THK VICTORIAN NATURALIST. Ill 



and a scraper to polish the mandibles (this apparatus is easily seen 

 in the microscope). In brushing one of the antennae both legs 

 are often used in quick succession. The tibia of the intermediate 

 and posterior legs are each provided with two spurs with brushes, 

 but they are not so elaborate as those provided for the antennae. 

 A very frequent attitude is for the ant to careen over on the three 

 legs of one side and then lift up all the legs of the other side clear 

 of the ground, and clean the centre one with the two others. I 

 have seen them balance on two legs and abdomen, and use four 

 legs at once in the cleaning process. All the Bull-ants possess 

 both simple and compound eyes. The simple eyes (of which 

 there are three, situated on the top of the head) are used to see 

 objects at a distance, and the large compound eyes for objects at 

 very short focus. It does not require a great stretch of imagina- 

 tion to suppose the compound eyes of ants possess a magnifying 

 power. They see objects of microscopic minuteness, and at 

 very close focus. You are aware that all ants are most 

 sanitary in all that pertains to the formic castle. They not 

 only remove the dead, but also the dying. I have often seen a 

 struggling ant brought out of the nest and conveyed to the 

 cemetery. Thinking it was only an ordinary fight, I have put it 

 back again, only to find it again ejected. On putting one of these 

 under the microscope I discovered its feet and other parts of the 

 body were very dirty. I conclude, therefore, that neglect to clean 

 themselves is one of the first signs of sickness with the ants. 



The Bull-ants (like other ants) are very fond of water ; they not 

 only drink it, but bathe in it and swim in it. I have frequently 

 seen them voluntarily leave one side of a 6-inch dish and swim 

 across to the other. You have no doubt often wondered at the 

 comparatively heavy weights lifted and carried by ants. A Bull- 

 ant will carry a large cockroach, which is several times its own 

 size and weight. Some of the stones they bring up from their 

 nests are like nuts or marbles. I have here a pair of gloves 

 made of doe-skin and lined with chamois leather ; they weigh 

 nearly 3 ounces. Any of the Red Bulls will hold one of them in 

 its mandibles, and the large workers of the Black variety will 

 sustain the united weight of both gloves. The ant weighs i^ 

 grains. The gloves are therefore eleven hundred times as heavy 

 as the ant. Applying these figures to genus homo, it would be 

 equal to a man of 12 stone being suspended head downwards 

 and sustaining a weight of 82 tons in his teeth. 



Personal. — Our fellow-member, Mr. Robert Hall, F.L.S., 

 C.M.Z.S., returned to Melbourne during the month, looking well 

 after his long journey. We understand the collections made in 

 Siberia are in the hands of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, of Tring, 

 England, for working out, but we hope to hear some of Mr. 

 Hall's experiences within the Arctic circle ere long. 



