I was also in this way able to see for myself much that I otherwise could not have seen. Thus I was able to watch the operation of removing roots which had pierced through their galleries, belonging to seedling plants growing on the surface, and which was performed by two ants, one pulling at the free end of the root, and the other gnawing at its fibres where the strain was greatest, until at length it gave way. Again the habit of throwing sick and apparently dead ants into the water, the object of which was in part, I imagine, to be rid of them, and partly perhaps with a view to effecting a possible cure, for I have seen one ant carry another down the twig which formed their path to the surface of the water, and, after dipping it in for a minute, carry it laboriously up again, and lay it in the sun to dry and recover; thirdly, the stripping off the coats and husks of seed and grain swelling and on the point of sprouting, previous to eating it; and finally, the actual eating of the contents of the seed. Most of these operations are usually performed below ground, and even in my captive nest it was but rarely that I could get a glimpse of their subterranean life, as they avoided the glass as much as possible, though it was carefully covered with flannel and black paper; and it was only by having the nest constantly before me on my table, and thus becoming a witness of their operations day and night during four months, that I detected them in positions which permitted me to watch these actions of theirs. The ants were in the habit of coming out in numbers of an evening to enjoy the warmth and light of my lamp, and it was on one of these occasions that I first observed them in the act of eating. I perceived that in the midst of the black mass of ants gathered together on the side of the glass jar one was holding up a white roundish mass about as big as a large pin's head. Having turned a stream of bright light passed through a condenser on this group, and being permitted by the ants to make free use of my pocket lens, I was able to see the details with great precision. The white mass appeared to be the floury portion of a grain of millet, and I could see that two or three ants at a time would scrape off minute particles with their toothed mandibles, and take them into their mouths, repeating the operation many times, before giving place to other ants, and often returning again. It certainly appeared to be a _bonâ fide_ meal that they were making, and not merely an act performed for the benefit of the larvæ, as when they detach crumbs from a piece of bread and carry them below into the nest. However, I must own that, though I subsequently dissected ants taken in this act, which I suppose to be that of eating, I was unable by the use of the iodine test to detect starch grains in their stomachs.