St. Landry democrat., 1885-09-19

/ Then these baby ants wind curtain O
silk around their own little bodies and
go to sleep, to wake up full-groWn ants,
without ''guide, overseer and ruler,
except the tender services OF the nurse.
/ Isn't it wonderful that these little ants
can do so much for themselves? so ex-
actly right, and in such order, too,
each one knowing it's business and do
ing it Just as if they had commander
to order their every movement.
No one ant seems to have any person
al property, neither house, stores, NOR
eggs. Everything belongs to all, and
yet, while the whole world is wrapped
in a lazy content in the summer wealth
er they are always laboring very hard
for the whole community. And if, per.
chance, their little citadel is impaired,
as is often the case, they repair the
ruin with the utmost neatness and dis
patch.
Did you ever see an ant seize a pei
let, or stone, and drag it backwards
up steep incline, using its hind legs to
cling on to rough places, often Juggling
away at weight far greater than that
of its own body? Some hoist aloft in
their front arms, as it were, stick OF
piece of grass, two or three times its
own length, moving it forward as if in
the air. And when they build, each
addition is put in what each considers
the best place, but the general form OF
the dome grows into cur.ously regu-
lar diminishing curve, as if every one
bore the architects elevation in his
pocket,
Some of these wonderful workers
make desperate attempts to move
! heavy beams of wood, but after super
human exertions give up the attempt
when clearly beyond their strength. Ii
thing, however, is within the bounds
of possibility, it is surprising with what
obstinate pertinacity they will return to
pellet which has rolled away from
them, even to the bottom of the hillock,
again and again. and begin once more
to haul it up, Juggling, lifting it over
stones and under sticks, tumbling over
with their burden on the other side of
an obstacle which they had scaled and
lying. for a few seconds quite exhausted,
| vet never leaving hold of Their burden,
and setting of undauntedly as soon as
they recovered breath. Occasionally
/ two or more will lend helping hand,
but as a general thing they prefer to
work alone. The hand of man is con.
sidered a miracle of art, but what OF
the ants six prehensile feet, Indifferent
organs as they seem comparatively. to
hold or pull or lift or even to cling with!
But what will you say, apart from
their building ability and tender care
over each other, the almost moral ele-
walton which is their most extraordi-
nary quality, where by thegood of the in
dividual is given up to that of the COM
munity, if should tell you of one with
still more remarkable powers, and this
is the agricultural ant of TexasP You
will hardly believe the story, and yet it
| is youched for by eminent naturalistS
and others who have made them their
study This ant is one of the brown
species living in families, occupying
mounds or cities, as they are called, set
diameter. Around these mounds the
ants smooth away the surface for three
or four feet further in all directions,
and make sort of farm of this cleared
region. Here they are said to actually
plant the seeds of a certain grass OF
which they are very fond, keeping the
crop clear of all weeds and grasses
meanwhile. Then they harvest the
seeds, clearing the chaf away, and
store the rest for winter use They tend
these seeds as carefully III winter as
they tend their eggs and grubs, drying
it when damp, and actually throwing ID
away when spoiled. Their harvest
time is in November, and after harvest
they clear away the stubble and leave
the surface bare for the next year.
How incredible this seems! and yet
we are not surprised at anything we
hear about these wonderfully knowing
little creatures.
No wonder that the ant has been
held up as a model of wisdom and in
dustry. Solomon declares the ant to
be ''a people not strong, but exceeding
wise, who prepare their meat in the
summer But the highest praise it
has received is from Mr.. Darwin, who
says that ''the size of the brain is closes
" connected with higher mental
powers, and the cerebral ganglia OF
ants is of extraordinary comparative
dimensions. The fineness Of the
quality seems to make up for absence
of quantity. "The brain of an ant, !"
another naturalist has said, too, sis
one of the most marvellous atoms OF
matter in the world, far more wonder
full than the brain of man. Mrs. G.
Hall, in ~ 7 Observer.