UNKNOWN RACE OF BUILDERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXII, Issue 10039, 16 June 1925, Page 5

UNKNOWN RACE OF BUILDERS.

DISCOVERY BY TWO CHINAMEN. ANTS THAT MAKE CEMENT ANI) BUILD UP CONCRETE WALLS. Two Chinese investigators have lately read a paper at the Rockefeller University in Pekin on their discovery of a wonderful family of ant*, which nroduee cement and concrete, says the ClnldrmS- Newspaper. M" Wu: Chin Pin and Dr Chang Yu Hsiang have found that these ants on the banks of the Yang-tse-kiang have formed a concrete honeycomb about a hundred yards wide and up to fifty yards deep, and of remarkable strength considering how thin are the walls of the numerous chambers and passages. The ants appear to he of two kinds -—those chiefly engaged in building and repairing the structure, and loose concerned with the general welfare of the colony. The former may be divided into four groups of transporters, cement-makers, mixers, and builders. The transporters bring the particles of sand. lime, and clay into the stmature. The esment-nwkers emmar to have a very saline saliva, which converts limestone into a material elo=clv resembling eggshells. The exuded material is laid on moist clay ready to be treated bv the knea'iers. who mix the materials tlioroughlv and impregnate it with saliva containing a powerful ferment, which is of such a nature that, when the pellets of material have been stored for some time in a warm place, they are converter, into a cement. . . The storage and fermentation ot t.ie material thus serve the so me. purpose ns heating a mixture of limestone and clav to a high temperature, wnic.i is the human way of manufacturing cement. How or why this saliva, should exert a dm mien! acnon % which can onlv be obtained bv human' beings at a high temperature, is not known, but the investigators claim t> have established toe fact. . , Builder ants mix the cement w-ia sand, and so form a concrete vfuica appears to boot quite oxcoiK’.ona. strength. To obtain sufficient quantities of the freshlv-nw.de cement Lie investigators provided _ ort’hcial amremovable foundations for the ants to work on—similar to those used in beehives, but much larger Those ants only work during too reason of the plants on winch tho\ food. During tho winter they hil’crnate. It appears possible, however, to feed them, on some preparation ot sova bean, and bv this means to keep them 'at work all through the year. It is far too soon to. realise the true value of these investigations, but if the ants can be induced to work in large quantities, and ui other parts of the world, the value of their product may soon be very great-