28o STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



hold up their leaves, he proceeds as follows : — ' In the midst of 

 this dreary drought, it was wonderful to see those tiny creatures, 

 the Ants, running about with their accustomed vivacity. I put 

 the bulb of a thermometer three inches under the soil in the sun 

 at mid-day, and found the mercury to stand at 132° to 134°; and 

 if certain beetles were placed on the surface, they only ran about 

 a few seconds and expired. 



' But this boiling heat only augmented the activity of the 

 long-legged Black Ants; they never tire; their organs of motion 

 seem endowed with the same power as is ascribed by physiolo- 

 gists to the muscles of the human heart, by which that part of 

 the frame never becomes fatigued, and which may be imparted 

 to all our organs in that higher sphere to which we fondly hope 

 to rise. 



' Where do these Ants get their moisture ? Our house was 

 built on a hard, ferruginous conglomerate, in order to be out of 

 the way of the ^\^lite Ant, but they came despite the precaution; 

 and not only were they in this sultry weather able individually 

 to moisten soil to the consistency of mortar for the formation of 

 galleries, which in their way of working is done by night (so 

 that they are screened from the observation of birds by day in 

 passing and repassing towards any vegetable matter they may 

 wish to devour), but, when their inner chambers were laid open, 

 these were also surprisingly humid ; yet there was no dew, and 

 the house being placed on a rock, they could have no subter- 

 ranean passage to the bed of the river, which ran about three 

 hundred yards below the hill. Can it be that they have the 

 power of combining the oxygen and hydrogen of their vegetable 

 food by vital force as to form water?' 



Three species of Driver Ant are known, namely, the common 

 species, which has already l)een described, Anomma Burmeisteri, 

 and a smaller species, Anoimna rubella. 



The two first insects are deep, shining black, and resemble 

 each other so closely that an unpractised eye could not dis- 

 tinguish between them, while the last may be easily known by its 

 brownish red hue. 



The specimens which have already been mentioned are now 



