COMBATS BETWEEN ANTS. 



hillocks which they select, do not seem equally to 

 annoy this larger species. These systematic crea- 

 tures appear always to travel from and return to 

 their nests in direct lines, from which no trifling 

 obstacle will divert them ; and any interruption on 

 this public highway they resent, menacing the in- 

 truder with their vengeance. A neighbour related 

 to me an instance of this unyielding disposition, 

 which he witnessed in one of our lanes. Two 

 parties of these black ants were proceeding from 

 different nests upon a foraging expedition, when 

 the separate bodies happened to meet each other. 

 Neither would give way ; and a violent contest for 

 the passage ensued. After a time the combat 

 ceased, and all animosity subsided, each party re- 

 tiring to its nest, carrying with it its dead and 

 maimed companions. This encounter seemed quite 

 accidental ; and the disposition to move in a uni- 

 form line, which their meeting prevented, the sole 

 cause of their hostility, combat, and mutual in- 

 jury. The strength of some creatures, especially 

 insects, considering the smallness of their size, is 

 in several instances prodigious. Man, by his rea- 

 son and power, calls to his aid mechanical means, 

 and other agents, to effect his objects ; but unrea- 

 soning beings accomplish their purposes by con- 

 trivance and bodily powers. The strength of these 

 black ants is manifested by the quantity and mag- 

 nitude of the materials which they collect for their 

 heaps; but the common little red ant (formica 

 rubea) } a much smaller creature, gives daily proofs 



