HISTORY OF THE AMAZON ANTS, 249 
ing in the environs of Geneva, between 
four and five in the evening, I observed 
close at my feet, traversing the road, a 
legion of Rufescent Ants. * 
They moved in a body with consider- 
able rapidity, and occupied a space of 
from eight to ten inches in length, by 
three or four in breadth. In a few 
minutes they quitted the road, passed a 
thick hedge, and entered a _ pasture 
ground, where I followed them. They 
wound along the grass without straggling, 
and their column remained unbroken, 
notwithstanding the obstacles they had to 
surmount; at length they approached a 
nest, inhabited by dark Ash-coloured 
Ants, the dome of which rose above the 
grass, at a distance of twenty feet from 
the hedge. Some of its inhabitants were 
guarding the entrance; but, on the dis- 
covery of an approaching army, darted 
forth upon the advanced guard. The 
alarm spread at the same moment in the 
* For a description of this species see the Ap- 
pendix. 
M5 
