which ants are particularly partial, and then when they are intent 

 on sensual enjoyment he surreptitiously puts a small distinctive dab 

 of paint on their backs. We have heard a great deal of slave 

 making and marauding ants, and that they do nefariously and 

 violently carry off, appropriate, and annex the offspring, i.e, the 

 larvfe of their neighbours, there can be no doubt, but the careful 

 observations of Sir John Lubbock give quite a different aspect and 

 character to acts Avhich might be otherwise thought derogatory to 

 the character of an honourable ant. We all know that the whole 

 end and aim of an ant's life is, apparently, to carry something about 

 in its mouth ; it may be something useful, or it may not, but some- 

 thing it must be ; it is apparently the same instinct which compels 

 the female of our own species even to have something in her hand, 

 it may be a piece of work, or a baby, or it may be a fan, a parasol, 

 or even, in extreme cases, a walking stick. Well, it is the same 

 with what I may call, without disrespect, the spinster ant ; thus, if 

 in tVieir wavKlprinQs tlipy ronip jmios;-- tlie neat of other a.nt« and find 

 »•' rmirtbt^r of lyr\>f' Ixin;: ;ir<>iiii(l. ili^y iiiiiiift(Jiat,ely s^i/*^ on them hikI 

 crin-v tliPici itfl'. Mini f-i.-i riiiv- n,r.t,'-iii|il. In recn pLiirp iJihui t,(^ ih-' 

 .le-iirli. ii> h .lisui-drpful iiHe-rrpi-HiH-p will] Ui^ '■ rlj^-liLsof i/Im:' snl.je.a.'" 

 Htovingyui tlieir piizt^.s saleis' liuui'^; they rear i.lieiu wiiL ilie great.esi 

 care and tenderness, feed and air them as though they were their 

 very own. It is true that when their captives attain to "ant's 

 estate " they work them pretty hard, but then it is not in ant's (or 

 ma.n's) nature to give anything for nothing. If an ant cannot find 

 any larvae knocking about, it will pick up small seeds, bits of stick, 

 the hind leg of a beetle, or any little treasure of that kind, though 

 no doubt it finds the soft succulent body of a tender young larvte 

 pleasanter to its jaws. It is in this way they carry oft" the eggs of 

 the. aphis, or green fly, which infests greenhouses, and is the horror 

 of every gardener. These eggs they carefully tend and rear till they 

 become juvenile aphids, which they keep for milking purposes. 

 Ants are extremely fond of sweets of all kinds, and it happens that 

 aphids secrete a clear sweet honey-like fluid which distils from 

 two little prominences on their bodies. When the ant wishes for a 

 little refreshment, it strikes these prominences gently with its 

 antennae, first on one side and then on the other, and the sweet 

 fluid exudes in the appreciative jaws of the master ; the aphids seem 

 to submit quite willingly and quietly to the process. They occa- 

 sionally make use of their gentle captives for less agreeable pm-poses. 

 Herr Volkbaum, for example, observed some ants on a maple tree 

 which had been tarred round the bottom ; wishing to cross over the 

 tarry position, they brought a number of aphids down from the 

 tree, and stuck their bodies ruthlessly, in the tar, so as to form a 

 causeway over which they might pass without soiling their dainty 



