472 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



The order of their marching is very curious, and is well de- 

 scribed by Dr. Savage : 



"Their sallies are made in cloudy days, and in the night, chiefly 

 in the latter. This is owing to the uncongenial influence of the 

 sun, an exposure to the direct rays of which, especially when the 

 power is increased by reflection, is almost instantaneously fatal. 

 If they should be detained abroad till late in the morning of a 

 sunny day by the quantity of their prey, they will construct 

 arches over their path of dirt agglutinated by a fluid excreted 

 from their mouth. If their way should run under thick grass, 

 sticks, etc., affording sufficient shelter, the arch is dispensed with ; 

 if not, so much dirt is added as is necessary to eke out the arch in 

 connection with them. In the rainy season, or in a succession of 

 cloudy days, the arch is seldom visible ; their path, however, is 

 very distinct, presenting a beaten appearance, and freedom from 

 every thing movable. 



"They are evidently economists in time and labor; for if a 

 crevice, fissure in the ground, passage under stones, etc., come in 

 their way, they will adopt them as a substitute for the arch. 



"In cloudy days, when on their predatory excursions, or mi- 

 grating, an arch for the protection of the workers is constructed 

 of the bodies of their largest class. Their widely-extended jaws, 

 long slender limbs, and projecting antennas, intertwining, form a 

 sort of network, that seems to answer well their object. When- 

 ever an alarm is given, the arch is instantly broken, and the ants, 

 joining others of the same class on the outside of the line, who 

 seem to be acting as commanders, guides, and scouts, run about in 

 a furious manner in pursuit of the enemy. If the alarm should 

 prove to be without foundation, the victory won, or danger passed, 

 the arch is quickly renewed, and the main column marches for- 

 ward as before, in all the order of an intellectual military dis- 

 cipline." 



Sometimes, as is usual in tropical countries, the rain descends 

 like a flood, converting in a few minutes whole tracts of country 

 into a temporary lake. The dwellings of the Driver Ant are im- 

 mediately deluged, and, but for a remarkable instinct which is 

 implanted in the insects, most of the Ants, and all the future 

 brood, would perish. As soon as the water encroaches upon 

 their premises, they run together and agglomerate themselves into 

 balls, the weakest (or the " women and children," as the natives 

 call them) being in the middle, and the large and powerful insects 



