70 SOCIAL HABITATIONS. 
fairly fixed itself, its hold cannot be loosened unless the 
jaws are opened. It is useless, therefore, to kill the Ant, 
for its head will retain its grasp in death as well as in 
life. Beside the sharp points of the mandibles, they are 
further armed with a central tooth, which is so formed 
that when the mandibles are quite closed, and the points 
crossed to the utmost, the tips of the central teeth meet 
and form another means of grasping. 
There is no vestige of external eyes, and even the half- 
inch power of the microscope fails to show the slightest 
indication of visual organs. As, however, the horny coat 
of the head is sufficiently translucent to permit the articu- 
lation of the jaws to be seen through it, when a very power- 
ful light is thrown upon the head and the eyes of the 
observer are well sheltered, it is possible that the insect 
may have some sense of sight, and at all events will be 
able to distinguish light from darkness. 
The limbs are of a paler red than the body, and 
although they are slender and delicate, their grasping 
power is very great. ‘l'wo of my specimens had grasped 
each other’s limbs with such force that they could not be 
separated without damaging the insect, and it was not 
until the rigid joints were softened with moisture, and 
then with the aid of a magnifier, that I succeeded in dis- 
engaging the insects. 
The smaller specimens are not so black as the larger, 
nor are their jaws so proportionately large, but they are 
still formidable insects, if not from their individual size, yet 
from their collective numbers and their reckless courage, 
which urges them to attack anything that opposes them. 
Fire will frighten almost any creature, but it has no terrors 
for the Driver Ant, which will dash at a glowing coal, fix its 
jaws in the burning mass, and straightway shrivel up in 
the heat. 
