LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD. 35 



show the strength of their attachment to the 

 young which have been confided to their care. 



An ant hill had been broken open, and the 

 inhabitants were seen eagerly seizing certain 

 little white substances, (their young ones,) and 

 hurrying with them to a place of safety. A 

 gentleman who was watching them, cut one of 

 the ants in two. We should suppose that it 

 would immediately have dropped its burden, 

 and forgotten every thing but its own suffer- 

 ings ; but instead of this, it contrived, with the 

 remaining half of its body, to carry ten of the 

 young ones to the inside of the nest before it laid 

 down to die. 



The nests of ants have sometimes been dis- 

 turbed, and grains of salt mixed with the eggs, 

 in order to prove whether hey would be able to 

 distinguish them from any other white substance. 

 But the little creatures were not to be deceived, 

 and as soon as they were again left to them- 

 selves, they went actively to work, picked out 

 the salt, threw it aside, and arranged the eggs 

 as before. 



After they are hatched, they require feeding 

 several times a day. The manner of doing this 

 is very curious: the old ants swallow the food, 



