278 ANTS AND TERMITES 



rubbed over with arsenic soap; but when, on the following 

 morning, he wished to examine his treasures, instead of his 

 rare and beautiful specimens he found nothing but a set of 

 infamous red ants, who, crawling down the threads, had found 

 means to invade the boxes and utterly to destroy their valuable 

 contents. 



In countless multitudes the Eanger ants break forth from 

 the primeval forest, marching through the country in com- 

 pact order, like a well-drilled army. Every creature they 

 meet in their way falls a victim to their dreadful onslaught — 

 'rats, mice, lizards, and even the huge python, when in a state 

 of surfeit from recent feeding. If a house obstructs their route, 

 they do not turn out of the way, but go quite through it. 

 Though they sting cruelly when molested, the West Indian 

 planter is not sorry to see them in his house, for it is but a 

 passing visit, and their appearance is the death-warrant for 

 every spider, scorpion, cockroach, or reptile that pollutes his 

 dwelling. Unfortunately, this thorough cleansing is but of 

 short duration, as in less than a week tropical life calls 

 forth a new generation of vermin. 



A very formidable species of Ranger ant is found on the 

 West Coast of Africa, attacking any animal whatever that impedes 

 its progress, so that there is no escape but by immediate flight, 

 or instant retreat to the water. The inhabitants of the negro 

 villages are frequently obliged to abandon their dwellings, taking 

 with them their children, and to wait till the scourge has 

 passed. 



The wonderful societies of the a,nts, their strength and perse-| 

 verance, their unwearied industry, their astonishing intelligence, 

 are so well known, and have been so often and so admirably 

 described,* that it would be trespassing on the patience of my 

 readers were I to enter into any lengthened details on the 

 subject. And yet, the observations of naturalists have chiefly 

 been confined to the European species, while the economy of the 

 infinitely more numerous tropical ants, confined to countries or 

 places hardly ever visited, or even unknown to civilised man, 

 remains an inexhaustible field for future inquiry. 



* Kirby and Sponce's '* Introduction to Entomology; " Swainson's "Habits and 

 Instincts of Animals." 



