176 Linnean Society. [March 16, 



were always carried off entire, and he could never observe that any 

 portion of a bone was eaten. In consequence of this latter propen- 

 sity he was never able to procure the skeleton of the small species 

 of Gasterosteus, for example, entire, notwithstanding the closest 

 watching. A single ant will carry away a rib of these small fishes ; 

 but in removing a larger bone they act simultaneously, some 

 dragging it forwards and others pushing it on with their heads from 

 behind. If, in ascending the side of the box, the bone fell to the 

 bottom, they returned and recommenced their labour, never abandon- 

 ing an attempt in which they had once engaged. The largest portion 

 of bone which Mr. Daniell has seen them remove, consisted of the 

 ulna and radius of Mus Messot'ius, with the carpus attached. They 

 appeared more eager in carrying off portions of bone in the months 

 of January and February than at any other period of the year ; but 

 they worked most rapidly in the summer months, and it is astonishing 

 with what celerity and perseverance they continued their labours, 

 the most rapidly cleaned skeletons being always the best and whitest, 

 the periosteum being entirely removed. With such pertinacity do 

 they penetrate every cavity, that, minute as they are, they are 

 frequently victims to the ardour of their attack, becoming fixed, for 

 example, between the plates of the cranium, in the cellular texture 

 of which they may be seen entangled and dead. Although, as before 

 observed, very susceptible of cold, they appear also to be affected 

 by heat ; for in the summer months they were seen to bring forth 

 their pupae, when the oven was heated, from the various apertures 

 in the wall, and place them in a box by the side, in which a supjDly 

 of provision was always provided for them, and to return with them 

 when the oven was cooled. Myriads of them might in this way be 

 seen heaped together, but a tap on the side of the box caused a 

 general rush towards the objects of their solicitude, which were 

 carried off with inconceivable rapidity. The pupae are white, and 

 the whole duty of transporting them devolves upon the males or 

 workers, of whom each female always has several attendant upon her. 

 Young females are first observed towards the end of January, when 

 the abdomen begins to be enlarged and of a whitish colour ; they 

 continue to increase in size until June, at which time the females 

 appear to be most numerous. They progress more slowly than the 

 workers, and deposit their eggs as they move along, which are in- 

 stantly carried off by the attendants. The greatest number of pupae 

 are seen between June and September ; but the eggs (which are 

 white and have the appearance of grains of sand) are carried to and 

 fro during the whole of the summer. Mr. Daniell noticed that 



