All insects breathe through holes in their sides called spiracles. The air rushes through these holes into large tubes, which lie one on each side of the body, and from these branch out innumerable tiny air-vessels. These little tubes are interlaced in an insect's body in much the same way as the delicate network of veins are seen to run all over a leaf.

Of these spiracles the ant possesses four pairsthree in the thorax, and one in the peduncle—a kind of scaly knot which unites the abdomen to the trunk.

Having finished with these somewhat dry but necessary details, let us now proceed to investigate ants' nests and ant nature.

What is the aim and object of ant life? Without doubt, to secure the greatest good of the greatest number of individuals.

In the Book of Proverbs we find that ants are described as exceeding wise, though they are a people not strong. Their wisdom certainly is plainly shown in the construction of their nests, which by most species are built to form a dome, and are familiarly known as ant-hills. Some of these structures have been seen in England to rise almost to the height of a hay-cock; while travellers in South America describe ant-hills of fifteen or twenty feet in height.

Let us enter with some of our little friends into their dwelling, and see what kind of accommodation they have provided for their well-being and comfort.

You peer about the ant-hill for the door! Ah! my good friend, do not think you are likely to find one. The little ant is far too sagacious to place her doorway where her enemies might easily find an entrance. Take a good look round about, and perhaps you may see a few ants coming out of the earth a yard or two off. Now you have discovered the whereabouts of the entrance to our ant's nest. In you go with an ant who is returning from a foraging expedition, and what do you find? A structure so gigantic, so wonderful in its architecture, so vast in its conception, that, in comparison with its builders, the great pyramids of Egypt sink almost into insignificance. Chambers

under ground, above ground, storey upon storey, galleries running in every direction, passages, vestibules, inner sanctums, and large assembly rooms, all carefully planned and supported by pillars of earth. Truly we may say with King Solomon—

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."

WHAT FEEBLE FOLK CAN DO.
GOETHE, the great German poet, speaks
of "that long patience which is genius."
Whether or not genius is entirely indebted

to patience for its existence, we are not prepared to determine; but certain it is that patience, perseverance, and industry combined, have their reward in the bringing to perfection and the carrying out of great ideas.

It seems incredible perhaps, but without doubt it is a fact, that in the whole creation we could not have a better example of intelligent industry and patience than the ant; nor more ample proof of the rewards thereof than the great things we see she accomplishes by the exercise of these virtues.

The most common form of ant's nest is the one described in the previous chapter. Different species, however, form different dwellings.

Here, for instance, stands the decaying trunk of
It is in itself

a tree.

lifeless.

But when

we put on our spectacles and peer into the cracks and crevices, what do we find? Why, some of our little friends running about as merrily as ever. These are the Carpenter Ants, who have gnawed out for themselves a dwelling in this apparently useless piece of wood. And such

a dwelling! On examining it we find

SECTION OF CARPENTER ANT'S NEST.

that it contains almost innumerable chambers and galleries, the walls and floors being no thicker than an ordinary playingcard. Another species is the Mason Ant, which with their mandibles and legs bite and stamp out a palatial residence in a tempting piece of clayey soil. An East Indian kind are more fastidious, and

B

prefer to dwell in silken halls of their own weaving. Other tribes are content with an erection made of a kind of papier-mâché composed of sawdust, earth, and spider's web. There are many other methods of forming dwellings, but we must be content with mentioning one made by a species of Australian ants. They form their nests of the leaves of trees, which are first brought into the desired position by the united strength of multitudes, and are then stuck together with home-made glue.

In giving examples of the architecture employed in making their nests, we have not by any means exhausted the ant's list of accomplishments.

Let us now observe them in the capacity of professional nurses. Ant's eggs are so minute as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye. The queen-mother drops them about anywhere in her journeyings through the nest, seemingly quite careless as to the well-being of her offspring. Not so, however, are her faithful subjects, who, following her, carefully collect the tiny eggs, and lay them all together in a heap in some quiet corner. The precious treasures are not put away and forgotten, but are the objects of the greatest care and solicitude, especially with regard to cleanliness. Still more remarkable is the conduct of these nurses when the shell bursts, and the small legless grub is exposed to view; it is then that the ant's nursing faculties are seen at their best. How carefully and tenderly the little grubs are fed with food, which