Ants With Umbrellas

ine clomgs oí ants are among tne . most interesting things that naturalista firid to study. No members of the insect world present more startling suggestions af intelligeuce aud forethought governing their actions. It isnot correct, however, lo explain the habits and conduct of ants by human analogies. For instanee, it was once supposed that the so called "parasol auts," living in hot, tropical countries, carried Jittle leaves above their headsfor the sa ka of protection from the suu. Later investigations have shown that the auts actually do carry Jeaves, suspended by the stem which they hold in their jaws, and that columns of them thus furnished with leaves like'nn army with banners march in regular order, but fhat the leaves, instead of being iutended to shelter the ants from the sunshiue, are depositad by them around thoir nests to form a soil in which grows a kind of fungus that they are fond of. So tho parasol ant is not a dnndy, but a farmer. -