PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS 325 



weapons and faculties which render it extremely formidable to their insect 

 enemies, and sometimes, as I have related in a former letter, a great annoy- 

 ance to man himself. Two strong mandibles arm their mouth, with which 

 they sometimes fix themselves so obstinately to the object of their attack, 

 that they will sooner be torn limb from limb than let go their hold ; and 

 after their battles, the head of a conquered enemy may often be seen sus- 

 pended to the antennae or legs of the victor, a trophy of his valour, which, 

 however troublesome, he will be compelled to carry about with him to the 

 day of his death. Their abdomen is also furnished with a poison-bag 

 (loterium), in which is secreted a powerful and venomous fluid, long cele- 

 brated in chemical researches, and called formic acid 1 , which, when their 

 enemy is beyond the reach of their mandibles (I speak here particularly of 

 the hill-ant, or F. rufa), standing erect on their hind legs, they ejaculate 

 from their anus with considerable force, so that . from the surface of the 

 nest ascends a shower of poison, exhaling a strong sulphureous odour, 

 sufficient to overpower or repel any insect or small animal. Such is the 

 fury of some species, that with the acid, according to Gould 2 , they some- 

 times partly eject, drawing it back however directly, the poison-bag itself. 

 If a stick be stuck into one of the nests of the hill-ant, it is so saturated 

 with the acid as to retain the scent for many hours. A more formidable 

 weapon arms the species of the genus Myrmica Latr.; for, besides the 

 poison-bag, they are furnished with a sting ; and their aspect is also often 

 rendered peculiarly revolting by the extraordinary length of their jaws, and 

 by the spines which defend their head and trunk. 



But weapons without valour are of but little use ; and this is one distin- 

 guishing feature of our pigmy race. Their courage and pertinacity are un- 

 conquerable, and often sublimed into the most inconceivable rage and 

 fury. It makes no difference to them whether they attack a mite or an 

 elephant j and man himself instils no terror into their warlike breasts. 

 Point your finger towards any individual of F. rufa, instead of running 

 away, it instantly faces about ; and, that it may make the most of itself, 

 stiffening its legs into a nearly straight line, it gives its body the utmost ele- 

 vation it is capable of, and thus 



** Collecting all its might dilated stands " 



prepared to repel your attack. Put your finger a little nearer, it imme- 

 diately opens its jaws to bite you, and, rearing upon its hind legs, bends its 

 abdomen between them, to ejaculate its venom into the wound. 3 



This angry people, so well armed and so courageous, we may readily 

 imagine, are not always at peace with their neighbours : causes of dissen- 

 sion may arise to light the flame of war between the inhabitants of nests 

 not far distant from each other. To these little bustling creatures a square 

 foot of earth is a territory worth contending for ; their droves of Aphides 

 equally valuable with the flocks and herds that cover our plains ; and the 

 body of a fly or a beetle, or a cargo of straws and bits of stick, an acqui- 

 sition as important as the treasures of a Lima fleet to our seamen. Their 



1 This acid may be prepared artificially, and with all the properties of that pro- 

 duced by ants, by distillation from a mixture of sulphuric acid, black oxide of 

 manganese, and starch. 



2 p. 34. 



3 See Fourcroy, Annales du Museum, No. 5. 343. 



T 3 



