84 WAYS OF THE SIX-FOOTED 



when two are struggling thiis help will arrive from 

 either side ; then there is a trial of strength among 

 many, and an effort to take prisoners. Woe to the 

 captured warrior, for "no quarter to prisoners" is 

 one of the laws of emmet wars, and death comes 

 swiftly and surely to the stranger within the gates 

 of an ant republic. As night falls upon the battle- 

 field there is a retreat of the soldiers to their respective 

 cities, but morning finds them at their posts again with 

 valor undiminished. The carnage of these battles is 

 terrible to behold. The field is strewn with the remains 

 of the dead and dying ; two enemies are often found 

 clenched in deadly embrace. The ant is the bulldog of 

 the insect world : when she once gets hold she never 

 lets go ; though she may be torn in twain, her jaws 

 will not relax. Many an ant victor wears involun- 

 tarily all her life, as a trophy of her prowess, the 

 head of her vanquished enemy firmly fixed by its jaws 

 to her leg. 



Communal Habitations 



The architecture of social insects is remarkable in its 

 skilful adaptation to the needs of the commune. For 

 ages the beauty and regularity of honeycomb have been 

 the wonder and delight of mathematicians, who have 

 shown its economy by much computation. Some have 



