE
a difficulty. The granaries being onl
a few inches under the surface of th
ground, how do the ants manage to pre-
/, vent the seeds from terminating, an,
becoming useless for food Ancien
= authors account for the phenomenon, b
y stating that the ants bore holes throug:
!, the grains, so as to destroy the vita
!, principle. What ants may have don
i thousands of years ago in Greece an
some eastern countries, we may not dis
- pute but it is plain that the ants c
the Riviera dismiss the boring system
;. and go to work in manner which show
Z their skillin chemistry. This, perhaps
y y is the funniest thing told by Mr.. Mos
" a gridge. Will it be believed ?-the
% actually malt their grainl When tn
- seeds have duly sprouted, the ants nj
% off the radicle or fbril to check tn
growth, and then carry out the grain
= be dried in the open air. The seed
~ are thus matted. The starch is change
:, o. into sugar, and, so transformed, th
. food is eaten with becoming relish. :"
i have myself" says our author, "wi
-. messed the avidity with which the col
= tents of seeds thus treated would /
20 devoured by the ants" If the ants
. olden time did not understand the pr
q cess of mailing, the modern ones ma
~ be congratulated on their advancemel
V in this piece Of useful knowledge.
The ceaseless diligence of these al
communities is testified by the fact TIL
they have been discovered working
D. the dark, carrying seeds to their graz
# aries, or searching for aphides from Il
- - orange-tree, just as if it were bros
u day. Need we say, how gratifying it
ID to see substantiated the ancient say
r about ants and their wonderful for
At sight?