368 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



effect their purpose, they remove from its cell one of 

 its larvae which they were bringing forward as ordinary 

 workers, place it in a royal cell specially constructed 

 for it, supply it with food of a more stimulating 

 property than that uniformly given to the larva of the 

 worker, and thus in a few days develop it into a perfect 

 queen ? It reads more like a day-dream than a reality, 

 yet it is an admitted fact ! It is equally true that, 

 notwithstanding the abolition of the slave trade in the 

 British dependencies, for which we have paid so many 

 millions, this nefarious traffic is still actively carried on 

 by some species of ants, which periodically organize 

 regular expeditions for the purpose, and, to make the 

 analogy between these proceedings and those of the 

 human slave-owners perfect, the slave-making ants are 

 of a light complexion, while their slaves are black ! 

 Perhaps, however, it will be fair to add that this social 

 blot is not to be found within the parochial boundaries 

 of the three Hartings, if within the limits of the three 

 kingdoms, but it is one of the astounding revelations 

 brought to light by naturalists of great eminence, on 

 whose veracity we may implicitly rely. 



The most obvious characters of the typical re- 

 presentatives of this order are four unequal mem- 

 branous wings, with fewer nervures than those of the 

 Lace-winged flies, and further distinguished by a small 

 dark patch, more or less triangular, called the stigma, 

 on the anterior margin of the upper wings near the 

 extremity. There is also a number of very minute 

 hooks on the anterior nervure of the under wings, by 

 means of which the two wings on each side are so 

 closely held together, that during flight they cannot 

 act separately or independently of each other. The 

 mouth is furnished with a pair of cutting mandibles 

 and a long rostrum, consisting of the maxillae and 

 lower lip, with their several appendages, applied closely 

 together in the form of a tongue, with which they are 

 said to lap their liquid food. This apparatus, which, 



