56 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of ants is so much more prolonged than had been supposed, it is 

 at least not an impossibility. 



At any rate the four genera-^ of so-called slave-making ants 

 offer us every gradation from lawless violence to contemptible 

 parasitism. Formica sanguinea, which may be assumed to have 

 comparatively recently taken to slave-making, has not as yet 

 been materially affected. 



Polyergus, on the contrary, already illustrates the lowering 

 tendency of slavery. They have lost their knowledge of art, 

 their natural affection for their young, and even their instinct of 

 feeding ! They are, however, bold and powerful marauders. 



In Strongylogiiathus, however, the enervating influence of 

 slavery has gone further, and told even on the bodily strength. 

 They are no longer able to capture their slaves in fair and open 

 warfare. Still they retain a semblance of authority, and, when 

 roused, will fight bravely, though in vain. 



In Anergates, finally, we come to the last scene of this sad 

 history. We may safely conclude that in distant times their 

 ancestors lived, as so many ants do now, partly by hunting, 

 partly on honey ; that by degrees they becmae bold marauders, 

 and gradually took to keeping slaves ; that for a time they main- 

 tained their strength and agility, though losing by degrees their 

 real independence, their arts, and even many of their instincts ; 

 that gradually even their bodily force dwindled away under the 

 enervating influences to which they had subjected themselves, 

 until they sank to their present degraded condition — weak in 

 body and mind, few in numbers, and apparently nearly extinct, — 

 the miserable representatives of far superior ancestors, maintain- 

 ing a precarious existence as contemptible parasites of their 

 former slaves. 



It is conceivable that the Tetramoriums may have gradually 

 become hardier and stronger ; the marauding expeditions would 

 then become less and less frequent. If, then, we suppose that the 

 females found it possible to establish themselves in nests of 

 Tetramorium, the present state of things would almost inevitably 

 be by degrees established. 



Thus we ma}^ explain the remarkable condition of Strongy- 

 lognathus, armed with weapons which it is too weak to use, and 

 endowed with instincts which it cannot exercise. 



(To be continued.) 



