200 WARS OF ANTS. 
The inhabitants of other ant-hills but 
rarely engage in this: amusement, half- 
warlike, half-social. If the manners, 
however, of ants of the same species are 
essentially alike, their habitudes offer 
very distinct shades of difference in the 
several colonies. ‘These republics, from 
having no communication with each 
other, contract particular habits in the 
different circumstances under which they 
may be placed: abundance or scarcity, 
the proximity or distance from whence 
the ants draw their materials, the labours 
to which they are called, the neighbour- 
hood of an antagonist ant-hill, or other 
accidental circumstances, considerably 
influence their actions. The colony of 
which we are speaking was one of those 
remarkable for its harmony ; the insects 
of which it was composed did not cease 
offering their companions nourishment, 
caressing them with their antenne, and 
carrying them from place to place. I 
am induced to believe this friendly dis- 
position originated from the situation of 
