FOR M1CALEO FOSSIL REMAINS. 



size ; it lives in small congregations under stones, the 

 neuters being apparently destitute of eyes. " I have 

 not," says Latretlle, " been able distinctly to perceive 

 the eyes, although employing a lens of half a line 

 focus. I have seen a great number of specimens, 

 both dead and alive, and with difficulty I have only 

 once or twice fancied that I saw a darker coloured 

 spot in the place of the eyes." He elsewhere adds, 

 that " Nature having deprived this insect of one of its 

 senses, has apportioned its operations to its powers. 

 Hence it has not to endure the fatiguing toils of the 

 other species, but contents itself in its little assembly, 

 composed of a dozen individuals, with whatever it 

 can find in the immediate vicinity of its nest." We 

 have much pleasure in announcing the discovery of 

 this interesting species in the neighbourhood of 

 London. 



The genus Myrmica is characterised by the pos- 

 session of a sting, by the double knot at the base of 

 the abdomen, by the six-jointed maxillary palpi and 

 strong triangular mandibles. The type of the genus 

 Formica rubra of Linnaeus (misnamed in the Regne 

 Animal rufa) is one of our common British ants. It 

 is of a red colour, with the abdomen smooth and 

 shining, the third segment being rather darker 

 coloured ; the first knot of the abdominal peduncles 

 is armed beneath with a spine. This species builds 

 its nest in the ground under stones, moss, &c. The 

 sting of the neuters is very acute. 



Another small British species, M. unifasciata, so 

 named from the black belt across the pale-coloured 

 abdomen, has lately caused considerable annoyance 

 to the inhabitants of the houses in various parts of 

 Brighton, as well as in the metropolis, in which its 

 swarms have increased to such an extent, that the in- 

 habitants have been obliged, in some instances, to 

 quit their residences, the ants devouring or attacking 

 every article. Mr. Spence, by whom this subject was 

 communicated to the Entomological Society, men- 

 tioned, that the only plan hitherto discovered for 

 their destruction was to lay down pieces of raw meat, 

 which they assailed in great numbers, and then to 

 throw boiling water upon them. 



The only other genus which we shall here notice 

 is that of Alfa, which we have already mentioned in 

 its alphabetical place, and which we again introduce 

 for the purpose of mentioning some circumstances 

 connected with one of the species which are doubly 

 interesting to the naturalist ; first, from their own 

 nature ; and, secondly, from the confirmation which 

 they afford of a long disputed question, and the ne- 

 cessity which they prove to exist of scrupulously 

 attending to every circumstance of time and place in 

 our endeavours to reconcile the statements of ancient 

 naturalists with the results of our own inquiries. 

 From the days of Solomon, who said, " Go to the 

 ant, thou sluggard, consider his ways and be wise ; 

 which having neither captain, overseer, or ruler, 

 prepares her bread in the summer, and gathers her 

 food in the harvest," it has been generally considered 

 that the storing up of food by the ant was for the 

 purpose of ensuring against want during the winter. 

 When, however, observers of nature began to examine 

 the habits of our northern European species, it was 

 soon discovered that ants lay torpid during the winter, 

 and consequently Solomon's statement was considered 

 to be but a figurative expression. The fact was over- 

 looked, that in climates similar to that in which 

 Solomon's observation was made, thj> winter I? not 



519 



sufficiently severe to render the insects torpid ; al- 

 though, by some more philosophical observers, it was 

 suggested (Kirby and Spence, II. 46) that, in warmer 

 regions, during the rainy season, when they are pro- 

 bably confined to their nests, a store of provisions 

 may be necessary for them. These ingenious sug- 

 gestions have now been proved to be perfectly correct, 

 by the publication of Lieutenant-Colonel Sykes' ac- 

 count of the habits of an East Indian species of the 

 genus Alta (A. providcna, Sykes, Trans. Ent. Soc.), 

 which lays up a store of grass-seeds (Panicum] in 

 the months of January and February sufficient to last 

 until the middle of the year. Indeed, on the 13th 

 October, after the closing thunder storms of the 

 monsoon, he found this species in various places em- 

 ployed in drying the remains of their stores which 

 had been wetted by the rain. 



FORMICALEO. A name given by the old writers 

 on natural history to the insect known by the sys- 

 tematic name of Myrmeleon formicarium of Linnaeus, 

 or the ant-lion. See MYRMELEONID^E. 



FORSKOLEA (Linnteus). A genus of annual 

 and perennial herbs, natives of Africa, belonging to 

 Urticeas. The greenhouse species are easy of culture 

 under the ordinary management. 



FOSSIL REMAINS. This term is generally 

 applied to designate the mineralised remains of 

 organic substances, as indicating their having been 

 dug from subterranean situations. Whenever organic 

 remains, from their peculiar position in such situa- 

 tions, are preserved from decay for any considerable 

 time, it is perfectly obvious that they must be liable 

 to become impregnated with whatever matters may 

 be in solution in the fluids with which they come into 

 contact. Mineral substances may thus have been 

 deposited in the original interstices and cavities of 

 the organic body, without altering it in any other 

 respect ; or in consequence of the partial removal of 

 the original substance, may fill the space formerly 

 occupied by it, and thus produce a cast of the same. 

 In others the original matter appears to have under- 

 gone a decided chemical change, depending upon 

 causes but little understood ; and one or other of 

 these processes may have operated in producing all 

 the varieties we find in the composition of the seve- 

 ral earthy or metallic fossils. 



The earthy substances which enter into the com- 

 position of fossils are chiefly of the argillaceous, sili- 

 ceous, and calcareous kinds, in different states and 

 proportion*. 



Thus we often find clay filling their cavities, and 

 forming the beds in which they are found. They are 

 also not (infrequent in bituminous strata, slate, and 

 argillaceous ironstone, and a few have been met with 

 in fullers' earth. Silex in different combinations 

 enters into their composition. Quartz, chert, agate, 

 chalcedony, jasper, flint, pitchstone, and semiopal, 

 have all been found either forming their substance or 

 constituting the matrix containing them. Limestone, 

 marble, chalk, and oolite, are the most common in- 

 stances of the calcareous kind. Fluate of lime has 

 been found composing the matrix and very rarely the 

 substance of fossils. Some nuclei have been disco- 

 vered formed of hornblende, and both animal and 

 vegetable substances have been detected in those 

 rocks designated as basalt, wacke, and trap. Fossils 

 are also found impregnated with metals of various 

 kinds ; those which are the most common are iron 

 ajuJ copper; lead and zinc but rarely occur, and silver 



