40 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



comes out to reconnoitre ; he then retires and gives the 

 alarm. Two or three others next appear, scrambling as 

 fast as they can one after the other ; to these succeed a 

 large body, who rush forth with as much speed as the 

 breach will permit, their numbers continually increasing 

 during the attack. It is not easy to describe the rage 

 and fury by which these diminutive heroes seem ac- 

 tuated. In their haste they frequently miss their hold, 

 a^id tumble down the sidtfs of their hill : they soon, how- 

 ever, recover themselves, and, being blind, bite every 

 thing they run against. If the attack proceeds, the 

 bustle and agitation increase to, a ten-fold degree, and 

 their fury is raised to its highest pitch. Wo to him 

 whose hands or legs they can come at ! for they will 

 make their fanged jaws meet at the very first stroke, 

 drawing as much blood as will counterpoise their whole 

 body, and never quitting their hold, even though they 

 are pulled limb from limb. The naked legs of the Ne- 

 groes expose them frequently to this injury ; and the 

 stockings of the European are not sufficient to defend 

 him. 



On the other hand, if, after the first attack, you get a 

 little out of the way, giving them no further interruption, 

 supposing the assailant of their citadel is gone beyond 

 their reach, in less than half an hour they will retire into 

 the nest ; and before they have all entered, you will see 

 the labourers in motion, hastening in various directions 

 towards the breach, every one carrying in his mouth a 

 mass of mortar half as big as his body a , ready tempered : 



a The anonymous author before alluded to, who observed the Cey- 

 lon white ants, says, that such was the size of the masses, which 

 were tempered with a strong gluten, that they adhered though laid 

 on the upper part of the breach. 



