MARCH. 57 



the cocoons they find, simply, as it seems, for the pleasure 

 of nursing and feeding them. When the supply of food 

 fails, Ants seek their dwellings, and in the inmost recesses 

 they cluster together, and pass the inclement season in a 

 state of torpor. Their food varies greatly ; they are fond 

 of sugar, gum, and all the sweet exudations of trees, but 

 their staple food is animal matter, either those larvae 

 injurious to plants, or small animals, whose dead bodies 

 would otherwise taint the air : thus, like every other living 

 creature whose habits are known, they are found to be 

 beneficial to mankind, and to the animal creation in general. 

 Many birds use them almost exclusively as food for their 

 young ; pheasants and partridges seem particularly fond 

 both of Ants and their cocoons. They are winged at one 

 season of the year only, and the female soon rids herself of 

 these appendages, appearing then inspired solely with the 

 ambition of founding a nation ; while labourers from large 

 Ant-hills are continually on the watch for these wandering 

 mothers, whom they bring home to their extensive cities, 

 or raise new buildings for the reception of herself and 

 offspring. 



Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera, like the Bee 

 and Wasp, from which they, however, differ in many 



