394 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS [War 



looks delicate, and prettily considerate, and forms part of the 

 proprieties of the conventional Christian warrior a despot 

 exceedingly particular about the semblance of things. H. 



War Orators. 



We have a class of speakers in this country who are silent 

 on all great social and cosmopolitan topics, but make themselves 

 heard and felt the moment any matter of warlike fascination 

 comes to the surface. All other questions float down the stream 

 of public opinion without causing them even to indicate their 

 existence. But let a question involving blood appear, and 

 with marvellous celerity all these pugilistic men come from the 

 obscurity of barracks and service clubs, and from no one knows 

 where, often fuming about no one knows what. They remind 

 one of those animals noted for their blood-thirstiness in the 

 warm regions of Africa the caribitos (Serrasalmo). Their 

 haunts are at the bottom of rivers, but a few drops of blood 

 suffice to bring them by thousands to the surface ; and^ Hum- 

 boldt himself mentions that in some part of the Apure, where 

 the water was perfectly clear and no fish were visible, he could 

 in a few minutes bring together a cloud of caribitos by casting 

 in some bits of flesh. With equal ease we can collect all our 

 war orators if we only give them one sanguinary pretext. 



MU. 



Warriors the Followers of Insects. 



When the " workers " of the genus eciton (a species of foraging 

 ants) are abroad upon a foraging expedition, they spread out 

 their columns, climbing over every leaf, plant, shrub, and tree, 

 putting the whole animal as well as insect world into commo- 

 tion and alarm. All apterous insects, particularly blattae and 

 spiders, are preyed upon. At other times a community of 

 ecitons engage in a regular attack upon a nest of some peaceful 

 and industrious species of formica. The ecitons crowd into the 

 nests of the ants, each seizing upon a helpless victim, and carry 

 or drag it out of the nest ; if the ant prove too heavy for a 

 single eciton to carry, it is ruthlessly torn into pieces, two or 



