AiiiDiNci CiriKs 



:oi 



the rin;il intellectual and moral siiprctiiacv of a 

 I'acc so much as the need tor tending and caie- 

 tully j^uardinj^ the younj^ ; tiie more complete tiie 

 dependence of tiie ()lfsprinj4 upon their elders, the 

 imer and higher the ultimate development. 



Ants are likewise j^reat domesticators of various 

 other animals ; indeed, as I have said before, 

 they keep many more kinds of Hocks and herds 

 in coniinement than we ourselves do. There is 

 a funny little pallid creature, called Beckia, an 

 active, bustling small thinj^, remotely resemblinj^ 

 a miiuite earwij^-larva, which runs in and out 

 amonj4 the ants in j^reat munbers, keepinj^ its 

 antenn.'e always in a state of perpetu.il vibra- 

 tion. Tile nests also liarboui" a queer, armour- 

 plated white wood-louse, whose lon*4 Latin-German 

 name I mercifully ^pare you ; and tiiis stranj^e 

 lieast toddles about quite familiarly amonj^ the 

 ants in tiie tfalleries. Both kinds must have lu'en 

 developed in ants' nests from darker animals ; 

 and both are blind, from lon^ residence in tiie 

 dark underground tunnels which thev nevei" quit ; 

 tlieir lightness of coloui and the disappearance 

 of their eyes tend alike to show tliat they and 

 tiieir ancestors liave resided for countless ages in 

 the homes of the ants. Vet no ant ever seems 

 to take tiie slij^htest notice of them. Still, there 

 tiiey are, and tlie ants tolerate tlieir presence ; 

 wiiile an unauthorised interloper, as vSir Joiin 

 Lul)l")ock remaiks, would at once be set upon 

 and killed, Tlie accomplished entomoioi^ist in 

 question suggests tiiat tiiey may perliaps act as 



