364 Missouri State Horticultural Society. 



our ' knight of the lance ' the while maintaining an imperturbable 

 gravity of demeanor, unbroken by even a wink as the savory morsels 

 follow in qnick succession down its capacious throat. It is not 

 generally known, perhaps, that the tongue of the animal is so con- 

 structed that it can be projected fully two inches, and, as already 

 intimated, the aim is an unerring one. The process of casting its 

 skin, in which the creature, after rending its outer garment, 

 disposes of it, body, sleeves and all, by slowly swallowing it, has 

 been frequently described, and is an exceedingly interesting per- 

 formance. In Great Britain, and presumably on the Continent as 

 well, the existence of half a dozen or more of these creatures hopping 

 about in the lawns and gardens in a semi-tamed condition is quite 

 common, and instances have been known of the little animal's re- 

 turn to its box every evening with the greatest regularity."' 



ANTS AS INSECT DESTROYERS. 



Farmers or gardeners, in their contest with insects, have not 

 as yet called to their aid, as they should, other insects and ^birds, 

 the natural enemies of insect hordes, says the Siin. Too generally 

 all insects are looked upon as enemies, although it is well known 

 that many kinds of insects are very beneficial in protecting fruits 

 and grain from the ravages of other insects. The ants, although 

 generally regarded as an unmitigated nuisance, have been found, 

 by careful observation, to be useful in several ways. The canker- 

 worms, which are a most destructive pest to orchards in some sec- 

 tions, are sometimes destroyed in large numbers by them. The 

 editor of the Boston Journal of Chemistry says that ants are great 

 destroyers of canker-worms, and probably all other worms or in- 

 sects of the smaller varieties. He watched with great interest the 

 work of a large colony of black ants which attacked the canker- 

 worms on an elm tree in his grounds a few weeks ago, and was 

 delighted with the nature and results of their labors. Two pro- 

 cessions of the ants were moving on the trunk of the tree, one 

 going up empty, the other coming down, each bringing wdth him a 

 canker-worm, which he held fast in his mandibles, grasping the 

 worm firmly in the center of the body. 



Although the prey was nearly the size of the destroyer, the 

 plucky little ant ran down the tree in a lively way, deposited its 

 booty in its nest in the ground, and instantly returned for further 

 slaughter. There were at one time as many as 40 coming down 

 the tree, each bringing along his victim, and doing the work with 

 apparent ease. Extending his observations, he noticed that the 



