THE DRIVER ANT. 69 
the rate of one drop in each sixty-seven seconds, or about 
two ounces five and a half drachms in twenty-four hours. 
Next morning the distillation, so far from being affected 
by the attempt to stop the supplies, supposing they had 
come up through the branch from the tree, was increased 
to a drop every five seconds, or twelve drops per minute, 
making one pint in every twenty-four hours. 
“J then cut the branch so much that during the day 
it broke ; but they still went on at the rate of a drop every 
five seconds, while another colony on a branch of the same 
tree gave a drop every seventeen seconds only, or at the 
rate of about ten ounces four and one-fifth drachms in every 
twenty-four hours. I finally cut off the branch; but this 
was too much for their patience, for they immediately 
decamped, as insects will do from either a dead branch or 
a dead animal. The presence of greater moisture in the 
air increased the power of these distillers; the period of 
greatest activity was in the morning, when the air and 
everything else was charged with dew.” 
Three species of Driver Ant are known, namely, the 
common species, which has already been described, Anomma 
Burmeisteri, and a smaller species, Anomma rubella. 
The two first insects are deep, shining black, and 
resemble each other so closely that an unpractised eye 
could not distinguish between them, while the last may 
be easily known by its brownish red hue. 
The specimens which have already been mentioned are 
now before me, and curious beings they are. The largest 
are black, with a slight tinge of red, and have an enormous 
head, almost equalling one-third of the entire length. It 
is deep and wide as well as long, as indeed is necessary for 
the attachment of the muscles which move the enormous 
jaws. These weapons are sharply curved, and when 
closed, they cross each other, so that when the insect has 
