er 
‘April 10, 1873) - 
as we docows. One species of red ant does no work for 
itself, but makes slaves of a black kind, which then do 
everything for its masters. 
Ants also keep a variety of beetles and other insects in 
_ their nests. That they have some reason for this seems 
clear, because they readily attack any unwelcome in- 
truder; but what that reasonis we do not yet know. If 
these insects are to be regarded as the domestic animals 
_of the ants, then we must admit that the ants possess 
_ more domestic animals than we do. But on this and 
many other points connected with ants we require addi- 
tional information. 
The Strepsiptera are a small, but very remarkable 
group of insects, parasitic on bees and wasps. The 
larva (Pl. 4, Fig. 8) is very minute, six-legged, and very 
active ; it passes through its transformations within the 
body of the bee or wasp. The male and female are very 
dissimilar. The males are minute, very active, short-lived, 
and excitable, with one pair of very large membranous 
wings. The females (Pl. 3, Fig. 8), on the contrary, are 
almost motionless, and shaped very much like a bottle ; 
they never quit the body of the bee, but only thrust out 
the head of the bottle between the abdominal rings of the 
bee. JoHN LUBBOCK 
(Zo be continued.) 
COTOPAXI—THE FIRST ASCENT OF THE 
GREAT VOLCANO* 
‘Sa DING fifty miles below the equator,and a hundred 
west of the meridian of Washington, Cotopaxi is at 
once the most beautiful and the most terrible of volcanoes. 
From the valley of Quito it appears like a huge truncated 
cone, in altitude equal to five Vesuviuses piled upon each 
other, its summit rising 4,000 ft. above the limit of per- 
petual snow, its sides presenting alternate ridges and 
gorges ploughed by descending floods of water, and 
around the base for miles heaps of ruins—boulders 20 ft. 
square, and volcanic ashes and mud 6ooft. deep. Very 
seldom does Cotopaxi wake up to intense activity, for as 
a tule the higher a volcano the less frequent its erup- 
tions. Generally the only signs of life are the deep 
rumbling thunders and a cloud of smoke lazily issuing 
from the crater. 
On November 27, 1872, Dr. Reiss—a German natura- 
list, who, with Dr. Stubel, has been exploring the Valley 
of Quito during the last forty years—set out from Mulolo 
with ten peones for the south-west point of the crater. 
Crossing the river Cutuche at Limpiopungo, where the 
stream cuts through vast deposits of volcanic ashes, he 
reached the “ Ventanillas,” a dry and sterile pampa, since 
the porous earth retains no moisture. Here the ascent 
of the cone began. Following the triangular ridge that 
divides the deep defiles of Manzanaguaicoand Pucahuaico, 
and whose apex reaches the snow limit, he crossed sub- 
ordinate cerros and pampas, which are so many steps in 
the grand staircase he was ascending. Vegetation now 
ceased entirely, and the surface was covered with ashes 
and black sand. In fact, nearly the whole occidental 
slope of Cotopaxi, between 12,500 and 16,000 ft., presents 
the aspect of adismal black desert. Progress was slow, 
for at every step the foot sank into the sand, which in- 
creased in depth with the ascent. 
Suddenly a profound chasm, containing fresh, smoking 
lava, was discovered on the left. This lava-stream 
was the lower limit of a vast mass, which from the 
valley appeared like along black line. At 2 P.M. our 
traveller reached the point where the two quebradas 
unite, marked by an immense pile of rocks. Here he 
encamped for the night at an altitude of 15,179 feet. 
An immense stream of lava came down the cone, and 
* Abstract of an article by Mr. James Orton in the New York Fvening 
Post, March 12, 1873. 
° 
NATURE. 
449 
near the place of encampment divided, entering the 
two quebradas or ravines mentioned. The lava was still 
warm, clouds of vapour rising along the whole extent of 
the stream. During the afternoon the thermometer had 
stood at freezing point ; but in the night it fell to twenty- 
five degrees. 
The next day Dr. Reiss attained all his hopes. Cropping 
out of the lava stream, but mainly disposed along the 
borders of it, were numerous rough stones, upon which he 
advanced as on the rounds of aladder. The greatest width 
of the lava current before it divided was about 3,000 ft., and 
the estimated thickness 150 ft. The lava was entirely black 
and warm in all its course ; its temperature being from 
68° to 91°, while that of the atmosphere was 32°. This 
elevated temperature explains the absence of snow on this 
part of the slope. The gaseous exhalations from the 
crevices seemed to be nothing more than air mixed with 
vapour. This is doubtless the lava-stream which flowed , 
in 1854, and which, by melting vast quantities of snow, 
caused much devastation in the valley by floods. No 
fissure or accumulation of scorize indicates the source of 
the lava-stream ; but the altitude of the point of depar- 
ture is 18,700 feet. 
At 8.45 he reached the arenal, a deep mass of fine sand 
stretching upward at an angle of 40°. Over this he must 
advance, difficult as it was, for on either side were im- 
passable fields of snow and ice. The temperature of the 
sand was 77°. Another stream of lava was discovered, 
which must have flowed with great velocity, since, instead 
of following the inclination of the cone, it had descended 
diagonally. Only the peaks of Iliniza and Chimborazo 
in the opposite Cordillera were visible ; but above the 
clouds, towards the south-west, a dense mass of smoke 
rose perpendicularly to a prodigious height, and then by 
an east wind was carried off in a horizontal line west- 
ward. This came from the furious and ever-active vol- 
cano of Sangay, whose top was invisible, but whose 
activity was manifested in this manner. As the clouds 
shifted, the diversified valleyand its royal mountains were 
spread out like a map. 
It was now 10.15 A.M.; thermometer, 28°. Fumeroles 
abounded, giving forth sulphurous gas. And now followed 
a sheet of compact blue ice, inclined from 35° to 40° ; but 
fortunately it was not smooth, but covered with myriads 
of points oricicles three or four inches high. Scrambling 
over this, and climbing over and between walls, some of 
immense size, suddenly Dr. Reiss reached the edge of the 
crater. He had reached the western part of the southern 
lip. The crater presented an elliptical form, the major axis 
lying north and south. The stones which were continu- 
ally falling in from all sides, but especially from the west 
side, rolled together as to the bottom of a funnel ; there 
were no signs of a level bottom. The depth, roughly 
estimated, appeared to be 1,500 ft. The side of the funnel 
least inclined, and by which alone it is possible to de- 
scend, is the south-west; but here are large fumeroles 
sending forth dense masses of vapour charged with gas, 
and having a temperature of 156°. Around these fumeroles 
were masses of sulphur and a deposit of gypsum mixed 
with chloride of lime, This is of great interest as being 
the first instance of a chloride being found among the 
products of the South American volcanoes. Humboldt 
thought that the absence of hydrochloric acid was a cha- 
racteristic of the New World volcanoes. The barometer 
gave 19,660 ft. as the altitude, while the doctor’s trigono- 
metrical observations, repeated at various times from in- 
dependent bases in the valley, had given him 19,496 ft. as 
the height of the north peak, and 19,427 ft. for the 
southern. Both results exceed the altitude estimated by 
other travellers. Humboldt made it 18,880 ft. 
Dr. Reiss left the crater at 1.45 P.M., and reached his 
encampment at the head of the ridge in three hours and 
a half, just as a heavy snow-storm began. He says he 
felt no inconvenience from the rarefaction of te air. 
