THE ART ASSEMBLAGES
“ I never have been able to grasp the real purpose of the great assemblages of the ant peoples. Lor they do assemble, out in the open and in the artificial nest. All at once they gather around, then sit still and quiet for many hours at a time. They do not talk "to one another, they do not touch ono another with their feelers. They more the hinder body slightly, as a dog wags his tail; they wave their feelers hither and thither very slowly.
“ It is very striking, when you stop to think of it, that there is no animal on earth that works so continuously, with slight intervals for play, as the ant. What, then, .ire the workers about now—what is the purpose of these assemblies? Are they consulting about something important to the state? Are they praying, as men do in their churches? Are they thanking their Creator that He made them the crown of the insect world?
~ “ Are they singing a silent ‘ Te Dcum Laudanum ! at the recollection of their latest victory over some enemy people? Or ,are they observing a day of rest, a day of assemblage; a quiet, contemplative feasting after so much labor? Pos- ' sibly it is none of these; possibly nothing that the human mind can grasp. Yet it may be that wo shall be ablo to answer this puzzle some day.” From ‘ The Ant People.’ By Harms Heinz Ewers.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 19760, 10 January 1928, Page 8
Word Count
241THE ART ASSEMBLAGES Evening Star, Issue 19760, 10 January 1928, Page 8
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