It must be recollected, in reading his statement,
that the chief occupation of ants is to move their eggs and larvae from
one part of the nest to another, to ensure them a warm and equable
temperature; therefore, it is reasonable to expect that the nests of ants
should be built on a uniform principle as regards their shape and aspect.
Huber says "they serve as a compass to mountaineers when they are
surrounded by thick mists, or have lost their way during the night; they
do so in the following manner:--The ant-hills (of the yellow ants),
which are by far more numerous and more high in the mountains than
anywhere else, are longer than they are broad, and are of a similar
pattern in other respects. Their direction is invariably from east to
west. Their highest point and their steepest side are turned towards the
point of sunrise in the winter-time (au levant d'hiver), and they descend
with a gradual slope in the opposite direction. I have verified these
experiences of the shepherds upon thousands of ant-hills, and have found
a very small number of exceptions; these occurred only in the case where
the ant-hills had been disturbed by men or animals. The ant-hills do not
maintain the constancy of their form in the lowlands, where they are more
exposed to such accidents."
Ripple-marks on Snow or Sand.--The Siberians travel guided by the ripples
in the snow, which run in a pretty fixed direction, owing to the
prevalence of a particular wind.
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