WONDERFUL INSTINCT OF THE ANT.
We visit an ant-hill, dear children, to-day.
Come, witness the instinct these creatures display;
“Consider their ways and be wise;”
Thus spoke a wise king, in the Proverbs, you know,
And though we’re no sluggards, I think if we go
We’ll find a rich feast for our eyes.
One square foot of earth, though to us very small,
To the ant is a kingdom. Each house has a hall,
With chambers and passages lined;
And thousands of homes in one square foot of ground,
With swarms of these insects are frequently found,
And such a one now we will find.
The ants’ mode of building we first will explain—
The earth being moistened with dew or with rain,
Large swarms of these insects will meet;
Each one takes a grain that you scarcely could see,
And kneads it and moulds it as nice as can be,
Then pats it down smooth with its feet.
These diligent builders thus work at their trade,
Till hundreds and thousands of houses are made
Beneath all these little mud balls;
In these tiny ant-hills we see above ground
Small buildings of full twenty stories are found,
Supported by pillars and walls.
What wonderful instinct these creatures display
In the care of their young on a damp rainy day,
As they run from one room to another!
And up stairs and down stairs they hasten again,
As each little ant, to be kept from the rain,
Must be carried up stairs by its mother.
When the clouds are dispersed, again they must run,
These delicate ants could not bear the hot sun;
And their mothers immediately go
To move their dear children a few stories lower,
And find them a room upon the ground floor,
And give them their supper below.
Who teaches the ant her food to prepare,
And store it in cells with such diligent care,
That she all their wants may supply?
’Tis God, my dear child; he provides for them all,
And each little insect, though ever so small,
Is still in the reach of his eye.
The same tender parent who watches o’er you,
Has guided the ant the whole summer through,
And taught her her food to prepare;
And when wintry frosts have quite covered the ground,
The ant with her family safely is found,
Still guarded and kept by his care.