The Ant
There is a saying in English “Go to the ant, thou sluggard”, which tells the lazy idle person to take a lesson in industry and thrift from the ant, who seems to be always at work or going in search of it. The ant is one of the most wonderful of insects, if not of all living things, by reason of its intelligence, strength and skill. Although some kinds do very great damage, as in the case of the white ant. Ants are a good friend to mankind in doing scavenger work and removing matter which would decay and be injurious to health. With a little care, we can guard against the damage done by ants and so obtain nothing but good from their work. There are no insects with such remarkable power for the arrangement as the ant. They built nests and stored them with food, and divided themselves up into classes such as workers, soldiers, builders, carriers, and so on. Some kinds of ants even keep slaves which they compel to work for them and others keep insects from which they get a sort of milk, just as a man keep cows. In Africa, ants built huge nests of clay, called ant-heaps, which are often as big as the huts in which the Negroes themselves live.
