prussiate of potash which is sometimes 
used in photography. Another name 
for it is cyanide of potassium. He says, 
‘‘ How astonished was I when I saw the 
whole surface of the heap strewn with 
dead ants like a battle-field. The 
piece of cyanide, however, had totally 
disappeared. Morethan one-half of the 
community had met death in this des- 
perate struggle, but still the death- 
defying courage of the heroic little 
creatures had succeeded in removing 
the fatal poison, the touch of which 
must have been just as disagreeable to 
them as it was dangerous. Recklessly 
neglecting their own safety, they had 
carried it off little by little, covering 
every step with a corpse. Once re- 
moved from the heap, the poison had 
been well covered with leaves and 
pieces of wood, and thus prevented 
from doing further damage. The hero- 
ism of these insects, which far sur- 
passes what any other creature, includ- 
ing even man, has ever shown in the 
way of self-sacrifice and loyalty, had 
made such an impression on me that I 
gave up my campaign, and henceforth 
I bore with many an outrage from my 
neighbors rather than destroy the 
valiant beings whose courage I had not 
been, ablesto crush: In the extreme 
southwest of the United States are 
colonies of ants that have a peculiar 
custom of setting apart some of their 
number to give up their lives for their 
fellows in a strange way. They feed 
upon honey until they are unable to 
walk. Then their fellows take the 
greatest care of them and feed them 
so their bodies are distended enor- 
mously. A number of these ants when 
fed so highly look very much like a 
bunch of little grapes, they are so 
BIRD LIFE 
N INDIA bird-life abounds every- 
where absolutely unmolested, and 
the birds are as tame as the fowls 
in a poultry yard. Ring-doves, 
minas, hoopoes, jays and parrots hardly 
trouble themselves to hop out of the 
way of the heavy bull-carts, and every 
round and translucent. When food is 
scarce later the other ants come to 
their heavy mates and eat them with 
great relish. 
AIR.—The wear and tear in our 
bodies is replaced by new material 
carried to the spot by the blood. The 
heart forces the blood out along the 
arteries in a bright red current. It 
comes back blackened with the refuse 
material. It passes to the lungs, where 
it comes into contact with the air we 
breathe. It does not quite touch the 
air, but is acted upon by the air through 
very thin partitions much as the cash 
business is carried on in some houses 
and banks with the cashiers all placed 
behind screens, where they may be 
seen and talked to but not reached. 
Purified in the lungs by contact with 
fresh air, the blood goes back to con- 
tinue the good work of making the 
body sound. But if the air has been 
used before by someone in breathing 
it has become bad and the blood does 
not get the benefit from contact with 
it in the lungs that nature intended. 
Ordinarily a man breathes in about 
four thousand gallons of air in a day 
if he is taking things easily, but when 
he is hard at mental or physical work 
he needs much more than this. Air 
that has been hurt by being breathed 
is restored to the right condition by 
the leaves of trees and plants. In 
large cities where people are crowded 
together there is a lack of good air. 
But nature is continually rushing the 
air about so that new may take the 
place of what has been used, rain 
washes it out, and the storm brings in 
from the country just the kind of air 
the city man needs in his lungs. 
IN INDIA. 
wayside pond and lake is alive with 
ducks, geese, pelicans, and flamingoes 
and waders of every size and sort, from 
dainty beauties, the size of pigeons, up 
to the great unwieldly cranes and ad- 
jutants, five feet high. 
