THE ANTS. 51 



it can talk to other ants of the same species, but each nest, 

 or clan, has clearly its own brogue; for an ant knows at once 

 whether another ant belongs to its own nest or not. The 

 ants of one nest murder those of another : it is a point of 

 honour with them. 



There is no mode of life that men have tried which one 

 race of ants or another is not pursuing to-day. Besides 

 those which are agriculturists and herdsmen, some keep 

 slaves to do everything for them, some live by hunting or 

 plunder, while others quarter themselves on us and subsist 

 by confounding meum and tuum. These last, of course, con- 

 cern us most. About Bombay there are two Mnds of them, 

 one black and the other brown. They are both small, and 

 most people confound them, but in nature they are antipodal. 

 There is not any figure or simile which can even dimly 

 shadow forth the extent of their oppositeness. Chalk and 

 cheese are the same article by comparison. That ignorance 

 should prevail on this point, even among persons who have 

 undertaken the responsibility of housekeeping, is distressing, 

 for it borders on criminality. In a healthier state of public 

 opinion a young lady would not be considered " eligible ' 

 who could not converse freely on the difference between the 

 black and the brown ant. That difference in its essence is 



