THE ANT. 141 



dignified by the name of a magazine, appears to 

 be no more than a cavity, which serves for a com- 

 mon retreat when the weather forces them to re- 

 turn to their lethargic state. 



What has been said with exaggeration of the 

 European ant, is however true, if asserted of 

 those of the tropical climates. They build an 

 ant-hill with great contrivance and regularity, 

 they lay up provisions, and, as they probably live 

 the whole year, they submit themselves to regu- 

 lations entirely unknown among the ants of Eu- 

 rope. 



Those of Africa are of three kinds, the red, 

 the green, and the black ; the latter are above an 

 inch long, and in every respect a most formida- 

 ble insect. Their sting produces extreme -pain, 

 and their depredations are sometimes extremely 

 destructive. They build an ant-hill of a very 

 great size, from six to twelve feet high ; it is 

 made of viscous clay, and tapers into a pyrami- 

 dal form. This habitation is constructed with 

 great artifice ; and the cells are so numerous and 

 even, that a honey-comb scarce exceeds them in 

 number and regularity. 



The inhabitants of this edifice seem to be un- 

 der a very strict regulation. At the slightest 

 warning they will sally out upon whatever dis- 

 turbs them ; and if they have time to arrest their 

 enemy, he is sure to find no mercy. Sheep, hens, 

 and even rats, are often destroyed by these mer- 

 ciless insects, and their flesh devoured to the 

 bone. No anatomist in the world can strip a ske- 

 leton so cleanly as they; and no animal, how 



