THE SAUBA ANTS. 



the coffee. When they attack a tree, they strip 

 it of foliage so entirely, that it often dies. Then 

 they march away with their plunder, and fling 

 it on the ground, at the nest. Another party 

 of workers take up the pieces, and put them 

 upon the roof, covering them with dirt. These 

 domed houses are wonderfully large, measuring 

 sometimes two feet in height, and forty feet in 

 diameter. Their underground cities are on 

 even a larger scale. The smoke of burning 

 sulphur blown into one opening has been found 

 to come out at another, more than two hundred 

 feet away. 



There are three kinds of these ants: the 

 winged, the large headed — sometimes called 

 soldiers, and the workers. The large headed 

 are also of two sorts : one kind Jias a smooth 

 helmet, covered 'with horny substance, which 

 one can almost see through, and the other 

 wears a dark helmet, covered with hairs. The 

 business of these large-heads is not very well 

 understood. The smooth helmets seem to do 

 uothing but walk about. They do not fight; 



