168 THE UNIVERSE. 



a nymph or larva delicately between its teeth and prepares 

 to return. Those who cannot find nymphs or larva? carry 

 off the mutilated dead bodies of their enemies in order to 

 feed on them. Then the whole army, laden with booty, 

 and sometimes stretching out in a line 130 feet in length, 

 triumphantly regains its city in the same order as at its 

 departure. 



So soon as the young ants, torn from their homes, reach 

 the abode of their spoilers, the slaves already there lavish 

 the most attentive care upon them ; they give them food, 

 cleanse them, and warm their chilled bodies. 



In the slave-making republics conquerors and slaves end 

 by changing places, the former only displaying courage at 

 the moment of conquest. Having stowed away their booty 

 in the nest, the Amazons refresh themselves after battle by 

 the pleasures of laziness ; but being soon enervated thereby, 

 the spoilers pass under the yoke of those they conquered. 

 Their dependence is so complete that if, after this, one were 

 to carry off their slaves, privations and inaction would soon 

 destroy the tribe. 



These spoilers, so ardent in the chase, revolt against all 

 domestic work ; they only understand fighting. Incapable 

 of constructing their abodes or nourishing their young, 

 they leave both these duties to their slaves. Should the 

 tribe be forced to abandon a nest which is too old, or be- 

 come too small, the slaves decide upon the question, and 

 carry the emigration into effect. The Amazons seem at 

 this time to be sunk in the most disgraceful sloth. Each 

 slave takes in its mandibles one of its degenerate masters, 

 and bears it to the new dwelling, just as a cat carries in its 

 mouth the kitten taken from its cradle. 



