2 So 
STRANGE DWELLINGS . 
hold up their leaves, he proceeds as follows 4 In the midst of . 
this dreary drought, it was wonderful to see those tiny creatures, 
the Ants, running about with their accustomed vivacity. I put 
the bulb of a thermometer three inches under the soil in the sun r 
at mid-day, and found the mercury to stand at 13 2° to 134 0 ; and 
if certain beetles were placed on the surface, they only ran about 
a few seconds and expired. 
4 But this boiling heat only augmented the activity of the 
long-legged Black Ants; they never tire; their organs of motion 
seem endowed with the same power as is ascribed by physiolo- 
gists to the muscles of the human heart, by which that part of 
the frame never becomes fatigued, and which may be imparted 
to all our organs in that higher sphere to which we fondly hope 
to rise. 
4 Where do these Ants get their moisture ? Our house was 
built on a hard, ferruginous conglomerate, in order to be out of 
the way of the White Ant, but they came despite the precaution; 
and not only were they in this sultry weather able individually 
to moisten soil to the consistency of mortar for the formation of 
galleries, which in their way of working is done by night (so 
that they are screened from the observation of birds by day in 
passing and repassing towards any vegetable matter they may 
wish to devour), but, when their inner chambers were laid open, 
these were also surprisingly humid ; yet there was no dew, and 
the house being placed on a rock, they could have no subter- 
ranean passage to the bed of the river, which ran about three 
hundred yards below the hill. Can it be that they have the 
power of combining the oxygen and hydrogen of their vegetable 
food by vital force as to form water?’ 
Three species of Driver Ant are known, namely, the common 
species, which has already been described, Anommo 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 dis- 
tinguish between them, while the last may be easily known by its 
brownish red hue. 
The specimens which have already been mentioned are now 
