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But I shall suppose Lasius has informed our author that there had been a petrifaction in this case; and, before I admit this example of the formation of granite, I must ask what sort of a granite it was; whether of two, three, or four ingredients; and, how these were disposed. If, again, it were not properly a granite, but a stone formed of granite sand, What is the cementing substance?
But in order that the flock may not be too closely confined, the Lasius niger enlarge the galleries in places, and make a sort of chamber or stable in which the beasts may disport themselves at ease. These halls, which are proportionately very vast, are supported against the branches and leaves of the plant which bears up the walls and the vaults.
The ants construct around these insects cabins made of fragments of wood, and wall them in completely so as to keep them at their own disposal. The Myrmica also forms similar pasture lands; its system is rather less perfect than that of the Lasius, as it does not form covered galleries to reach its stables. It is content to build large earth huts around a colony.
Among the Lasius niger the independence of the workers is perhaps still greater; no doubt they do their best to concert their efforts, but they do not succeed so well as if an inevitable instinct impelled them.
The art of domesticating the Claviger is a stage of civilisation reached by some tribes and not by others. Lespès has placed this out of doubt in the following manner. He had specimens of Lasius niger who exploited a flock of Coleoptera. Having met ants of the same species who possessed no flocks, he brought them some.
This is our Lasius niger, which carries seeds of Viola into its nests, and, as Wittmack has communicated recently to the Sitzungsberichte der gesellschaft naturforschender freunde zu Berlin, does the same with the seeds of Veronica hederaefolia. Syke states in his account of an Indian ant, Pheidole providens, that this species collects a great store of grass-seeds.
"To close this controversy," says our author, "I shall only add, that granite, recently formed in the moist way, has been frequently found." Of that remarkable event, however, he has selected only one example. This is to be found upon the Oder; and the authority upon which our author has given it, is that of Lasius Hartz.
The captives find themselves then with all the advantages of material life, and may be milked with every facility. P. Huber, Recherches sur les Moeurs des Fourmis indigènes, pp. 176-200. An allied species of ant, the Lasius brunneus, lives almost entirely on the sweet secretion of large Aphides in the bark of oaks and walnut trees.
It is sufficient for this purpose to establish barriers around a group of cattle who have themselves fixed the place of their sojourn. The Lasius niger, a skilful architect, constructs vaulted passages from his dwelling into the country.
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