808 AMAZON: ANTS. 
the latter procure slaves; they kidnap 
them at an age when their instinct 
is not developed ; and these insects, on 
being brought up by the Amazons, 
divide with them the fruit of their in- 
dustry. Can we sufficiently admire the 
prudence and wisdom these insects dis- 
play in the establishment of such an in- 
stitution! We here trace neither servi- 
tude nor oppression, nor do the ants 
themselves, taken from perhaps twenty 
different dwellings, entertain the slightest 
suspicion of their being in a foreign nest: 
they live under the same roof in brotherly. 
and sisterly union, and if they regard the 
Amazons, it is but to show them greater 
attention. Nature, profound in her 
combinations, seems fully aware that old 
ants would never live sociably with those 
of another species, but that young ants 
may, especially if they have been accus- 
tomed in early life to see and receive 
from them some attention. She seems, 
also, aware, that no aversion is excited in 
the breasts of those who witness their 
