5*0 The Outline of Science 



secures a strong purchase along the very rim, when as he 

 raises his head the leaf rises with it, suspended high over 

 his back out of the way. 



From this the ant gets its popular name of Parasol Ant. 



Mr. Beebe, with due precautions against attack by the 

 insects, which are formidable collectively, dug out a large nest. 

 At first only workers came forth, but by and by the large, one- 

 eyed, round-headed soldiers lumbered forth to battle, and attacked 

 his well-greased boots. He tells us that their bulldog-like grip, 

 which does not relax with death, is taken advantage of by the 

 Indians, who use them for stitching wounds, applying their jaws 

 to the apposed edges of skin and then snipping off their bodies. 

 As we have mentioned, the leaves the ants bring in are not eaten, 

 but are masticated to a pulp and used as a fertiliser on which to 

 grow the fungus which is their only food indoors at least. 

 Three feet down the great corridors opened out at intervals to 

 chambers as large as a football, which were filled with the soft 

 whitish mould which is the raison d'etre of all the ants' labour. 

 In one of these chambers Mr. Beebe found groups of workers 

 in the act of chewing up the leaf -pulp. 



The Ways of Army Ants 



Of great interest, too, is Mr. Beebe's account of the habits 

 of the formidable Army Ants. Discovering a nest of these on 

 the ceiling of an outhouse, the naturalist made for himself an 

 observation post by placing, at the cost of several fiery stings, 

 a chair with its legs in tins of a tarry disinfectant. There, within 

 a foot or two of these myriads of terrible jaws, he spent many 

 hours watching the home life of the colony. 



The whole structure foundations, walls, and ceilings was 

 made of living ants, their legs stretched out to the utmost, their 

 bodies erect, and their weapons always in a position of readi- 

 ness for battle. The entrance was guarded by a mat of living 



