QUEER LITTLE FOLKS. 133 



and woe to any crippled animal that is unable to get out of 

 their way ; he is doomed, and the ants never leave him 

 until the very marrow is picked out of his hones. The 

 carcass of an elephant or a rhinoceros would stay the 

 march but a few hours. The huge python, lying dor- 

 mant after he has gorged himself, often falls a prey to 

 these marching hordes and is literally eaten up alive. 

 They destroy vast quantities of the eggs of serpents and 

 crocodiles, and so help man by keeping down the numbers 

 of these obnoxious reptiles. 



3. Their visit to a human domicile is both welcomed 

 and dreaded. Their presence is first made known by 

 squeakings and an unusual commotion among the vari- 

 ous pests which infest such habitations. The young and 

 the old now lay hands on their household gods and flee for 

 their lives, happy if they escape from personal molestation 

 from the advanced guards of the grand army. The ants 

 enter into possession, and the work of purgation is soon 

 finished. Eats, mice, and roaches are tracked to their 

 most secret lairs and ruthlessly devoured ; nor do flees and 

 other such small deer escape. The ants are literally every- 

 where ; and, when they leave, the house is swept of every 

 living thing, a condition which, on the whole, amply pays 

 for the brief inconvenience to which the family has been 

 subjected. In some cases sick and aged people have 

 been abandoned in the hasty flight of the family, and have 

 shared the fate of all animal life which comes in the way 

 of these ants. 



4. The ecitons, or foraging ants of tropical Ameri- 

 ca, in habits are nearly allied to the drivers. Of these 

 Mr. Belt, the naturalist of Nicaragua, says : " The mov- 

 ing columns of ecitons are composed almost entirely 

 of workers of different sizes, but, at intervals of two or 

 three yards, there are larger and lighter-colored individ- 

 uals that often stop and sometimes run a little backward, 



