408 THE ANTS. 



prevent their escape : in consequence of this, the^ 

 are soon compelled by hunger to seize upon the ca- 

 terpillars and devour them. 



The females and neuters are armed with a stinff. 



o 



The males, besides being smaller than the females, 

 are to be distinguished from these by the largeness 

 of their eyes. 



We are told that a very grateful acid is to be ob* 

 tained from Ants by distillation : and we have one 

 instance of a person being fond of eating them alive. 

 As Mr. Consett was walking with a young gentle- 

 man in a wood near Gottenburg in Sweden, he 

 says he observed him sit down on an ant-hill, and 

 with a great degree of pleasure devour these in- 

 sects, first nipping off their heads and wings. The 

 flavour, according to his account, was an acid 

 somewhat resembling, though much more agree- 

 able than that of a lemon *. 



It is said that the Ants of the tropical climates are 

 never torpid ; that they build their nests with a 

 dexterity, lay up provisions, and submit to regula- 

 tions entirely unknown among those of Europe. 

 They are in every respect a much more formidable 

 race. Their stings produce insupportable pain, and 

 their depredations do infinite mischief. Sheep, 

 hens, and even rats, by loitering too near their ha- 

 bitations, are often destroyed by them. Bosnian 



* Cons^ ii 8. 



