Natural Il/sloiy. 175 



Indies, and closed it with a coric, perforated by a quill, for the 

 admission ofair ; the insects seemed carefully to avoid each other, 

 retiring to opposite ends of the bottle, which was placed horizon- 

 tally. By giving it a gradual inclination, the scorpion was forced 

 into contact with the spider, when a sharp encounter took place, 

 the latter receiving repeated stings from his venomous adver- 

 sary, apparently without the least injury, and, with his web, 

 soon lashed the scorpion's tail to his back, subsequently se- 

 curing his legs and claws with the same materials. In this state 

 I left them some time, in order to observe what effect would be 

 produced on the spider by the wounds he had received. On 

 my return, however, I was disappointed, the ants having en- 

 tered and destroyed them both. 



In the West Indies I have daily witnessed crowds of these 

 little insects destroying the spider or cockroach ; as soon as 

 he is despatched, they carry him to their nest. I have fre- 

 quently seen them drag their prey perpendicularly up the wall, 

 and although the weight would overcome their united efforts, 

 and fall to the ground, perhaps twenty times in succession, yet, 

 by unremitting perseverance, and the aid of reinforcement, they 

 always succeeded. 



A struggle of this description once amused the officers of His 

 Majesty's ship Retribution for nearly half an hour : a large 

 centipede entered the gun-room, surrounded by an immense 

 concourse of ants ;" the deck for four or five feet around was co- 

 vered with them, his body and limbs were encrusted with his 

 lilliputian enemies, and although thousands were destroyed by 

 his exertions to escape, they ultimately carried him in triumph 

 to their dwelling. 



In the woods near Sierra Leone I have several times seen 

 the entire skeletons of the snake beautifully dissected by these 

 minute anatomists. 



From these circumstances it would appear, that ants are a 

 considerable check to the increase of those venomous reptiles, 

 so troublesome in the torrid zone; their industry, perseverance, 

 courage, and numerical force, seem to strengthen the conjee- 



